October 20, 2018

MAYVILLE, N.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) led the entire sixty minutes in the North Star Athletic Association football contest at Jerome Berg Field, holding off Mayville State (N.D.) by the score of 28-17 on Saturday afternoon.  The Trojans won their second straight game, while the Comets remained winless in the North Star conference.

Dakota State improved to 3-6 overall record and 2-3 record in NSAA conference contests.  Mayville State lost their fifth straight game, dipping their overall record to 1-7 and 0-5 NSAA record.

The Trojans lifted their all-time series record to 16-14 over the Comets, winning the last three meetings.

FIRST QUARTER

Mayville State committed a turnover on the first play of the game, leading to Dakota State's touchdown.  Gino Musick fumbled the ball and was recovered by DSU's Karson Lindblad on MSU's 31-yard line with 14 minutes, 42 seconds on the clock.

The Trojans kicked off the drive with a 21-yard pass from Torren Devericks to Mason Leighton to the MSU's 10-yard line.  Facing third-and-goal situation, Devericks connected to Leighton for a 6-yard touchdown pass to give DSU its first lead of the game.  Casey Bourque hit a successful PAT extra-point kick to give Dakota State a 7-0 lead with 12:55 on the clock.

DSU was unable extend their lead as Bourque missed a 28-yard field goal attempt with 6:18 left in the first.

Dakota State recorded near 100 total yards in the first quarter and held Mayville State to just 13 yards.

SECOND QUARTER

The Trojans scored its second touchdown of the game mid-way through the second quarter.  DSU started their second scoring drive at their own 18-yard line and recorded five plays for 82 yards in 2:36, including 42-yard pass from Jared Richardson to Leighton and a 27-yard rush by Brodie Frederiksen. 

Frederiksen rushed for a 7-yard touchdown, followed by Bourque's PAT extra-point kick as the Trojans' lead ballooned to 14-0 with 7:51 remaining before halftime.

Mayville State answered back on the following possession with 5 plays for 83 yards in 2:33.  Preston Hamlette rushed for a 4-yard touchdown, while Maxwell Scott added the PAT extra-point kick as MSU trailed DSU 14-7 with 5:18 to go in the second quarter.  A 20-yard pass from Creighton Pfau and a 47-yard rush by Trent Momon highlighted Comets' scoring drive.

Dakota State led 14-7 at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

Dakota State committed a turnover to kick off the second-half as Mayville State recorded an interception with 13:05 on the clock. 

MSU recorded six plays for 10 yards in 1:45 as Scott converted a 25-yard field goal to cut DSU's lead to 14-10 with 11:20 on the clock.

The Trojans used a pair of first-down plays with a 33-yard pass from Devericks to David Bond from DSU's 37-yard line to MSU's 30-yard line.  DSU continued to march down the field as Devericks connected to Bond again for a 17-yard pass to MSU's 21-yard line when the third quarter ended.

FOURTH QUARTER

Dakota State kicked off the fourth quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run by Devericks with 14:54 remaining.  Bourque followed up with a PAT extra-point kick to put DSU up 21-10.  The Trojans registered six plays for 63 yards in 1:48 in the scoring drive.

Pfau threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Momon with 9:35 left for the Comets.  Scott's PAT extra-point kick was good as MSU trimmed DSU's lead to 21-17.

The Trojans' defense halted the Comets from scoring with 4:30 left.  With fourth-and-four situation on DSU's 14-yard line, Pfau fumbled the ball which was forced by Curt Boeke as the Trojans regained possession on DSU's 30-yard line.

DSU quickly answered with a 67-yard touchdown pass from Richardson to Leighton to extend their lead.  Bourque's PAT extra-point kick was good as the Trojans' lead grew to 28-17 with 4:09 remaining.

Dakota State's defense made another stop in the red zone as the Comets turned the ball on downs on DSU's 7-yard line with 1:45 left.

MSU recorded a safety with four seconds remaining to complete the final score.

The Trojans outscored the Comets 14-9 in the final quarter.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Devericks finished the game by going 10-of-12 with 126 yards and a touchdown for Dakota State.  He also had a rushing touchdown.  Richardson added 8-of-15 for 139 yards and a touchdown

Leighton had seven receptions for a game-high 165 yards with two touchdowns for the Trojans.  He finished the game with 191 all-purpose yards.  Leighton is currently second in the Trojan football record book for most touchdown catches with 15 (Austin Opdahl holds the single-season record with 16 touchdown catches in 2016). 

Trever Listman added three catches for 22 yards.  Bond had two receptions for 50 yards. 

Frederiksen rushed 10 times for 88 yards with a touchdown for DSU.  He racked up 1,369 rushing yards this season, which is 1 yard shy of tying the Trojan Football single-season record of 1,370 rushing yards by Jim Janssen in 1978.

John Trout tallied a career-high 16 tackles for DSU's defense.  Marcus Vanden Bosch added 11 tackles.  Boeke collected 10 tackles, two quarterback sacks, four tackles-for-loss of 31.0 yards, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.  Ryan Dozier also had 10 tackles. 

Wyatt Sanford had an interception and returned it for 22 yards for Dakota State.  It was his fifth interception this season.

Caleb Nielsen registered four punts for 160 total yards, averaging 40.0 yards per punt.

Pfau was 17-of-28 for 242 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Comets.  Momon had eight catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.  He also ran two times for 38 yards.  Adrian Carillo had five receptions for 51 yards.  Darrel Wilson had three catches for 49 yards.

Hamlette rushed 18 times for 57 yards with a touchdown for Mayville State.

Daniel Simpson led MSU's defense with seven tackles, a quarterback sack and four tackles-for-loss of 13 yards.  Josiah Wialker added six tackles and a fumble recovery.  Jelon Hilton recorded five tackles and an interception with 25 yards return.

TEAM COMPARISONS

Dakota State have two offensive yards more than Mayville State, 360-358.  The Comets rushed for 116 yards compared to the Trojans 95 rushing yards.  DSU had 265 passing yards, while MSU had 242 passing yards.

The Trojans averaged 6.8 yards per offensive play.  The Comets posted an average of 4.8 yards per offensive play.

Mayville State produced 20 first-downs.  Dakota State had 15 first-downs. 

DSU was 2-of-9 on third-down conversions.  MSU converted 5-of-16 on third-down situations.  The Trojans were 3-of-4 red zone conversions with three touchdowns.  The Comets converted 2-of-4 in the red zone scoring opportunities with a touchdown and a field goal.

UP NEXT

Dakota State wraps up their home schedule next Saturday (Oct. 27).  The Trojans host Waldorf (Iowa) in the second North Star Athletic Association conference meeting this season.  Kick-off is slated for 4 p.m. at Trojan Field.  Seniors will be honored approximately 20-30 minutes prior to kick-off.

Mayville State remains home next Saturday as they host Valley City State (N.D.) with a 1 p.m. kick-off.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director