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Dakota State University

Scoreboard

14
Dakota State DAKOTA S 3-3 , 2
34
Winner Dickinson State DICKINSO 3-2 , 3
Dakota State DAKOTA S
3-3 , 2
14
Final
34
Dickinson State DICKINSO
3-2 , 3
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
DAKOTA S Dakota State 0 7 0 7 14
DICKINSO Dickinson State 7 7 20 0 34

Game Recap: Football |

Trojans could not overcome Blue Hawks' third-quarter surge in NSAA football

October 9, 2021

DICKINSON, N.D. – Holding a slim 14-7 halftime lead in the North Star Athletic Association football action at Biesiot Activities Center Saturday afternoon, the six-time defending league champion Dickinson State (N.D.) exploded for 20 third-quarter points to defeat Dakota State (S.D.) 34-14.

A total of seven turnovers combined by both teams were recorded in the game.  The Trojans caught four interceptions (tied for third most single-game interceptions on Sept. 6, 2014, at Dordt, Iowa), while the Blue Hawks caught two interceptions and had a fumble recovery.

Dakota State dropped their second straight game and fell to 3-3 overall record, 2-2 record in the league.  Dickinson State won their third straight game to lift their overall record to 3-2 and remaining undefeated in the NSAA conference with 3-0 record. 

FIRST QUARTER

  • Dickinson State recorded 13 plays for 75 yards in five minutes, twenty-seven seconds as they opened the game with a touchdown.  Riley Linder rushed for a 2-yard touchdown, followed by Jace Johnson's PAT extra-point kick for a 7-0 lead with 9:33 on the clock in the first quarter.
  • Dakota State was unable to score on their first drive of the game.  The Trojans were forced to punt as Caleb Nielsen hit a 56-yard punt to DiSU's 8-yard line with 7:26 to go. 
  • Noah Guse intercepted Blue Hawk Drew Boedecker as DaSU regained possession on DaSU's 24-yard line with 4:03 on the clock.
  • Reece Hoerez recorded an interception near the end of the first quarter as the Blue Hawks retained possession with 14 seconds remaining in the first quarter.  Boedecker followed up with 17-yard pass to Galen Brantley to end the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

  • Dickinson State extended their lead to 14-0 after Boecker threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Kuntz.  Johnson's PAT extra-point kick was successful with 14:24 on the clock.
  • Boedecker suffered his second interception of the game as Mahdi Benalshaikh caught the pass on DaSU's 35-yard line with less than 11 minutes to go before halftime.
  • Dakota State would answer on the ensuring possession with a touchdown by recording 10 plays (8 rushing plays) for 67 yards in nearly five minutes.  Ja'Sem Atonio connected to Brenner Furlong for a 14-yard touchdown pass.  Nielsen's PAT extra-point was good.
  • Atonio's 21-yard pass to Dajshon Keel from DaSU's 45-yard line to DiSU's 34-yard line on a third-and-9 situation highlighted their scoring drive.
  • Guse caught his second interception of the game, preventing the Blue Hawks from scoring.  Boedecker recorded his third interception of the game as Guse caught the pass on DaSU's 35-yard line and returned it for 16 yards to DiSU's 49-yard line with 1:14 to go before intermission.
  • The Trojans could not convert their scoring opportunity as Nielsen missed a field goal as first-half time expired.  DiSU held a 14-7 halftime lead.

THIRD QUARTER

  • Javonte Oliphan caught an interception on DiSU's 45-yard line to kick off the third quarter and returned it for 52 yards to start the drive on DaSU's 3-yard line with 13:40 on the clock.
  • After two defensive stops by the Trojans. Boedecker rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to extend DiSU's lead to 19-7.  Johnson added the PAT extra point kick to make it 20-7 with 12:43 remaining in the third.
  • Dakota State moved the ball on the next possession with 10 plays for 50 yards in 4:51 but committed a turnover.  Deavon Crawford forced a fumble and recovered the fumble on DiSU's 25-yard line.  He returned it for a 75-yard touchdown to widen the Blue Hawks' lead to 26-7.  Johnson made the PAT extra-point kick to make it 27-7 with 7:52 on the clock.
  • DaSU was forced to punt on the next possession.  The Blue Hawks ballooned their lead to 34-7, thanks to a pair of late plays.  Boedecker threw a 51-yard pass to Tyler Frye from DiSU's 37-yard line to DaSU's 12-yard line.
  • Alec Lovegren followed up with a 12-yard touchdown run, while Johnson added the PAT extra-point kick with 3:53 left in the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

