At mid-week, Kohle Helle (senior, Guttenberg, Clayton Ridge HS) was a starting wide receiver. By Saturday, he was rolling up 349 yards total offense as quarterback to spark the Central College football team to its first season triumph, 33-22 over Augustana College (Ill.).
Helle, used as an occasional signal-caller throughout his Central career, typically on designed runs, was thrust into full-time duty when opening-game starter Nate Boland (junior, Iowa City, West HS) was unable to return from injury. The speedy receiver was predictably elusive on his feet, rushing for a game-high 102 yards on 17 carries, but was a remarkably efficient passer as well, completing 17-of-23 for 247 yards and two TDs with no interceptions.
"The nice thing with Kohle is he's played quarterback before, he's a coach's kid and he's a senior, so he was ready for this," McMartin said. "We didn't anticipate this. Early in the week, I didn't see this coming. But for Kohle to do this, and for our offensive staff to quickly put together a game plan that fit his skills, I thought was great."
Central (1-1) also got a school-record four field goals from Jon Alberts (sophomore, Huntley, Ill.) in only his second game as the starting placekicker. That bettered a mark held by seven Central players.
The Dutch, forced to live for a week with a humbling 56-13 opening-game setback against Whitworth Univiersity (Wash.), did their best to quickly erase it from their collective memory bank when Helle found tight end P.J. Norem (senior, Iowa Falls, Iowa Falls-Alden HS) for a 71-yard TD pass on Central's second play from scrimmage. A pair of Alberts field goals stretched the lead to 13-0 but an Augustana score with 37 seconds left in the half, completing a 13-play, 75-yard drive, made it 13-7 at the break.
A third-quarter Augustana TD following another Alberts field goal cut the margin to 16-14 with 3:54 left in the period. But Helle directed a 10-play, 66-yard march with running back Donny Groezinger (junior, Sulphur Springs, Texas; Eastland, Ill. HS) catching a 4-yard scoring pass to start the fourth quarter. Groezinger followed with a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 30-14 with 8:39 remaining.
Yet Augustana wouldn't go away. The Vikings struck with 4:40 left, then, following a penalty on a 2-point conversion try, connected on an improbable 18-yard conversion pass to make it a one-score game at 30-22. Finally, Alberts' fourth field goal with 1:05 left settled the issue.
"The most important field goal was that last one," McMartin said. "It wasn't a great exchange, but he still drilled that thing through."
That was a 33-yarder after three 30-yard kicks.
"Jon's had a great preseason and a great off-season," McMartin said. "He came in as a freshman last year and really competed. And he really committed himself to getting stronger and better. He came through in the clutch."
There's a downside to getting four field goals.
"I'm glad he has the record but yet you'd sure like to see those be touchdowns," McMartin said. "It would be a different game. At the same time, you've got to come away with points on those drives and we did."
Pivotal in staving off Augustana's comeback bid were a pair of second-half interceptions by cornerback Danny Anderson (sophomore, Boone) and linebacker Tyler Olson (senior, Mapleton, Minn., Maple River HS). Olson also posted seven tackles with one pass breakup. Linebacker Sam Norgaard (senior, Naperville, Ill., Neuqua Valley HS) topped the tackle charts with 12 and one breakup. Linebacker Chris Neeld (senior, New Boston, Ill., Mercer County HS) had 11 stops, including five solos, while linebacker Josh Scheible (senior, Kansas City, Mo., Liberty HS) made 10 tackles, with five unassisted. Schible and Neeld each had half a sack.
"We got some takeaways, got some key stops, and that was big for us," McMartin said. "Augie has definitely improved a lot. They're a well-coached team. I'm happy that our defense was able to get the stops we needed to win this game."
Augustana (0-2), playing its second straight out-of-state road game, got 271 passing yards from quarterback Zachary Fuller, who completed 24 of 37 passes. Running back Alek Jacobs had all three Viking touchdowns but was limited to 33 yards on nine carries as Augustana mustered just 117 rushing yards.
Central got 242 yards rushing and 247 through the air for a 489-388 yard total offense advantage. Wide receiver Sam Markham (senior, Atlantic) had five catches for 58 yards while S-back Kyle Gritsch (senior, Brooklyn, BGM HS) had four receptions for 29 yards. Running back Pat Gray (junior, West Des Moinees, Waukee HS) ran for 69 yards on 17 carries while Groezinger gained 61 on 13 tries. Junior Tyler Bryant (Donnellson, Central Lee HS) was forced to punt just twice.
"We did a good job with the running game and did a good job throwing the football," McMartin said. "To be able to pass the way we did was very good for us, but it's something we need to continue to get better at."
The Dutch open Iowa Conference play with their first road game next Saturday, traveling to Storm Lake to take on Buena Vista in a 1 p.m. contest. The Beavers (1-0), had an open date Saturday after a 31-27 victory over Mayville State (N.D.) Aug. 31.
"BV has got a new coaching staff and has only played one game so we aren't going to have a lot of film on them," McMartin said. "We have to go up to Storm Lake prepared for anything."