Freshman quarterback Blaine Hawkins rallied the Central College football team out of a 17-0 hole to a 52-27 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan Saturday afternoon at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.

Seeing his first collegiate action, Hawkins was inserted on Central’s first drive of the second quarter, and he finished the game with 93 yards rushing and two touchdowns, plus 14-of-22 passing for 263 yards and a pair of scores.

Sam Markham finished with eight catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns and running back Donny Groezinger ran for 104 yards and two scores as the Dutch racked up 616 yards of offense, the fourth most in school history.

Central is 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Iowa Conference. They’ll be back in action next Saturday at Simpson.