The Central College football team started slowly, but surged to a 33-0 win over Buena Vista Saturday afternoon at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella.
In a game heard live on 92.1 KRLS, the Dutch built a 10-0 first half lead, blocking a field goal just before intermission to preserve the shutout.
In the second half, Central finally broke free, with the big play a 63-yard touchdown pass from Riley Gray to Zach Martinelli.
For the second week in a row, Dutch head coach Jeff McMartin was disappointed with his team’s slow start, but was pleased with their play coming out of the halftime break.
“We were able to get some turnovers and just keep executing (in the second half). We ran 50 plays in the first half and only came away with 10 points. We need to do a better job executing in the red zone – we really shot ourselves in the foot again. I’m starting to sound like a broken record, two weeks in a row, but we have to execute better. There’s a lot to fix, but there’s a lot to feel positive about and it’s nice to get the shutout.”
Central racked up 512 yards, with 270 on the ground and 242 through the air. Donny Groezinger ran for 113 yards and a touchdown, and Kyle Gritsch was the leading receiver with 7 catches for 76 yards.
Chris Neeld led the tackle charts with 13, Sam Norgaard added 10 tackles and an interception, which he returned 20 yards for a touchdown, and Edwin Etienne had 8 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
Central is 3-0 on the season, and 1-0 in the Iowa Conference. They’ll head to Dubuque next Saturday to take on Loras, who is off to an 0-3 start after getting hammered by Coe 45-10.

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