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<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Dan L. Vander Beek Photography
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Hunter Hoffman
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\n
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"Central](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758426073_140_site.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t35
\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tWinner
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tCentral (IA)
\n\t\t\t\tCEN
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t4-0 , 2-0
\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"Dubuque](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759024390_726_Dubuque.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t16
\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tDubuque
\n\t\t\t\tDBQ
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t1-3 , 1-1
\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWinner<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"Central](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758426073_237_site.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tCentral (IA)
\n\t\t\t\tCEN
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
4-0 , 2-0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t35
\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t16
\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"Dubuque](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759024391_251_Dubuque.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n Score By Quarters
\n
\n
\n Team
\n
\n
\n 1st
\n
\n
\n
\n 2nd
\n
\n
\n
\n 3rd
\n
\n
\n
\n 4th
\n
\n
\n F
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n CEN
\n Central (IA)
\n
\n
\n 0
\n
\n 7
\n
\n 14
\n
\n 14
\n
\n 35
\n
\n
\n
\n DBQ
\n Dubuque
\n
\n
\n 9
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\n 7
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\n 0
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\n 0
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\n 16
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\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Game Recap: Football | September 27, 2025 <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Dutch outscore Spartans 28-0 in second half
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Next Game:<\/p>\n
at Loras<\/p>\n
10\/4\/2025 | 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
\n Oct. 04 (Sat) \/ 1 p.m.
\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n at\u00a0Loras
\n <\/p>\n
History <\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n PELLA \u2014 Scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half pushed the Central College football team past the University of Dubuque Saturday for a 35-16 victory on Homecoming. The Dutch travel to Loras College for a 1 p.m. game next Saturday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dan L. Vander Beek Photography
…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-186584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nAt the halftime break, Central (4-0, 2-0 American Rivers Conference) found itself in a 16-7 hole while being outgained by over 100 yards of total offense (265 to 141).
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nThe Dutch started fast in the second half with Aidan Pollock’s<\/a> (junior, Pella) 38-yard kickoff return to the 48-yard line. Seven plays and 52 yards later, Quarterback Hunter Hoffman<\/a> (senior, Pecatonica, Ill.) found wide receiver Nolan Meyer<\/a> (senior, Bondurant, Bondurant-Farrar HS) for a 13-yard scoring pass.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nCentral would score on three of its remaining five drives of the second half while forcing four Dubuque turnovers and a pair of punts to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard and complete the 28-0 run. Dubuque had just 70 yards of offense in the second half
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n“That was a gutty, great win,” coach Jeff McMartin<\/a> said. “We were playing the play and being in the moment. We weren’t thinking about the past or worrying about the future, our team was really in the now.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nIn the second half, senior safety Derek Pacheco<\/a> (Littleton, Colo., ThunderRidge HS) had a fumble recovery and an interception while senior cornerbacks Ben DeMeulenaere<\/a> (Chelsea, Belle Plaine HS) and Gavin Smith<\/a> (Audubon) also had interceptions DeMeulenaere had a team-high nine tackles and also blocked an extra point attempt. Smith added three pass break-ups
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n“Our seniors and upper classmen really rose up and set a standard,” coach Jeff McMartin<\/a> said.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nHoffman finished with 20 completions on 30 pass attempts for 229 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. He also contributed 73 yards on the ground.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n“I can’t say enough about Hunter and how he’s playing right now,” McMartin said. “He’s seeing the field well and making great decisions. He’s playing with a lot of confidence but he’s also executing.”
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\nThree of Hoffman’s touchdown passes went to wide receiver Cam Schulte<\/a> (junior, Pella), including two in the fourth quarter. Schulte finished with seven catches and 96 yards.<\/p>\n