November 1, 2014

FOREST CITY, Iowa – Dakota State (S.D.) racked up a total of 528 offensive yards Saturday afternoon in a 51-41 North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) conference football game at Bolstorff Field.  It was the sixth victory of the season for the Trojans, the most victories and guaranteed a winning season for the first time since 1998 (8-2 overall record).

Dakota State won the third straight game (first time since 2007), raising their overall record to 6-4 and 2-3 in NSAA conference games.  Waldorf, who was playing their homecoming game Saturday, finished their 2014 schedule with a 3-7 overall record.  The Warriors completed their first year in the NSAA with a 1-5 record.

DSU owns a 3-0 all-time series record against the Warriors.  Both teams played their first-ever meeting in the North Star Athletic Association conference.

The Trojans successfully recovered an onside kick by the Waldorf, starting DSU's drive on the WC's 49-yard line.  Dakota State used five plays for 49 yards in 1:55 to score the first points of the game after Jeremy Christner rushed for a seven-yard touchdown run.  The PAT kick by DSU's Tanner Hubbard was no good as the Trojans maintained a 6-0 lead with 13:08 left in the first quarter.

The highlight in the first scoring drive was a 27-yard pass from Jacob Giles to Zach Ely.

The Warriors quickly answered back on the ensuing drive after a pair of 20-plus rushing plays, thanks to a 36-yard rushing on fourth-and-five situation fake punt on WC's 42-yard line to DSU's 22-yard line.  Lavelle Maddox would rushed for a 22-yard touchdown on the next play.  Dustin Wilke's PAT kick was good as Waldorf grabbed a 7-6 lead with 11:11 left in the first.

The Trojans made it 13-7 as Christner rushed for his second touchdown of the game with 4:07 left in the first quarter.  Hubbard's PAT kick was successful as DSU used eight plays for 62 yards in 3:33 in their scoring drive.

WC tied the game at the start of the second quarter by David DeLacy's 4-yard touchdown reception from Isaac Sanchez.  The PAT kick was blocked by DSU's Matt Groff as the game was tied at 14-14 with 14:57 left in second.

Dakota State started their next drive on WC's 29-yard after the Warriors committed a penalty with a kick-off going out-of-bounds.  After a pair of Christner's rushing plays that resulted in a first-down for DSU, Giles connected to Austin Opdahl for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 14:02 left before halftime.  Hubbard added the PAT kick to make it 20-13 in favor of the Trojans.

Waldorf tied the game for the second time in the second quarter after recording nine plays for 73 yards in 4:40.  Maddox ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Wilke added the PAT kick as the Warriors tied the game at 20-20.

DSU's Giles threw his second touchdown pass to Opdahl with less than 30 seconds before halftime, this time a 10-yard touchdown pass.  Hubbard's PAT kick was good as DSU regained their lead at 27-20.  The Trojans used 12 plays for 80 yards in 4:17 in the scoring drive.

Dakota State survived Warriors' scoring chances as Bridges rushed for a 53-yard run from WC's 44-yard line to DSU's 3-yard line when halftime expired.  The Trojans held a 27-20 intermission lead.

The Trojans extended their lead to 34-20 with 10:19 left in the third quarter when Christner ran for a 1-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-goal situation (Hubbard's PAT kick was good).  The key highlight in the scoring drive was a 24-yard rush by Christner from WC's 28-yard line to WC's 4-yard line.

The next score came in with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter as Trojan Giles threw a 6-yard pass to Ely.  Hubbard's PAT kick was good as DSU's lead expanded to 41-20.  The scoring drive began on their own 3-yard line and used 13 plays for 97 yards in 5:13.

Dakota State shut down Waldorf 14-0 in the third quarter.

The Warriors would cut DSU's lead to 41-27 when DeKendrick Moncrief returned a 90-yard punt for a touchdown with 14:33 remaining in the game (Wilke's PAT kick was good).

The Trojans quickly scored on the next drive as Giles threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Ely.  Hubbard nailed down the PAT kick to give DSU a 48-27 lead with 13:22 left.

WC trimmed DSU's lead to 48-34 with less than eight minutes to play.  The Warriors recorded 12 plays for 71 yards in 5:23 as Emmanuel Osuchukwu ran for a 6-yard touchdown.  Wilke added the PAT kick as the Trojans maintained a 14-point lead.

DSU scored on the ensuing drive by using a key 44-yard rush by Christner from DSU's 33-yard line to WC's 23-yard line.  Christner would rush for a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:46 left in the game for the Trojans.  Hubbard added a PAT kick to give Dakota State a 51-34 lead.

Sanchez threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Ruben Saint-Jean with 2:34 remaining in the game.  Wilke's PAT kick was good as DSU maintained a 51-41 lead.

The Trojans used all the time in the last 2:34 to hold on to a 10-point victory.

Giles completed 13 passes in 20 attempts for a total of 222 yards with four touchdowns for the Trojans. 

Christner dominated the running game as he ran the ball 37 times for 243 total rushing yards for DSU.  He had three rushing touchdowns in the game.  Jabree Shorter added 12 rushes for 44 yards. 

Ely caught six receptions for 121 yards for Dakota State.  He caught two touchdown passes.  Opdahl added three catches for 52 yards.  He had two touchdowns.

Ben Kullos led the Trojans with seven tackles.  Aaron Gronwald and Cole Potter each added six tackles.  Kullos, Potter and Trevor Kenobbie each had a quarterback sack. 

Sanchez was 14-of-22 passing for 203 yards with two touchdowns for the Warriors. 

Bridges rushed 12 times for 182 yards for Waldorf.  Osuchukwu added 10 rushes for 81 yards and a touchdown.  Maddox had two rushing touchdowns and recorded 10 rushes for 41 yards. 

DeLacy had four receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown for WC.  Lashawn Chapman added three catches for 53 yards.  Saint-Jean had two receptions for 65 yards with a touchdown.

Jammar Crayton collected 10 tackles for the Warriors.  Giano White added eight tackles.

DSU piled up a total of over 500 offensive yards and over 50 total scoring points for the second straight game (539 yards in 69-13 victory versus Trinity Bible, N.D. on Oct. 25).

WC had 494 total yards of offense.

The Trojans rushed 55 times in the game for a total of 306 yards compared to the Warriors' 43 rushes for 291 yards.

DSU recorded 28 first-downs, while WC had 21 first-downs.

The Trojans had a time possession of 32 minutes and 6 seconds.  The Warriors held the ball for 27 minutes and 54 seconds.

Dakota State concludes their successful 2014 campaign with another road trip to Dickinson, N.D.  The Trojans will visit another NSAA's newcomer – Dickinson State (N.D.) – with a kick-off starting at 2 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Mountain Time).  The game is being played at Biesiot Activities Center.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director