It’s been since 2016 that someone other than Central or Wartburg has won the American Rivers Conference football championship. Today, one of those teams gets a leg up on the 2024 league title race as the Dutch host the Knights to start ARC play.

Central has breezed through Illinois Wesleyan and California Lutheran by a combined 84-24 to start 2-0. Wartburg lost its first regular season game since 2021 last week at now number six St. Johns, 35-13, and brings a 1-1 record to the Tulip City.

Dutch coach Jeff McMartin knows that it’s going to be a battle like it always is when the two league heavyweights go toe-to-toe, and he wants his guys to stay focused on the process, not the outcome.

“The message that we’ve tried to convey to our players is not to focus on winning or losing, necessarily, but rather focusing on executing well, playing our best, being focused and being competitive. Those are the things you have to do in a game like this. We’ve played these guys and gotten big leads and had to hang on and we’ve fallen behind and had to come back. It’s those challenges that we have to be ready for, and the best way to get through a challenge is to really focus on what you’re doing.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 today at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella. Trevor Castle and George Wares will be in the broadcast booth to provide the play-by-play, beginning with pregame at 12:35 on 92.1 KRLS and the Central Dutch Network.