Week one of GPAC football is in the books and all teams have played their first game.  That brings us to week two and a new set of home openers for five teams in the league.  The Victory Sports Network once again presents the VSN/GPAC Football Preview by B. Lynn Fouts...

 

by: B. Lynn Fouts

  A wise old bird once said, “You are never as bad as you looked one game and never as good as you looked in another.” If that’s the case, we may need several more weeks to get a handle on the GPAC, as several schools had games to the extremes on September 1^st. While the league enters week two, a very young Doane group will have a week off as they wait for their arch rival NWU in week three.

  The Top-ranked Cougars visit Memorial Stadium in Fremont this weekend appearing to be cruising in mid-season stride. A couple of names new to GPAC fans emerged at running back in week one; Erik Cimpl and Ishmael Small. They combined for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns. Quarterback Chad Cavender tossed for 320 yards and a couple scores. The defense was solid again, allowing only 2 field goals and 199 yards. Midland Lutheran hurt themselves with turnovers on offense as they accumulated over 450 yards from scrimmage. Dustin Lindstrom will need to have as big a game, (135 yards on 16 carries), so the Warriors can control some clock. If MLC doesn’t turn the ball over and makes the Cougars earn everything they get, this might be a fun game.

  The Broncos edged an improved Dakota State squad by allowing only three field goals on five Trojan series that started within the 35 of Hastings. The bad news is the offense continued to give good field position to the visitors. The defense kept DSU out of the end zone all evening and it needed to as the Broncos offense was not sharp other than the opening drive for the game’s only touchdown. Ten first downs in 60 minutes won’t garner many wins. Briar Cliff shot out to an early advantage also, but then Concordia reeled off 30 unanswered points. The rushing game is still a question mark for the Chargers; if BCU doesn’t run well it puts too much pressure on the quarterbacks. They will need to establish a ground attack against the Broncos who gave up 231 rushing yards last week. If the BCU defense doesn’t keep an eye on Maurice Mansfield at all times, the Broncos will have some success in moving the ball.

How good are the Bulldogs on offense? I expect that experienced O-line to continue to make room for JaMaine Lewis and Chad Harmon to run; both had touchdown runs over 60 yards last week. It will be on the defensive side of the ball that CUNE will ultimately make their mark. They stymied Briar Cliff, allowing 42 rushing yards and 220 in the air, (two INTs were big). Look for junior D-linemen Matt Baller and Brock Simonson to have big seasons in Seward. Dana moved the ball effectively early, but couldn’t control the Cougar D-Line, gaining only 64 net yards rushing. Marcus Sladek found BJ Fields 8 times through the air and should have a bit more time to operate this Saturday. After USF totaled 559 yards against them, it looks like the pressure will again fall on the Vikings D to stop the Bulldog attack .

  Things couldn’t have worked out better for the Tigers against Midland Lutheran. However temper the enthusiasm just a moment as the defense gave up over 450 yards, 247 on the ground. DWU quarterbacks Jon Doom and Tanner Tucker combined for 14 of 24 for 231 yards and 4 touchdown tosses, but will run into a better D in Orange City. That said, this Tiger team might be ready to roar in the league. The Red Raiders turned 136 yards of offense and an INT returned for a touchdown into a win; that may not happen again for quite a while. Look for Coach Otten to focus on developing a running game to take pressure off signal caller Craig Hector. NWC will need a defensive effort better than last week to handle a fired-up Dakota Wesleyan squad that will push the hosts to the limit a second weekend in a row.

RV Nebraska Wesleyan at #11 Morningside, 7PM 

  The Prairie Wolves had wanted an opportunity to crash the party at the top of the GPAC and then had it slip through their fingers when it presented itself Saturday night. 2 PATs and 2 field goal attempts all went awry. That plus just one of five in 4^th down conversions let Northwestern grab a 13-12 win at Abel stadium. NWU had a 358 to 136 advantage in yardage and allowed the Red Raiders to invade their 40 yard line just once all evening. How they react after a loss like this will say tons about their season. Morningside scored 73 points in their opener, including CJ Gradoville running in his own blocked field goal attempt for a touchdown. Transfer Ian Gilworth debuted with 18 of 27 for 282 yards and 2 td tosses after wrestling the quarterback job away from the incumbent this fall. The story for the Mustangs though was an experienced defense that held Doane to less than 50 total yards. Don’t expect as many points from the hosts this Saturday, but Morningside should have enough to tilt the scoreboard their direction.