October 31, 2015
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS - Coming Soon
Photos credits by Kaden Huntrods, Donald Weidler, Lori Waldner
MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) racked up a total of 540 offensive yards Saturday afternoon, 26 yards short of tying the DSU school record for most offensive yards in a single game, in a 27-16 Dacotah Bank/North Star Athletic Association conference football game at Trojan Field. It was the third straight conference victory for the Trojans.
Dakota State raised their overall record to 6-4, securing their first back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1970's. The Trojans finished their conference schedule in a two-way tie for second place with Valley City State (N.D.) with 4-2 record. Presentation fell to 3-6 overall record and concluded their conference schedule with a 0-6 record.
The Trojans finished their home schedule with a 4-2 record, the most home victories at Trojan field in more than 15 years.
Both teams were unable to score on their first possession of the game. The Trojans could not convert their scoring chances when PC Austin Eggl's pass was intercepted by DSU's Danny Jordan on PC 46-yard line in the opening possession. The Trojans' first drive of the game was turned on downs on PC's 36-yard line.
Dakota State regained possession after Presentation turned over on downs on DSU's 33-yard line with seven minutes, four seconds on the clock in the first quarter.
The Trojans began that drive with a 57-yard pass from Jacob Giles to Austin Opdahl, followed by a 20-yard touchdown rush by Jeremy Christner for the first lead of the game. Nic Behrens added the PAT kick as DSU grabbed a 7-0 lead with 6:39 left in the opening quarter.
Ben Kullos broke the DSU's all-time career tackles late in the first quarter, recording his 408th career tackles. He broke the previous old record set by former NAIA All-American Max Hodgen with 407 tackles from 1992-95.
Robert Johnson rushed for a 6-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter as the Trojans extended their lead. Behrens hit a successful PAT kick as DSU's lead grew to 14-0 with 45 seconds left in the first quarter. The Trojans used 9 plays – all rushing plays – for 76 yards in 3:15 in the scoring drive.
The Saints used 13 plays for 65 yards in 4:22 on the ensuing possession. PC faked a 31-yard field goal, but the Trojans stopped the Saints on DSU's 10-yard line (8 yards short for a first-down) with 11:23 left in the second quarter.
Dakota State answered it on the next drive, thanks to a 62-yard touchdown pass from Giles to Bobby Tisch. Behrens added the extra-point PAT kick to put Trojans up 21-0 with 9:38 remaining before intermission.
Presentation marched down the field on the after using 13 plays for 56 yards in 4:34, but the Trojans stopped the Saints in the goal line four times. The Saints turned the ball on downs on DSU's 3-yard line with 5:04 left to play in the second quarter.
Dakota State held a 21-0 halftime advantage. The Trojans outgained the Saints 307-204 in total offensive yards in the first 30 minutes of the game.
Presentation exploded for 16 points in the third quarter, rallying back to cut Trojans' lead to 21-16.
The Saints ended their scoring drought after Behrens' punt was blocked by Cody Samelson for a safety. DSU held a 21-2 lead with 5:34 left in the third.
PC continued their scoring run with their first touchdown of the game when Angel Ramirez threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Mayfield. Sean Traster's PAT kick was good as the Saints reduced their deficit to 21-9 with 3:17 left.
Presentation took advantage from Dakota State's fumble by Robert Johnson on DSU's 27-yard line and moved to DSU 14-yard line after a penalty committed by the Trojans with 2:44 on the clock in the third quarter. Eggl threw a 15-yard pass to Mayfield, followed by Traster's PAT kick as the Saints cut down DSU's lead to 21-16 with 2:01 remaining in third.
Behrens missed a pair of field goals early in the fourth quarter, but the Trojans were able to extend their lead after taking advantage of PC's poor punt. After Tanner Menke's 10-yard punt from PC 27-yard line to PC 37-yard line, Giles strike to Brendon Waldner for a 37-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the drive.
The Trojans' 2-point PAT conversion came up short as the Trojans expanded their lead to 27-16 with 7:16 remaining in the game.
Dakota State secured the game after Logan Weisser fumbled the ball during the pass play on DSU's 37-yard line, which was forced by Tyler Poggemeyer and recovered by Danny Jordan.
The Trojans had a pair of 100-rushers in the game, led by Christner with 24 rushes for 145 yards and a touchdown. Johnson added 18 attempts for 133 rushing yards and a touchdown. Hagan Hines had seven rushes for 51 yards.
Giles finished the game by completing 10 passes in 16 attempts for 171 yards with two touchdown passes for DSU. He added eight rushes for 40 yards.
Tisch caught four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown for Dakota State. Waldner added two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Austin Opdahl recorded a catch for 57 yards.
Behrens recorded six kickoffs for a total of 330 yards for the Trojans, including an 80-yard kick-off in the fourth quarter (after the Trojans committed a penalty) for a touchback. He averaged 55.0 yards per kickoff.
Kullos registered 18 tackles (7 solo) in the game for Dakota State. Poggemeyer added 13 tackles and a forced fumble. Cooper Hasumann had 11 tackles. Cole Potter and Clifton Marshall each recorded a quarterback sack. Austin Ross had three broken-up passes.
Jordan had an interception and a fumble recovery for DSU. Dan Ngandali had a forced fumble.
Eggl was 19-of-39 for 207 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Saints. Ramirez rushed 22 times for 85 yards and completed 1 pass for 14 yards with a touchdown.
Hayden Zenner ran 10 times for 68 yards before pulling out due to an injury early in the second quarter for Presentation.
Mayfield collected eight catches for 63 yards and two touchdown for PC. Weisser added six catches for 103 yards.
Adail Froome led the Saints' defense with 15 tackles and a sack. Celestino White added 12 tackles. Adam Garza recorded 11 tackles. Jerry McNeil had 10 tackles. Jeff Branch recovered two fumbles.
Dakota State broke the single-season school record for most offensive yards with 4,610 yards, breaking the previous old record of 4,313 yards set in 2014. The Trojans had 75 offensive plays in the game for 540 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per play. The Saints recorded 78 offensive plays for 385 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per play.
The Trojans recorded 27 first-downs in the game, with 18 first-downs coming from rushing plays. The Saints had 18 first-downs.
DSU rushed for a season-high 369 yards (58 rushes), their third straight games with 300-plus rushing games. The Trojans had rushed over 200 yards in all games except the season opener versus Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.).
The Saints were held to 164 rushing yards (38 rushes).
PC outpassed DSU 221-171.
DSU had a time possession of 30 minutes, 53 seconds in the game compared to PC 29 minutes, 7 seconds.
The Trojans were 3-of-11 on third-down conversions. The Saints converted 9-of-21 on third-down situations.
It was the final career collegiate football game for 14 Trojan seniors—Spencer Carlson, Justin Summers, Ross, Poggemeyer, Hausmann, Ngandali, Tyler Pruszynski, Doug Hale, Kullos, Jason Grady, Matt Wiles, Steven Gram, Tisch and Ridge Lindberg.
Dakota State concludes their regular-season schedule with the Dacotah Bank/NSAA Football bowl game at the FargoDome on Sunday, Nov. 8. The Trojans will face Dickinson State (N.D.), who won the conference title outright with 5-1 record after defeating Mayville State (N.D.) 40-2 Saturday. Kick-off for the non-conference game is set for 4 p.m. in Fargo, N.D.
Presentation will play Trinity Bible (N.D.) in the first game of the Dacotah Bank/NSAA Football bowl game at 9 a.m.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
