A pair of sophomores are being handed the keys to the Central College offense as the Dutch open the 2023 football season this afternoon in Northfield, Minnesota against St. Olaf. It’s the third straight year that Central has played the Oles to kick off the season, with the Dutch winning the previous two.

Second year signal caller Hunter Hoffman has earned the starting quarterback job after throwing for 281 yards and two touchdowns in four games of reserve duty as a rookie. Fellow sophomore Keegan Glover is listed as his backup, but is also expected to see plenty of action. In nine games last year, he threw for 203 yards and three touchdowns, but was especially dangerous with his legs, running for 314 yards and a team high six scores. Coach Jeff McMartin is excited to see what they each can do in today’s opener.

“It’s a little bit different playbook for each guy, but not that drastic that we’re running all new plays with one guy as opposed to the other”, McMartin said. “We want to play to their strengths and play to the skillset of each guy, and they both do things well in certain areas. We’re going to utilize both of them.”

Central is coming off of a 7-3 record in 2022, while St. Olaf finished 4-6. Today’s season opener is set for 1:00 at Klein Field at Manitou. Trevor Castle and Don DeWaard will call the action live on 92.1 KRLS, beginning with pregame coverage at 12:35.