September 23, 2024
MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) had two football athletes honored by the North Star Athletic Association for the third consecutive week, the fourth edition of the football conference weekly honors were announced Monday.
Tyce Ortman was selected as the Offensive Player-of-the-Week, while his teammate
Oscar Kooistra was chosen as the Defensive Player-of-the-Week.
The Trojans remained undefeated this season after defeating Valley City State (N.D.) 19-8 in the North Star conference action on Sept. 21. It was the first time since the 1992 season that DSU started their season at 4-0 overall record. Dakota State maintains a 2-0 record in the NSAA contests.
Ortman, a 5-foot-11 195 lbs. senior running back, earned the NSAA Football Offensive Player-of-the-Week for the second time this season. He rushed 30 times for a season-high 161 yards in the game. Ortman scored the team's first points in the second quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run (DSU led 7-0 with 5 minutes, 49 seconds on the clock).
He averaged 5.4 yards per run in the game for Dakota State. He also registered five punts for 208 total yards, averaging 41.6 yards per punt. Four of his punts landed inside VCSU's 20-yard line, while the other punt resulted in a touchback.
Ortman leads the North Star Athletic Association in overall rushing with 105.8 yards per game for the Trojans. He also leads the NSAA conference in rushing touchdowns with five. Ortman averages 38.7 yards per punt in the league (22 punts for 851 total punts, with 11 of his punts landing inside the opponents' 20-yard line).
Tyce is a native of Canistota, S.D., majoring in physical education at Dakota State University.
Kooistra, a 6-foot-4 235 lbs. sophomore linebacker, came up with a pair of quarterback sacks in the fourth quarter to secure DSU's victory at VCSU. He registered a quarterback sack on the fourth-and-three situation on DSU's 43-yard line, forcing the Vikings to turn the ball on downs after a 12-yard loss.
He added another quarterback sack later in the fourth quarter with nine yards loss. He finished the game with two sacks (two tackles-for-loss) of 21 total yards loss.
Kooistra fueled the Trojans' defense unit where they limited Valley City State to 188 total offensive yards in the game. DSU's defense squad also allowed the Vikings to just seven rushing yards, which is the second least rushing yards allowed in the game (school record – 1 yard versus Mount Scenario, Wis., in 1991).
Dakota State leads the North Star conference in scoring defense allowed with 10.5 points per game. The Trojans are also ninth in the NAIA in scoring defense.
Oscar is a native of Brandon, S.D., majoring in business technology at DSU.
Dakota State takes their first North Star conference bye week Saturday and returns home on Saturday, Oct. 5. The Trojans host Mayville State (N.D.) in the Rushin' for a Cure football game. Kick-off is set for 4 p.m. at Brian Kern Family Stadium.
