October 24, 2015

Photos credits by Nathan Meyer

MAYVILLE, N.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) rushed for a season-high 315 yards Saturday afternoon and used a fourth-quarter surge to defeat Mayville State (N.D.) 28-21 in the key Dacotah Bank/North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Football Game-of-the-Week at Jerome Berg Field.  The Trojans established a winning streak for the first time this season, winning their second straight game.

Dakota State moved above .500 for the first time this season with an overall record of 5-4.  Mayville State suffered their second straight loss, dipping their overall record to 5-3.  Both teams are tied for third place with a 3-2 record in the Dacotah Bank/NSAA Football conference standings, one game behind the conference's leader Dickinson State (N.D.) who is idle today (Valley City State, N.D. is second place with a 4-2 conference record after defeating Jamestown, N.D. 12-6 Saturday).

It was the first time since Nov. 8, 2008 that the Trojans defeated at Mayville State.  With the victory, DSU evened up the all-time series meeting record at 13-13, winning the last two meetings.

The Comets committed their first turnover of the game in the opening drive.  Homer Reed fumbled the ball, which was forced by DSU's Hunter Smith, and was recovered by Trojan Tyler Poggemeyer on DSU's 22-yard line with thirteen minutes and thirty-six seconds on the clock in the first quarter.

Dakota State responded from MSU's fumble by using 11 plays for 78 yards in nearly four minutes for the first score of the game – thanks to three plays of 10-plus yard gains (18-yard pass from Jacob Giles to Bobby Tisch, 14-yard rush by Giles and Hagan Hines' 19-yard rush).  Giles rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to give Trojans a 6-0 lead.  Nic Behrens added the PAT kick to extend DSU's 7-0 lead with 9:37 left in first.

MSU knotted the game at 7-7 after the Trojans turned the ball on downs.  The Comets started the scoring drive on DSU's 45-yard line and used 11 plays for 45 yards in 3:57 after Jerril Jenkins ran for a 1-yard touchdown.  The PAT kick by Miguel Vega was good with 3:23 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Trojans prevented the Comets for their first lead of the game after Vega's 22-yard field goal was blocked by DSU's Ridge Lindberg with 5:52 remaining before halftime (recovered by Smith on DSU's 12-yard line).

Facing third-down-and-12 situation on DSU's 10-yard line, Giles connected to Preston Nordling for a 74-yard pass to MSU 16-yard line.  After Hines' 3-yard gain on the following play, Giles threw a 13-yard pass to Austin Opdahl as the Trojans regain their lead at 13-7 with 3:30 left in the second quarter.

Mayville State answered back on the ensuing possession for their first lead of the game.  The Comets used seven plays for 66 yards in 3:16 as Andrew Blake recorded a 47-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Robbins with 14 seconds left in the first-half.  Vega's PAT extra point was good as the Comets held on to a slim 14-13 halftime lead.

The Trojans were unable to earn their lead back in the early third quarter as Behrens missed a 29-yard field goal with 7:36 left on the clock.

MSU recorded 12 plays for 45 yards in 4:49 on the next possession, but was stopped on DSU's 35-yard line due to downs.

Dakota State would regain their lead by starting their drive with less than two minutes in the third quarter after using six plays for 65 yards in 2:07.  The Trojans kicked off the drive with a 45-yard pass from Giles to Opdahl. 

DSU started the fourth quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run by Giles for a 19-14 lead with 14:50 remaining in the game.

Mayville State quickly answered back on the ensuing drive as Blake threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Robbins.  Vega's PAT kick was good as MSU grabbed a 21-19 lead with 13:54 left.

After Vega's kick-off to DSU's 5-yard line, Daveon Banks returned the kick-off for 65 yards to give Trojans their starting drive on MSU's 30-yard line.  Behrens hit a 27-yard field goal as DSU overtook the lead from the Comets at 22-21 with 12:45 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Comets were forced to punt after going three-and-out on the next drive.  Deandre Hubbard recorded a 55-yard punt from MSU's 42-yard line to DSU's 3-yard line with less than 10 minutes left.

When DSU faced a third-down situation with three yards to go on DSU's 10-yard line, Robert Johnson exploded for a 79-yard gain to MSU's 11-yard line.  He went on to rush for a 4-yard touchdown run to extend Trojans' lead to 28-21 with 7:12 left in the game.

Dakota State was unable to extend their lead as Behrens missed a field goal with 2:10 remaining. 

The Trojans secured the game after stopping Mayville State's drive on DSU's 38-yard line after turning the ball on downs with 54 seconds left.  The Comets used 10 plays for 42 yards in the final drive of the game, which their drive stopped on DSU's 38-yard line.

Johnson rushed 22 times for 179 yards with a touchdown for the Trojans.  He averaged 8.1 yards per rush.  Jeremy Christner added 16 rushes for 65 yards.  Hines had nine rushing attempts for 64 yards (7.1 yards per rush).

Giles was 8-of-12 with 171 passing yards and a touchdown for DSU.  He added a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Opdahl recorded three receptions for 63 yards and a touchdown for Dakota State.  Waldner added two receptions for 13 yards.  Nordling had a 74-yard catch.  Tisch had a reception for 18 yards.

Ben Kullos, who ranks first in the nation in tackles per game, led the Trojans with 10 tackles (9 solo).  He is just two tackles away for breaking the all-time career tackles at Dakota State, currently held by former NAIA All-American Max Hodgen with 407 career tackles.

Tyler Poggemeyer and Thomas Romack each added six tackles (5 solo).  Clifton Marshall and Bronson Arguello each had five tackles.  Cole Potter and Cooper Hausmann each had four solo tackles.  Potter recorded a quarterback sack. 

Blake completed 25 passes in 44 attempts for 286 passing yards with two touchdowns for Mayville State.  Robbins had eight receptions for 152 yards and two touchdowns.  Jacob Lawrence added seven catches for 66 yards.

Matt Stafford ran 17 times for 88 yards for the Comets.  Reed added six rushes for 38 yards.  Jenkins had six rushing attempts for 23 yards and a touchdown. 

Ryan Henderson recorded 12 tackles in the game for MSU.  Jason Holmes added nine tackles.  Jason Smith had eight tackles.

Dakota State ran for more than 300 yards for the second straight game and seventh straight game with over 200 rushing yards.  Mayville State was held to 149 rushing yards.

MSU outpassed DSU 286-171.  The Trojans had 486 total offensive yards compared to the Comets 435 offensive yards.

Mayville State held the ball for 30 minutes and 10 seconds.  DSU had a time possession of 29 minutes and 50 seconds.

MSU was 8-of-16 on third-down conversions while DSU was 5-of-14.  The Trojans converted 2-of-3 on fourth-downs.  Mayville State was 0-for-3 on fourth down conversions.

Dakota State returns back home next Saturday (Oct. 31) as they host Presentation (S.D.) in the Dacotah Bank/NSAA conference contest.  Kick-off from the Trojan Field is set for 2 p.m.  Seniors will be recognized prior to the game as the Trojans play their final home regular-season game.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director