Tigers cruise to Senior Day victory

MITCHELL, S.D. – On a day where the Dakota Wesleyan University football team recognized its seniors, they sent them off with a bang. DWU outplayed Briar Cliff University after allowing just 87 yards of offense in a 26-7 victory on a windy Saturday at Joe Quintal Field.

 The Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup began with a DWU defensive three-and-out. On its opening possession of the game, the Tiger offense strung together a nine-play, 42-yard drive that was capped off with a Spencer Neugebauer (Mitchell, S.D.) six-yard touchdown rush.

 On the next possession, the Charger (1-5, 1-5 GPAC) quarterback attempted to throw the ball away. But Hayden Schmidt (Plankinton, S.D.) read the play and made a diving interception to set up the Tiger offense in positive territory.

 The Tigers (2-5, 2-5 GPAC) struggled to capitalize on the turnover as they attempted a field goal. Tate Gale (Irene, S.D.) made sure DWU scored on the drive as he nailed a 37-yard field goal to push the lead to 10 points.

 After a Briar Cliff punt pinned DWU inside its own one-yard line, the Tigers needed to find some breathing room. Jamin Arend (Emery, S.D.) made sure they got out of the shadows of their own goal posts as he caught a pass for 16 yards.

 Zachary Lester (Fairbanks, Alaska) and Arend led the team down the field with long runs and short passes. However, DWU settled for a field goal that was blocked. But a personal foul on the Chargers gave new life to DWU. Following the penalty, the Tigers gained three yards but could not get any farther. Gale came onto the pitch to attempt another field goal, this time converting on a 20-yard attempt, making the score 13-0 in favor of DWU.

 Two plays later, the Chargers put the ball on the turf, as Joshua Garry (Sioux Falls, S.D.) came away with the fumble recovery. The Tigers made quick work of the turnover as Arend scampered into the end zone from 27 yards out to push the lead to 20-0.

 The second half began with a Briar Cliff kickoff that got caught in the wind and bounced backwards to the Charger kickoff team. BCU jumped on the kick to set up at the DWU 30-yard line. However, the Tiger defense held strong again as Trey Bohlmann (Menno, S.D.) picked off a Briar Cliff pass for the third takeaway on the day.

 Both offenses stalled in their next two possessions as the scoring slowed. Following a negative-yardage punt, DWU began its next drive on the opposite 18-yard line. Seven plays later, Lester found Neugebauer for a short touchdown pass to extend the Tiger lead to 26-0.

 Besides a Charger touchdown with 10:27 left to play, both teams played out the remainder of the game as DWU cruised to its second victory of the season.

 Arend rushed for 98 yards on 15 carries for a touchdown and snagged four catches for 48 yards, as Neugebauer finished with 41 receiving yards on seven catches along with 61 rushing yards for two touchdowns.

 Defensively, Tziah Owens (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tallied seven tackles and a tackle for loss, as Dominick Warmbein (Sioux Falls, S.D.) posted four total tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss.

 The Tigers have a bye week before playing the University of Jamestown on Nov. 14 in Bismarck, N.D.