A rivalry that dates back 108 years is renewed in Indianola on Saturday as Simpson College hosts Central College. Simpson coach Jim Glogowski says he found out about this rivalry shortly after being named head coach back in 2008.  Glogowski says he got an email from a longtime alum who was concerned their grandson might go to Central, and he says that told him how deeply the rivalry runs.

And there will be plenty on the line. Both teams lost a week ago and need a win to stay in the hunt in what should be a balanced Iowa Conference race. Glogowski says there were a lot of close games in the league in the first week, indicating there are a lot of evenly matched teams. It is also homecoming on the Simson campus and Glogowski says that is adding even more to the build up.

“I’m getting emails and text messages from alums who are coming back, and of course it being Central adds to the excitement,” Glogowski says. Central coach Jeff McMartin has been part of this series since he played for the Dutch and says rivalries like this are what make college football special.

“This is not just two teams playing each other, but it’s about two communities, the towns the campuses, the colleges, and with the proximity of the two schools, that means something, ” McMartin says. Central is coming off a heartbreaking loss at the University of Dubuque but McMartin feels the Dutch can still contends in the Iowa Conference.

“You never know, it’s an interesting game and it has the makings of an interesting season,” McMartin says. He says they didn’t play very well last week, but have the chance to get better. McMartin says he won’t need to find ways to motivate his team this week as the players know it is a big game.

Simpson won last year’s matchup 21-18 in Pella but the Dutch lead the all-time series 59-28-3.