Sioux Falls runs away from Doane
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BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
CRETE — Get it out of the way quickly.
Sioux Falls, the Warren Buffett of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, was the winner for the 68th time in its last 69 conference games with a 37-7 victory against Doane College on Saturday at Simon Field.
Sioux Falls, winner of 28 consecutive conference games and 12 conference titles since 1994 and two-time NAIA national champion, is still a stock on the rise.
Dakota Wesleyan overcame four turnovers and held on for a 19-14 win against Midland Lutheran on Saturday in Fremont, handing the No. 19 Warriors their first loss of the season.
Midland Lutheran’s Bryan Khan capped a 14-play, 94-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown to cut Dakota Wesleyan’s lead to 13-7 late in the third quarter.
But Dakota Wesleyan answered with a 10-play scoring drive that gave it a 19-7 lead with 11 minutes, 41 seconds remaining.
After cutting the lead to 19-14, the Warriors could not capitalize on a two Dakota Wesleyan fumbles inside Wesleyan territory.
Khan rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Raymon Blossom rushed for 152 yards on 29 carries for Dakota Wesleyan.
* TRUMAN STATE 26, NEBRASKA-OMAHA 20, 2OT: In Kirksville, Mo., Truman State picked off a pass and ran it in for a touchdown in double overtime to hand UNO its second straight loss of the season.
Turnovers haunted the Mavericks all day. Truman State picked off a tipped pass on UNO’s first possession and then scored on Albert Coker’s 45-yard touchdown reception.
UNO then drove down inside the Truman State 10-yard line, but quarterback Zach Miller fumbled the ball. Truman State’s Derek Rodriguez scooped it up and ran 93 yards for the score that made it 14-0.
UNO (3-2, 2-2 MIAA) took its first lead of the day early in the fourth quarter. Brian McNeill capped a 77-yard drive with a 2-yard plunge to put the Mavericks up 17-14.
The two teams traded field goals in overtime before Truman State scored on the interception return.
UNO’s Brian McNeill rushed for 154 yards and one touchdown.
* NEBRASKA-KEARNEY 41, COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO 10: Freshman running back Rustin Dring accounted for 250 total yards and Nebraska-Kearney beat Colorado State-Pueblo in Kearney.
UNK’s Jake Mandelko intercepted a pass on CS-Pueblo’s second play from scrimmage. The Lopers (3-3, 3-1 RMAC) then went 23 yards in eight plays, which was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jake Spitzlberger.
The next time the Lopers got the ball, Spitzlberger directed a 10 play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard scoring pass to sophomore Brandon Dondlinger.
Dring finished the game with 181 yards rushing on 25 carries. He also had 69 receiving yards. Mandelko had seven tackles and a pass breakup to go along with his interception.
* CHADRON STATE 56, NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS 14: New Mexico Highlands led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, but the Eagles dominated the remainder of the game. The Eagles (5-1, 4-0 RMAC) tallied eight touchdowns and rolled up 486 yards.
Chadron State quarterback Joe McLain completed 21-of-26 passes for 287 yards and three TDs. He also ran for a score.
* NORTHWESTERN 49, CONCORDIA 2: Taylor Malm rushed for 90 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns for Northwestern.
Malm scored on touchdown runs of 20 and 1 yards to give Northwestern a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Concordia quarterback Kyle Schmidt was 10 of 18 for 80 yards. He also threw two interceptions.
* WAYNE STATE 34, UPPER IOWA 14: Logan Masters had 10 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns, all season-highs, to lead Wayne State in Fayette, Iowa. The Wildcats improved to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the Northern Sun Conference.
Wayne State quarterback Silas Fluellen was 18-of-29 for 291 yards and two touchdowns.
The Wildcats racked up 401 total yards, compared with 273 for Upper Iowa.
* HASTINGS 35, DORDT 0: Hastings jumped to a quick lead and cruised from there.
Nick Grummert scored on a 14-yard run and Taylor Spencer added a 5-yard run to give the Broncos a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
In the third quarter, Maurice Mansfield hauled in a 20-yard pass from Dayton Edwards for a 21-0 lead. On the ensuing Dordt possession, cornerback Jeff Klug stepped in front of a Scotty Walden pass and returned it 26 yards for a score.
Edwards finished 10-of-14 for 119 yards and a touchdown.
* MORNINGSIDE 58, DANA 7: Morningside rolled up 511 yards of offense to remain unbeaten.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead, then scored three more touchdowns to take a commanding 41-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
Morningside quarterback Ian Gilworth completed 19 of 33 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns.
Dana quarterback Marcus Sladek completed 26 of 47 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 56 yards.
* PERU STATE 47, WALDORF 21: Nate Jeter rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns and Peru State used a 26-point second half to defeat Waldorf.
Peru State racked up 402 yards.
Lorenzo Brown, the second-ranked Cougars’ starting quarterback, scored on two runs, led his team with 68 yards rushing on 10 carries and passed for 133 yards.
The USF defense, which had allowed just two touchdowns this year, held Doane to 94 yards of total offense.
“Well, we had some penalties that we need to get away from and Doane hung in there and slugged it out all game long,” said fourth-year Sioux Falls coach Kalen DeBoer, who has a record of 63-3. “When we get in a rhythm on offense we play well. And our defense is something that we can hang our hat on. And our second string is pretty good and kind of wore down Doane.
“I guess I’m pretty happy. But you know the expectations around our program are so darn high. That’s good. We were upset we gave up a touchdown. That’s those expectations again.”
For Doane (2-3 overall and 1-3 in the GPAC) there were a few bright spots.
The Tigers gave up a touchdown on a fumbled snap but held Sioux Falls to a 16-0 halftime lead. Doane also became the first team to post positive rushing yards against the Cougars this year, with 35 on the ground — that’s 39.5 yards more than Sioux Falls’ first four opponents averaged.
“We go in at halftime and figure our defense has given up just nine points to the best team in our conference and certainly one of the best in the country,” Doane coach Matt Franzen said. “We talked about how a score early in the second half had us right in the game. But Sioux Falls being Sioux Falls drove right down the field, very methodically, and made it 23-0.
“Meanwhile, their defense is the best I’ve seen in NAIA football in my 13 years of coaching at this level,” he said. “Their linebackers are great. They have so much speed. They throw a blitz at us, and we figure our short pass routes should be wide-open and here comes the safeties and we get 4 yards.
“We blitz. They run the same play and a guy is wide-open and getting 15 yards and more.”
Sioux Falls drove 73 yards in 15 plays to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Ryan Lowmiller to open the second half. The Cougars scored on a Brown run to open the fourth quarter and on a touchdown pass from backup Bret Beachner to Erik Cimpl with 10:21 left in the game.
Doane finally cracked the Sioux Falls defense for a 41-yard touchdown pass from J.R. Artozqui to Antony Ritton with 8:32 left. Doane became only the second team to score on Sioux Falls this year.
“Doane has come a long way from last year and the last couple of years,” DeBoer said. “Before, it seemed like they were amped up for the first drive. We’d score and they’d try to survive for 58 minutes. This time, we scored, but they kept fighting and hitting and they’re going to be a tough team in this conference.”
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.
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