When we look back at the 2024 Central College football team, they will be remembered mostly for having a stone wall of a defensive unit. The Dutch allowed just 95 points in 10 games last year and won eight of those contests.
The team’s losses came to NCAA Division III playoff qualifiers and American Rivers Conference rivals, Wartburg College and Coe College, by a grand total of seven points. The argument could be made that head coach Jeff McMartin’s Dutch were snubbed of an at-large bid, but what’s done is done: Central is locked and loaded and ready to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Central has 85 players listed on their fall roster, but has not added the incoming freshmen class to their online roster as we are writing this article. Of those 85 players – 61 are former Iowa High School players. I expect that there will be 30+ additional freshmen added to the roster and that many of them will be from the state of Iowa.
The defense has the potential to be stout yet again in 2025, due in large part to a pair of fifth-year players: Wahlert (Dubuque) alum, Nick Bandy, and former Lisbon Lion, Cole Clark. Bandy, a defensive lineman, led the team with 7.5 sacks in addition to recording 9.5 tackles for a loss in 2024, while Clark was second on the team with 81 tackles. He also tallied 8.5 stops in the backfield and picked off a pass.
In the secondary, Gavin Smith, an Audubon Wheeler graduate, returns and looks to add to his interception totals. The senior hauled in three interceptions last year while Belle Plaine Plainsman, Ben DeMeulenaere, snagged two of his own. Some other notable returners on defense are Ankeny’s Ethan Thomas, senior Sebastian Duarte, and senior linebacker, Jonathan Weaver, who hails from Lenox.
Offensively, expect a healthy serving of carries for junior running back Jase Grunder. Grunder accumulated just under 1000 all-purpose yards in 2024 and found the end zone 15 times. He will most likely be joined by senior quarterback Hunter Hoffman, who threw for 805 yards and six touchdowns while splitting time under center with former signal-caller Brady Ketchum.
Hoffman’s favorite target could very well be one of Pella’s home-grown talents, wide receiver Cam Schulte. Schulte, a Pella High School alum, had a team-best nine touchdown receptions in 2024 to go along with 35 catches for 612 yards. Schulte returns with Keegan Glover, who made a splash last season with 30 receptions, 427 yards, and four scores.
On the offensive line, Dallas Center-Grimes’ Maximum Reitano was Honorable Mention All-ARC last season and returns this season. Former Bondurant-Farrar Blue Jay Tyler Harms has lettered twice and wants to make a big impact in 2025, while Kaden Seeman, a Woodward-Granger alum, has lettered once and hopes for more this fall.
Sophomore Andrew Mohan saw action kicking last year and hopes to hold off fellow sophomore, Toby Julin-McCleary, for starting kicker duties this season. Mohan graduated from Waverly-Shell Rock while Julin-McCleary went to Cedar Falls.
Another sophomore, Broderick Lee, is listed as the team’s lone punter but recorded no statistics
in 2024 as Austin Burns handled punting for the Dutch.
Central opens the season with an away game against Illinois Wesleyan, whom they have mopped the floor with the last two seasons. The Dutch took care of business 49- 14 last season and 38-13 in 2023.
After Illinois Wesleyan, they will host Randolph-Macon, a Virginia-based institution, as the two programs will play each other for the first time. The Yellow Jackets will be a huge test for Central as they finished 10-2 in 2024 and opened ranked 21 in the preseason edition of the d3football.com Top 25 poll.
The Dutch, flush with Iowa grown talent, open conference action on the road against Luther, whom they dismantled in 2024 by a final score of 56-3.
SportsGuysIowa think Central’s floor is a record of 6-4 and a ceiling of 8-2. Realistically, if they can take care of the seven “should win” games and defeat one of Randolph-Macon, Wartburg, or Coe (who are ranked or receiving votes in the preseason polls) then they will put themselves in position to qualify for NCAA Division III playoffs yet again.
How do you think the Dutch will fare in 2025? Will they slay the east coast dragon week two and set the tone for a strong season? Can they dethrone Wartburg for the ARC crown?
Let us know what you think. As always, we appreciate you following along and supporting SGI.
