Tiger defense wards off Northwestern in GPAC action

MITCHELL, S.D. – The No. 15 Dakota Wesleyan University defense did its part on Saturday to keep the Northwestern College offense off the scoreboard for most of the game in a Great Plains Athletic Conference battle Saturday afternoon at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell, S.D.

  The Tigers mustered enough offensive production to defeat the Red Raiders 44-27 as both teams tallied almost 1,000 yard of total offense.

 Heading into halftime, junior quarterback Dillon Turner (Salem, Ark.) passed for three touchdowns as the Tigers led by 15 points. Late in the third quarter, Gus Haskell (Dell Rapids, S.D.) put the Tigers up by 18 after a 22-yard field goal. At the start of the fourth quarter, Tyrel Haley (Winner, S.D.) found the end zone on a botched snap by the Red Raider punt team. Northwestern didn't go down without a fight, after scoring twice in the middle of the fourth quarter to pull within 10 points. With 2:24 left in the game, Turner found Hayden Adams (Villa Park, Ill.)) on a 15-yard touchdown pass to seal the victory for DWU.

 The Tigers accounted for 477 yards of total offense, while allowing 447 to the Red Raiders. DWU ran 75 plays, rushing for 103 yards and passing for 374 yards in the contest. Turner went 23-of-39 for 374 yards, four scores and an interception. John Fabrizius (Casper, Wyo.) led the DWU rushing attack with 49 yards on 17 carries. Despite leaving the game with an injury, senior Kodi Larson (Tyndall, S.D.) hauled in six catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Adams tallied nine catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

 On the defensive side of the ball for the Tigers, Cohl Ratermann (Colome, S.D.) tallied five tackles, half a sack, one forced fumble, while scoring the Tigers first touchdown of the game on a bad snap by Northwestern. Cody Bonte (Garretson, S.D.) led all tacklers with eight stops and five pass break-ups. Senior Brady Mudder (Garretson, S.D.) added three tackles, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a pass break-up.

 The DWU seniors tied the all-time winningest class with Saturday's win. Coach Ross Cimpl now sits just two wins from third place on the DWU all-time wins list, behind DWU great Bud Dougherty.

 DWU (6-2, 4-1 GPAC) welcomes No. 4 Morningside College for a GPAC bout at 1 p.m. Saturday at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell, S.D.