After amassing just 49 yards off offense and being shutout in the first half, the 24th-ranked Central College football team erupted for 295 yards and 28 points in the second half, but gave up a last second touchdown and lost 35-28 to #20 Wartburg on Saturday in Pella in a game heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

A massive homecoming crowd watched their vaunted offense struggle for the first 30 minutes against a Knight defense widely regarded as one of the best in the country. They had only given up 10 points through their first five games, and allowed the Dutch just three first downs in the first half as the built a 10-0 lead.

Wartburg stopped Central on the first drive of the third quarter and added a field goal to go up 13-0. Then a switch flipped. Cooper Downs led the Dutch on a pair of 75 yard drives, capped by short touchdown passes to Gabe Howard and Ryan Neu, and one play into the fourth quarter, Central had a 14-13 lead – the first time Wartburg had trailed all season.

The Knights responded with back-to-back TD drives to go up 28-14, and appeared to be salting the game away when Stevie Maddox Jr recovered a Wartburg fumble with just over five minutes left. Brady Ketchum came off the bench to march Central 52 yards into the end zone, hitting Logan Mont for the score. The Dutch then recovered an onside kick and Ketchum hit Carson Cummer on a 49-yard catch-and-run TD to tie the game.

Wartburg had the ultimate response, however, grinding out an 11-play game winning drive as Hunter Classen barreled in for a one-yard touchdown. The Dutch got to midfield with three seconds remaining, but Ketchum was sacked and Wartburg celebrated their first victory over Central since 2018.

The Knights are 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the American Rivers Conference while Central falls to 3-2 and 1-2 in the ARC. The Dutch will travel to Buena Vista next Saturday.

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