Central’s offense overpowers Storm in season opener

PELLA, Iowa -- Simpson College football opened its fall-to-spring slate against the defending American Rivers Conference Champions on Saturday, but fell, 49-14, to Central.

Signal caller Seth Howard threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns in his first start. Reed Worth led the receiving corps with 118 yards, while Joe McNally had 82 receiving yards and a touchdown. Cole Romdall hauled in other touchdown for his first of his career.

The Dutch (1-0, 1-0 A-R-C) turned the ball over on their third play of the game. Blaine Hawkins hit the hands of the Storm's (0-1, 0-1 A-R-C) Lucas Volf for an interception. Simpson would not take advantage of the miscue and turned the ball over on downs on its first drive of the contest.

Central's offense hit its stride from there on out to score on its next four possessions to place the game at 28-0. Hawkins tossed for three touchdowns to lead the offense, totaling just 13 yards through the air on those scoring plays. Carson Boyer hit the edge to score on a 46-yard run to cap off the fourth drive.

To start the second half, Simpson marched down the field with plays of 19, 16 and 11 yards coming from Howard's arm. Sitting at the 10-yard line, the Storm could not push a field goal through to remain off the scoreboard.

On the ensuing drive for the Dutch, Hunter Muhlbauer picked off a pass from Hawkins. The play would lead to Simpson scoring a touchdown as McNally grabbed a seven-yard pass from Howard.

Central padded its lead by scoring three more touchdowns to place the game at 49-7 in the fourth. The Storm would collect their second score of the game with Romdall's seven-yard catch.

Terrhyn Jacoby led the defense with 10 tackles, and Wyatt Schaben and Jack Bootsmiller each had nine.

Hawkins ended with 193 yards passing with four scores. The Dutch tallied 307 yards rushing as three players had over 70 yards on the ground.

Up Next
Simpson hosts Coe on Saturday, April 10 for its only home contest of the season. The game will begin at 1 p.m. inside Buxton Stadium.