For the 99th time, the Central and Simpson football teams will go head-to-head in one of college football’s longest standing rivalries.

The 98th meeting came earlier this year, with Central picking up a dominating 49-14 victory, and they hold a 66-29-3 all-time advantage in the series.  But that was in an abbreviated covid spring season.  This fall, the Dutch are ranked 14th in the country and are off a 3-0 start, while the Storm are 0-3.  Central coach Jeff McMartin warns not to be fooled by the fact that Simpson hasn’t yet picked up a victory.

“Simpson’s played three tough teams.  They’ve played Mary Hardin-Baylor, Wisconsin-Steven’s Point and Coe.  It’s not like they’ve played these really bad teams and lost to bad teams.  They have a record that a lot of people would have if you played those teams back-to-back-to-back.  We’re going to continue to do what we’ve done all year – learn about our opponent and don’t underestimate them and don’t overestimate them.”

Simpson Head Coach Matt Jeter said he wants his team to play confidently and play complementary football for 60 minutes.

“There’s going to be times when the other team makes plays, but you have to at least make the team have to work for it and drive the length of the field and not having so many sudden changes like a turnover or a missed opportunity. Our defense was on the field a lot Saturday, and we have to be able to make some drives and work some clock so we aren’t on the field for too long.”

Kickoff is set for 1:00 this afternoon at Buxton Stadium in Indianola.  You can listen on both 94.3 KNIA and 92.1 KRLS.  Trevor Castle and Don DeWaard will have the Dutch perspective on KRLS, while Andrew Swadner and Rick Wilson will have the Storm call on KNIA.  Pregame coverage starts on both stations at 12:35.