PELLA, Iowa – Sophomore Christian Graske ran for a pair of touchdowns for the St. Olaf College football team in a 44-13 loss at No. 14-ranked Central College (Iowa) in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.
Graske scored on runs of five yards and nine yards in the second and third quarters for St. Olaf (0-1), which ran 96 plays and generated 435 yards of offense in the game but was just 2-for-5 in the red zone. Despite having the ball for just 20:14, Central (1-0) racked up 495 yards of offense and broke open a 17-7 game in the second half by outscoring the Oles by a 27-6 margin.
Brady Ketchum was 24-for-38 for 360 yards and four touchdowns for Central, connecting with Ryan Neu seven times for 215 yards and a pair of scores. The Dutch were 4-for-4 in the red zone and scored three touchdowns of 40-plus yards.
Senior Jordan Embry carried the ball 22 times for 104 yards for the eighth 100-yard game of his career, while Graske gained 77 yards on 15 carries with the pair of touchdowns. St. Olaf outrushed Central by a 181-96 margin in the game and bottled up Jason Hopp, who ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns in last season's meeting, to the tune of seven rushes for six yards.
Sophomore Theo Doran was 23-for-40 for 235 yards for the Oles, with senior Payton Schott hauling in seven receptions for 84 yards. Ten different receivers caught a pass in the game for St. Olaf.
Central opened the scoring on a 70-yard touchdown pass from Ketchum to Neu with 4:45 remaining in the opening quarter. After botched punt following a three-and-out for the Oles, the Dutch scored on their second-straight offensive play on a 16-yard pass from Ketchum to Logan Mont to quickly make it 14-0 a little over a minute and a half later.
Trailing 17-0, St. Olaf got the final points of the first half when Graske found the end zone from seven yards out with 5:07 to go in the half. The touchdown came on the Oles' third-straight trip to the red zone, including getting the ball inside the one-yard line on its previous possession before being stopped on fourth down at the four-yard line.
St. Olaf controlled the ball for 20:09 in the opening half and held Central to minus-one yard rushing in the half but trailed 17-7 at the break. Graske and Embry combined for 115 yards on the ground in the opening half.
Just 1:18 into the third quarter, Ketchum found Neu for a 44-yard touchdown to quickly extend Central's lead to 24-7. On the ensuing possession, the Oles marched the ball to the one-yard line, but Embry was stripped as he reached for the goal line on a second-down play and the Dutch recovered for a touchback.
The St. Olaf defense responded by getting a stop and the Ole offense proceeded to go 78 yards in nine plays, culminating in a nine-yard touchdown run by Graske to make it a 24-13 game after the extra point was blocked. The drive included a fourth-and-one conversion by Doran and a 31-yard run by Embry.
Central scored the final 20 points of the game over the final 17-plus minutes to run away late on. Logan Sunvold was 3-for-3 on field goals for the Dutch, who also got a 10-yard pass from Ketchum to Jeff Herbers and a 41-yard touchdown run by Keegan Glover in the final minute.
Junior Ben Hestorff led the St. Olaf defensive with eight tackles in the game, while sophomore Tate Sauerwein had seven. Junior Deonta Thomas had five tackles, two-and-a-half for a loss, two pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a quarterback hurry, while classmate Jacob Halek added an interception and fellow junior Cohl Husbands had two sacks.
The Oles host Luther College in their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. at Klein Field at Manitou.
Graske rushes for two scores, St. Olaf falls at No. 14 Central in opener
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20220903_trdg.xml
2022
St. Olaf
13
Central
44
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Olaf (0-1) | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Central (1-0) | 14 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 44 |
Sep 03, 2022