Central College quarterback Blaine Hawkins went to the air in near-record fashion Saturday but it was his legs that finally sealed a 44-27 football victory at Buena Vista Saturday, heard live on KRLS. Hawkins accounted for five touchdowns, getting the clinching score on a 6-yard bootleg on 4th-and-1 with 3:23 left. He had kept the drive alive with a pivotal 13-yard scramble on 3rd-and-10 as Central improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the American Rivers. Hawkins continued his assault on the Central record leaderboards, completing 27 of 50 passes, both career highs, for 276 yards with one interception and three touchdowns.

The Central College men’s soccer team got defensive Saturday afternoon against Wartburg College, smothering its opponents for a 1-0 victory. The only goal the Dutch needed against the Knights was a strike by forward Charlie Pritchard in the 23rd minute off an assist from Nick Ashton. Two early goals for Wartburg College was too much for the Central College women’s soccer team to overcome Saturday afternoon in a 4-0 loss. Another big match awaits both the Dutch men and women on Wednesday in Indianola when they face Simpson.

Nate Sanders had his third top-10 finish of the season as the Central College men’s cross country team was 7th in the 21-team Jim Drews Invitational Saturday. Central compiled 202 team points. The host school, University of Wisconsin – LA Crosse, won the team crown with 54. The youthful Central College women’s cross country team continued to show improvement Saturday at the Tori Neubaer Invitational with a 13th place effort. Central totaled 371 points while Iowa Central Community College won the team title with 44. The American Rivers Conference championships are next up for the Dutch on November 2 in Dubuque.

Saturday started with a five-set victory over Lakeland University (Wis.) for the Central College volleyball team and ended on the wrong side of three-set sweep against Edgewood College (Wis.) Central reaches the 15-win mark for the first time since 2015 after the victory over the Muskies (13-13). The Dutch will be at the University of Dubuque for a 7:30 p.m. match Friday night.