DWU falls in Blue & White Days showdown

MITCHELL, S.D. – On a windy a blustery Homecoming, the Dakota Wesleyan University football team was unable to come away victorious as Doane University won the Great Plains Athletic Conference battle, 38-20 Saturday at Joe Quintal Field.

 After both teams went three-and-out in their opening possessions, Doane (3-3, 3-1 GPAC) marched down the field to the DWU one yard line. However, the defense stuffed Doane on three straight plays from inside the five yard line, forcing a 19-yard field goal.

 Moments later, the Tigers from Doane went 19 plays and 88 yards for a touchdown to take a 10-0 lead. But on the next Doane possession, Cody Reichelt (Mitchell, S.D.) picked up a fumble and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown to make it a 10-7 ballgame.

 Doane responded with a three-play 75-yard drive that ended with a 66-yard touchdown rush to make it a 17-7 game at halftime.

 Doane picked up where they left off in the first half as they took their first three drives of the second half in for touchdowns to hold a 38-7 advantage.

 But DWU (1-5, 0-4 GPAC) would not go away quietly as TreVyon McDaniel (Lakewood, Wash.) scampered in for a three-yard touchdown rush. On their next possession, the DWU Tigers went nine plays for 82 yards as Zachary Lester (Fairbanks, Alaska) found Garrett Determan (Watertown, S.D.) for a 42-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 18 points.

 However, it was not enough as Doane came away victorious over DWU on Blue & White Days.

 Lester finished 9-of-18 for 96 passing yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 49 yards on eight rushes. Determan snagged one ball for 42 yards and a touchdown, as Spencer Neugebauer (Mitchell, S.D.) tallied a pair of catches for 23 yards.

 Tyler Wagner (Webster, S.D.) led the defense with 10 total tackles and three tackles for loss. Reichelt added a fumble recovery for a touchdown, nine tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. In the defensive backfield, Jackson Diede (Menno, S.D.) and Nate Rupprecht (Bennington, Neb.) notched a pair of pass breakups.

 DWU travels to take on Concordia University at 1 p.m. on Oct. 12 in Seward, Neb.