  • Nielsen recorded a game-long 70 yards punt in the early fourth quarter, that resulted in a touchback with 13:37 left in the game.
  • Boedecker hit his fourth interception of the game as DaSU's Jay Skogerboe caught the pass on Trojan 40-yard line.  He returned it for 17 yards with 7:20 remaining.
  • Dakota State snapped their scoring drought late in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a 26-yard pass from Josh Giles to Jack Anderson to DiSU's 41-yard line.
  • Giles added a 12-yard pass to Cooper McDermott, followed by Giles' 8-yard rush to DiSU's 19-yard line.  Giles threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Keel with 1:46 remaining in the game.  Nielsen added the PAT extra-point kick as the Trojans trailed 34-14.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • Atonio finished the game by going 15-of-28 for 159 yards with a touchdown for the Trojans.  Giles added 5-of-12 fro 57 yards and a touchdown.
  • Keel caught nine passes for 94 yards and a touchdown for Dakota State.  Anderson added three catches for 49 yards and rushed 15 times for 39 yards.  Austin Lake had three receptions for 35 yards.
  • Furlong had a 14-yard touchdown reception.  He also ran 10 times for 19 yards.
  • Nielsen registered seven punts in the game for 303 total yards and averaged 45.7 yards per punt for DaSU.
  • Guse caught two interceptions for Dakota State.  Skogerboe and Benalshaikh each added an interception. 
  • Devonte Murphy led the Trojans' defense with a game-high 10 tackles.  He had two quarterback sacks of 12 yards loss and three tackles-for-loss of 31 yards.  Cody Brown added six tackles, a sack, and two tackles-for-loss.  Conner Tordsen tallied a sack and two tackles-for-loss.
  • Boedecker was 16-of-30 for 208 yards with a touchdown and threw four interceptions for the Blue Hawks.  He had a rushing touchdown.
  • Frye caught seven passes for 93 yards for DiSU.  Conor McCarvel added six receptions for 57 yards.  Kuntz had a 30-yard touchdown catch. 
  • Linder rushed 17 times for 70 yards and a touchdown for Dickinson State.  Lovegren added six rushes for 22 yards and a touchdown.
  • Opiphant and Hoherz each recorded an interception for the Blue Hawks.
  • Nick Miller and Hoherez each registered five tackles for Dickinson State.  Keaton Meschke added four tackles, and a quarterback sack of 14 yards loss.  Matt Anderson recorded a sack of 10 yards loss.  Crawford had a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and returned it for 75 yards for a touchdown.

TEAM COMPARISONS

  • Dickinson State recorded 337 total offensive yards compared to Dakota State 292 offensive yards.
  • The Trojans had 216 passing yards, while the Blue Hawks registered 208 passing yards.  DiSU had 129 rushing yards.  DaSU recorded 76 rushing yards.
  • DiSU produced 23 first downs in the game compared to DaSU 18 first downs.  The Blue Hawks converted 10-of-16 third down situations (63 percent successful rate).  The Trojans were 5-of-16 on third-down plays (31 percent). 
  • Dakota State maintained a time possession of 30 minutes, 6 seconds.  Dickinson State had the ball for 29 minutes, 54 seconds.
  • The Blue Hawks committed four turnovers in the game (4 interceptions), while the Trojans had three turnovers (2 interceptions, 1 fumble lost).

UP NEXT

Dakota State returns home next Saturday (Oct. 16) as they host nationally ranked No. 17 Valley City State (N.D.), who is also undefeated in the North Star conference play after their 44-10 road victory at Presentation (S.D.) Saturday.  Kick-off is set for 4 p.m. at Trojan Field in Madison as DaSU attempts to end their two-game losing skid.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

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