SIOUX CITY, Iowa – After holding their opponent to just 21 first-half points, the Dakota Wesleyan University football team was unable to keep Morningside College in check throughout the second half, dropping the Great Plains Athletic Conference road contest, 56-21 on Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa.
On their opening drive of the game, the Tigers drove 70 yards in nine plays and attempted a field goal. However, the Trevor Lambert (Mitchell, S.D.) field-goal attempt fell short to keep the game scoreless.
The Tiger (1-5, 1-5 GPAC) defense held strong on the Morningside opening drive to force a punt and get the ball back to their offense. After three passes from Zachary Lester (Fairbanks, Alaska), the Tigers punted the ball back to the Mustangs (5-0, 5-0 GPAC).
Just three plays later, the Tiger defense proved to be tough again as they forced a fumble, which was recovered by Hayden Schmidt (Plankinton, S.D.). However, the Tigers could not capitalize on the turnover, giving the ball back to Morningside.
After a 45-yard pass, the Mustangs scored the first touchdown of the game on a 10-yard rush to take a 7-0 lead. On their first possession of the second quarter, Morningside doubled its lead thanks to a 38-yard touchdown pass.
A few possessions later, the Tiger defense forced their second fumble of the game to give life for their offense. This time the Tigers capitalized on the turnover as they drove 72 yards in seven plays with a touchdown on a Lester pass to Spencer Neugebauer (Mitchell, S.D.) to bring DWU within one score.
The Mustangs responded with a three-play scoring drive to push their lead back to 14 points. On the ensuing drive, DWU drove all the way down to the Morningside seven-yard line. However, the Tigers were unable to score as they failed on a fourth-down conversion.
Morningside opened the second half with three touchdowns to take a commanding 42-7 advantage. Although, just two plays into the fourth period, Lester notched his second passing touchdown of the game as he found Preston Emerson (Lakeville, Minn.) in the back of the end zone.
Just three plays later, Nate Rupprecht (Bennington, Neb.) stepped in front of the Joe Dolincheck pass for the interception, as he returned it 42 yards for a touchdown to spark the Tiger defense.
However, that was as close as DWU got as the Mustangs tallied two more touchdowns down the stretch to defeat the Tigers.
Rupprecht led the defense with nine tackles and an interception, while Jacob Schafer (Sheldon, Iowa) added two tackles for loss and five total tackles. Offensively, Lester finished 29-for-50 for 305 passing yards and two scores. Neugebauer led the receivers with 10 receptions for 149 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers return home to host Briar Cliff University at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Joe Quintal Field.