4-0 Central hosts 4-0 Dubuque in a first-place Iowa Conference football showdown today at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella.

The Dutch are ranked 24th in the latest D3Football.com poll, while the Spartans are 20th in the AFCA top-25.

Central has already been involved in a pair of shootouts this season, having beaten Whitworth in week one and Loras last Saturday. Expect another high scoring affair today.

Central is averaging 42.5 points per game and leads all of division three with 32 first downs per contest. The Spartans are the top passing offense in the country with over 337 yards per game, and they score 42.3 per game.

The Dubuque offense certainly has the attention of Dutch Coach Jeff McMartin…

“They have good wide receivers with a lot of speed. And their quarterback does an excellent job – he throws the ball into some areas and some windows that are hard to defend, then his guys come up with catches. So your best bet is to not give up big plays and to pressure him so that he is on the move and has to throw on the move. If you can do that, it lowers the completion percentage to an extent.”

Central’s offensive attack is spearheaded by Sam Markham, who leads the nation with 44 receptions in just four games and is also in the top ten in receiving yards and touchdowns.

Kickoff today is at 1:00 at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella. Trevor Castle, George Wares and Libbie Randall will have the call on 92.1 KRLS, beginning with pregame coverage at 12:35.