Tigers down Concordia, 41-17
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University football got off to a slower start than it would have liked Saturday afternoon in its home opener against the Concordia University Bulldogs, but the Tigers quickly made up for lost time.
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University football got off to a slower start than it would have liked Saturday afternoon in its home opener against the Concordia University Bulldogs, but the Tigers quickly made up for lost time.
The Tigers used a 27-point second quarter to propel themselves to a 41-17 win over Concordia in their home and Great Plains Athletic Conference opener Saturday at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell. Dakota Wesleyan is now 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the GPAC and off to a 2-0 start for the second time in as many seasons.
DWU was forced to punt in its first drive of the game, and gave up a field goal to the Bulldogs on the ensuing drive. Both teams punted on their next possessions, and DWU got on the board when Leif Evers connected on a 25-yard field goal 11 seconds into the second quarter. The Tigers got things going on the kickoff when the Bulldogs fumbled and freshman Arthur Brown picked up the ball and ran it back 11 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers kicked off again, but after a penalty on Concordia, the Bulldogs fumbled again, and Jeff Maassen recovered the ball at Concordia's 11 yard line. Quarterback Jon Bane threw an 11-yard pass to Josh Endres to make it 17-3 less than two minutes into the second quarter.
The Bulldogs snagged a DWU fumble on one of their own punts, and ended the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run to make it 17-10. That's as close as they would get, however. Euedell Clayton caught an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:21 left to play in the half to make it 24-10, and after Concordia missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt with 27 seconds left in the half, the Tigers ran the ball from their own 49-yard line to the Bulldogs' 29 where Evers tied a career-best with a 46-yard field goal to make it 27-10 at halftime.
Neither team scored in the third, but the Tigers started the fourth with a short drive and a five-yard touchdown run by Endres. After forcing Concordia to punt, the Tigers put together another short drive and capped it off with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Bane to Anthony Muilenburg to make it 41-10. The Bulldogs added one more touchdown on a 14-yard pass from Cohl Tufford to Colten Quinabo to end the scoring.
Bane completed 20-of-33 passes and threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers. Clayton caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and Muilenburg caught seven passes for 98 yards and a score. Endres carried the ball 27 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Barnaud led the DWU defense with 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks. Jordan Hermanson had 11 tackles and Jesse Holz had nine tackles, including six solo tackles. Cantrell Richardson also had six solo tackles and Aaron Rolen had six tackles – including 2.5 for a loss – and 2.5 sacks.
Dakota Wesleyan threw for 297 yards and ran for 96 more for 393 yards of total defense. The Tiger defense gave up 142 yards on the ground and 97 through the air, allowing Concordia 239 yards of total offense.
The Tigers are back in action Saturday, Sept. 17, when they travel to Sioux City, Iowa, to take on Briar Cliff University at 1 p.m.