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Posted by
Corey Westra
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Sat, Oct 24, 2009
- [
Football
] - Viewed 788 times
 GPAC Football Has Wild Week Eight
Morningside dodged a bullet and rallied from a 21-6 halftime deficit to remain undefeated with a 38-27 victory against Midland Lutheran College on Saturday in Fremont, Neb. Meanwhile, 12th ranked Northwestern needed a score with under a minute to go to win at Briar Cliff.
Morningside, ranked fifth nationally in the NAIA, climbed to 7-0 on the season, but not without a scare when the upset minded Warriors held the high scoring Mustangs to a single touchdown in the opening 30 minutes. Morningside, which entered the game with a scoring average of 52.3 points per game, struck for 32 points after the intermission and took the lead for good when Joe Don Hunter broke loose for a 47-yard touchdown run to put the Mustangs on top 26-21 with 44 seconds left in the third quarter. The Mustangs scored again less than one minute later when Tim Richard completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Jake Peterson on the first play after a Dana punt to extend their lead to 32-21 with seven seconds left in the third quarter. Richard's passing saved the Mustangs on a day when the Warriors' defense limited the Mustangs' rushing attack to 77 yards. Morningside had entered the game averaging 283.0 yards rushing per game and Peterson, the nation's leading rusher, was held below 100 yards for the first time all season with 63 yards in 20 carries. With the Mustangs' running game stymied, the Mustangs turned to Richard, who completed 17 of 25 pass attempts for 254 yards and three touchdowns. Aside from his 45-yard TD pass to Peterson, Richard also threw scoring strikes of 11 yards to Bradley Norwood and 48 yards to Beau Kildow. Kildow finished with six catches for 98 yards, while Norwood enjoyed his most productive game of the season with a season's high five catches for 76 yards. The touchdown pass to Norwood was the Mustangs' only score in the first half, while the touchdown pass to Kildow was the school-record 32nd TD reception of his career. Peterson had a record tying touchdown when he capped the scoring with a seven-yard TD run with 7:59 left in the half for his 15th rushing TD of the season to tie a Morningside record first set by Tyler Childress in 2005. Midland Lutheran took a 21-6 lead into the intermission largely on the strength of Darious Bentley, who finished the contest with 138 yards rushing in 22 attempts. Bentley had a 20-yard touchdown run with 6:41 left in the first quarter to open the scoring and later broke loose for an 81-yard TD dash with 3:58 left in the half. The Warriors' other first half touchdown came on a one-yard run by Brandon Brooks. Morningside freshman defensive back Ben Rickord helped turn the momentum in the Mustangs' favor three plays into the second half when he stripped the ball from the Warrior's Tyler Pacas and returned the fumble 23 yards for a touchdown to pull the guests within 21-12 at the 13:50 mark of the third quarter and start the Mustangs' 32-point onslaught in the second half.
Marshall Tuttle collected three solos and 10 assists for a game-high 13 tackles to lead the Mustangs' defense, while Riley Tusha and Vernon Moore each had a season's high eight stops. Moore and Ben Haugen each had quarterback sacks, while Mike Buckley and Ryan Klein each had interceptions on the Warriors' last two possessions of the game. In Sioux City the Briar Cliff football team gave visiting Northwestern nearly all it could handle today, at BCU's Memorial Field. The NAIA No. 12 Red Raidersneeded a late-game rally to record a 33-25 victory. After a scoreless first quarter,both teams struck twice in the second.With BCU leading 21-14 after three, Northwestern outscored Briar Cliff, 19-7 in the final stanza.
Behind freshman Lehi Tonga, the Chargers produced three, 60-plus yard scoring drives. Tonga was 12-23 for 230 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. He hit Luke Roder on a 10-yard score in the first and again on a 24-yard route in the fourth. Tonga also had a 74-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Prohaska and a 43-yard strike to Troy Dobbins.
GPAC Football - Week Eight
Nebraska Wesleyan University 27, Concordia University 13
Northwestern College 33, Briar Cliff University 28 Doane College 24, Dordt College 12 Hastings College 38, Dana College 7 University of Sioux Falls 59, Dakota Wesleyan University 7 Morningside College 38, Midland Lutheran College 27 |
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