A pair of sophomore quarterbacks piloted the Central College offense to 503 yards in a season opening 34-24 football victory Saturday afternoon at St. Olaf (MN) as heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

The Dutch started the season with a bang, marching 79 yards on 11 plays on the opening drive of the game, capping it off with a 24-yard touchdown run by Ryan Neu. Early in the second quarter, Keegan Glover hit freshman Jacob Birch for a 13-yard score, followed by a St. Olaf touchdown drive and an exchange of field goals just before intermission as Central took a 17-10 lead into halftime.

The Dutch blew open the game with 17 straight points – a Neu 36-yard reception from Hunter Hoffman, a Logan Sunvold field goal and a 17-yard pass from Glover to Jordan Rusch. St. Olaf scored a pair of touchdowns in the last few minutes for the final margin. Central coach Jeff McMartin was generally pleased with the way his team played, and is excited to build off this week one foundation.

“Probably the most surprising thing was that we had some drops that are kind of uncharacteristic of us and I think that if we make the catches that we’re capable of making, the stats are even more balanced run-pass wise. I’m happy that we could run the ball well and both of our quarterbacks showed different things that they do well. I think that we highlighted some of those strengths.”

Central racked up 308 yards rushing, including 113 from Glover. Reece Miller and Reid Pakkebier led the tackle charts with ten apiece and the Dutch defense picked off St. Olaf quarterback Theo Doran three times.

Central starts the 2023 season 1-0 and will travel to Bloomington, Illinois for a first ever matchup with Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday afternoon.