A 34-yard touchdown pass from Blaine Hawkins to Erik Knaack late in Central’s 38-37 overtime playoff victory over Wisconsin-Oshkosh was named the Moment of the Year at the recent Dutchies awards.

The Dutch had trailed 31-7 at halftime, but mounted a furious charge to get within one score late in the game.  After a defensive holding penalty on a failed fourth down kept Central’s last-gasp drive alive, Hawkins took advantage.  First, marching the Dutch into position, then launching the game-tying TD.

“The play before I’d completed one to Ross Norem, and we hurried up and tried to run the same play.  But their safety adjusted and covered Ross as he was coming across the middle.  At that point, I knew I needed to escape the pocket and make a play.  As I got out of there to my left, I got my head up, and Erik was still running across the field.  I was lucky I saw him.”

What made the moment even more special is that it ultimately led to Central’s first playoff victory in 12 years.  Knaack scored again on the first possession of overtime, and after the Titans found the end zone on their try, Dutch safety Jordy Borman deflected a would-be game-winning two-point pass.

The other nominees for Moment of the Year at this year’s Dutchies were Ian Meentemeyer’s 75th-minute goal in a 1-0 win at Coe to help the men’s soccer team win it’s first ever American Rivers Conference crown, Shaye Witte’s walk-off hit versus Luther that clinched an A.R.C. title, and Duncan Lee’s upset wrestling victory in six overtimes in the semifinals at regionals to help him advance to the NCAA tournament.

On tonight’s Central College Radio Coaches Corner, Trevor Castle will sit down with Hawkins and Knaack to relive their Moment of the Year, Castle will have an interview with Male Athlete of the Year Will Daniels, and Jon Mowhinkle catches up with Kelsea Hurley, the Female Freshman Athlete of the Year.  Tonight’s show starts at 7:00 on 92.1 KRLS.