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Jimmies football heading to Northwestern trying to pull off upset

maxwell o'neill, the jamestown sun, n.d.
·5 min read

Nov. 10—ORANGE CITY, Iowa. — The University of Jamestown is hoping to send their seniors off with a win when they go to top-ranked Northwestern College (Iowa) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11.

"It's the last game of the season for some of these guys," Jimmies wide receiver Isaiah Roebuck said. "For some of these guys it's the last one they'll ever have. I want to do my best to make it a good one, that's my only expectation. I feel like everyone feels the same way."

The Jimmies will try to get their first win over a ranked opponent since they beat the then No. 20-ranked Valley City State University on Sept. 20, 2008.

The Jimmies and Red Raiders have played five times since 2018 with the Red Raiders owning a 5-0 record. Last year, the Red Raiders got a 48-3 win over the Jimmies.

"I think it would shock a lot of people," Jimmies head coach Brian Mistro said. "It would send a statement to our players that we can play with the best teams in the country and that gives us a lot of motivation going into the offseason. So I think it would mean a lot to our guys to go down there and show what we can do."

The 2-8 Jimmies are coming off a 39-30 loss to Briar Cliff University on Nov. 4. The 10-0 Red Raiders head into this game after a 49-28 win over Dakota Wesleyan University on Nov. 4.

"I'm interested to see how our guys battled back after a pretty emotional loss last week with a penalty-ridden game, a game where we thought, watching the game on film, they made five plays that we didn't," Mistro said. "I thought we pretty much did things really well for 95% of the game and then 5% of those plays went for touchdowns. We had the strip sack that was a defensive touchdown, we had three fade balls that they scored on and we had a strip sack that gave them the ball inside the 10-yard line. So, if you take away those 30 points the game is probably different but you can't do that. That's why the game of football is really fun, it's an emotional roller coaster."

The Jimmies head into this game on a four-game losing streak. Defensive lineman Caleb Ritter emphatically expressed what a win in this game would mean to him.

"It would mean the entire world I'd say just because having our terrible loss streak end on beating the reigning champ as well as the number one seed would be monumental," Ritter said.

This season, the Mustangs offense is averaging 463.5 yards of total offense and 41 points per game. On the ground they have been led by Konnor McQuillan who has 137 carries for 989 yards and 17 touchdowns.

The Jimmies defense is giving up 321.5 yards per game with 137.7 of those coming on the ground and are giving up 26.2 points per game. One of the players who will be tasked with stopping McQuillan is defensive lineman Paul Vandal. As far as what they have to do to stop the Red Raiders offense, Vandal kept his answer simple.

"Keep dominating up front and trust the guys behind us," Vandal said.

Mistro said Johnny Grann will be making his fourth consecutive start this week. In his previous three games, Grann has completed 50% of his passes for 876 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Jimmies are averaging 303.7 yards per game with 238.3 of those coming through the air and 19.9 points per game. Defensively, the Red Raiders are giving up 290.1 yards per game with 193.4 of those coming through the air and they are giving up 16.4 points per game.

In order to have a big game, Roebuck said he has to win his matchups and run clean routes.

Despite almost giving up 200 passing yards per game, the Red Raiders secondary is a dangerous one as junior defensive back Cody Moser has eight interceptions, which is the most in the country. In total, the Red Raiders have 15 interceptions and four fumble recoveries.

"It's gonna be a challenge but it's a challenge every week for us," Roebuck said. "So, we're gonna attack it the same exact way."

Despite the statistical differences between the two teams, Mistro said his team will not be changing their entire playbook to try to win this game.

Mistro said he is looking for his team to try to make the Red Raiders more of a predictable team.

"If we can mitigate and stop one of their avenues of success and try to make them one dimensional whether that's throwing the ball or running the ball I think that gives us a chance to be in a better spot to win the football game," Mistro said. "Offensively, they're really good defensively, so it's a matter of we have to take what they give us and we can't overexert ourselves and try to make the big play every play. We have to be able to extend drives, get first downs and make sure that we're taking what they give us."