Two weeks after seeing a 35-point second-half lead evaporate, only to power home a 2-point conversion in overtime to score a 57-56 upset of previously unbeaten Wartburg College, Central College pulled off its own comeback theatrics Saturday in first-round NCAA Division III football playoff action. The Dutch roared back from a 31-7 halftime deficit, tied the game with just 16 seconds remaining and this time, stopped a 2-point conversion try for a dizzying 38-37 triumph over the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. No. 23-rated Central (10-1) advances to the second round of the 32-team NCAA playoffs against No. 3-ranked Wheaton College (Ill.) next Saturday. The biggest comeback in Central history was completed with just 15 seconds to go.

Quarterback Blaine Hawkins, who set yet another batch of school records Saturday, eluded a fierce Wisconsin-Oshkosh pass rush that had already recorded four sacks, scrambled to his left and lofted a 32-yard pass to Erik Knaack in the corner of the end zone to make it 31-31 and send the game to overtime.

“All I saw was Blaine rolling out, and I just put my hand up—I know I’m going to get made fun of in film for that–but I put my hand up and then I made eye contact with Blaine,” Knaack said. “I knew it was coming to me and I just had to make a play on the ball and luckily I did.”

Hawkins’ shuttle pass to Knaack gave Central a 6-yard score in overtime. The Titans (8-3) answered with a fourth-and-10 pass from Kobe Berghammer to a leaping Mitchell Gerend for a 14-yard TD, but Berghammer’s 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete as a jubilant Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium throng erupted.

“It’s undoubtedly one of the best victories we’ve had in my 16 years here and if you look at the history of this program it has to rank with the top wins,” said coach Jeff McMartin. “There have been a lot of great wins over the multitude of years we’ve played football but to do this in the playoffs on the national scene the way that we did, against a great team like Wisconsin-Oshkosh, I think is really special. It’s an unbelievable feeling and what an amazing game.”

The biggest challenge of the season looms with next week’s game with Wheaton but McMartin said the Dutch need to savor the magnitude of Saturday’s victory. The Dutch are making their first playoff appearance in 10 years and this was their first postseason victory since 2007.

“This was amazing,” he said. “This was something that doesn’t happen every day and you’ve got to love it when you get these opportunities. This is a team that I’m really proud of. I’m really proud of how they’ve battled each week and what we’ve become, from where we started and even where we were at mid-season. It’s been a great progression.”

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