The top of the NSAA changed in a day with DSU throttling of Waldorf
Sep. 25—FOREST CITY, Ia. — It's not every day the tables turn, but they did at Waldorf University with a palindrome of points that placed Dickinson State University atop the North Star Athletic Association for the umpteenth time. The 41-14 win creates a situation unique to the conference as Waldorf is leaving the NSAA as of next year, and there is no reason to believe DSU will relinquish the throne anytime soon. Waldorf came into the game riding high at the top with a 2-0 record in the conference, but took it on the chin from DSU and were superseded in the process and fell to 3-2 on the season.
Compelling as the back-story might have been, the Blue Hawks (3-1, 2-0) came out of the gate with a purpose, and extended their record to 3-1, and they're flying high on a three-game winning streak that could continue for the rest of the 2023 schedule. The team scored 10 first-quarter points and piled on another 17 before the half while holding the Warriors scoreless for the opening 30 minutes on the field. The ever-reliable Will Madler took the ball from under center and blazed to 70 yards on eight plays during the opening drive and capped it off with a gritty 1-yard run of his own. Chase Miller converted the kick before notching a 20-yard field goal on DSU's next possession then tacked on another 25-yard field goal after that in the second quarter to extend the Blue Hawk lead to 13-0 with 8:25 remaining in the half.
On those opening drives, Braden Zuroff was like a metronome, ripping off a 12-yard run here and a 13-yard run there for Dickinson State, not only keeping the Waldorf offense off the field but chewing up valuable time in the process.
No matter, the DSU defense again proved their worth, and throughout the game limited Waldorf to only 111 passing yards on 44 plays. The Warriors were never able to get things moving and might have rushed for 115 yards — the most surrendered by DSU this season — but the Blue Hawk rushing attack yielded 363 yards on their own right to stymie WU's momentum and keep them off the field for 36:27 during the game.
The capper came with 6:14 left in the half on a Zuroff TD from 3-yards out that gave DSU all the points they would need the rest of the way and the score was set up by a Madler pass to Dickinson native Kaden Kuntz for 17 yards and another Madler pass to another Dickinson standout, Noah Sickler, for 27 more yards on the drive.
With a 20-0 lead, the Blue Hawks stifled the Warriors again on a three-and-out defensive standoff that led to a 27-0 lead courtesy of a 1-yard Madler-to-Sickler pass that was again set up by brilliant contributions from Kuntz and Sickler for 63 combined receiving yards on the drive. That 9-play, 63-yard drive from DSU broke the Warriors backs just before the halftime whistle and the Blue Hawks kept pouring salt into the Warriors' wounds after returning to the field.
It took only 1:56 into the third quarter before Jatoviay Hill pounded the ball in from 8-yards-out for the Warriors, but even that was too-little, too-late as the Blue Hawks ran the game into the ground and consumed so much clock Waldorf was left gasping for air and grasping at straws to get its act together.
In the opening seconds of the fourth-quarter, the DSU offense benefited from great field-position at their own 49 and Zuroff worked his magic again on a 35-yard run that was shortly followed by a 2-yard scoring scamper at the 10:55 mark in the fourth quarter and a 34-7 lead that led the way to another 2-yard score that was set up by a series of solid runs and a 13-yard completion from Madler to tight end Galen Brantley to close out DSU's scoring at with 5:07 remaining. Waldorf managed a late touchdown to make the score 41-14 at the finish, but it was a pyrrhic effort at best considering the avalanche of points on the other side of the scoreboard.
Chase Miller was again at his consistent best, converting all five of his extra-point kicks and a pair of field goals to pace DSU, while Madler was 17-of-26 during the day with 174 yards and a TD. The 363 combined rushing yards from the Blue Hawks proved to be the difference-maker, eating up valuable seconds and acres of real estate as Zuroff racked up 185 all on his own to go along with the tree scores. Sickler and Kuntz had hands like glue during the game, with Sickler snaring 7 catches for a team-high 75 yards to go along with Kuntz's 6 catches for 59.
On defense (for the limited time they spent on the field) the Blue Hawks saw sophomore linebacker Brooks Talbot rack up 5 tackles — 3 of them solo — and junior defensive back Joey DeMarco added 4 tackles of his own on 3 solar efforts. The Blue Hawks were open-field magicians with 29 solo tackles on the day, a statistic which was reflected in the Warriors' lack of production and scoring opportunities.
Next-up for DSU will be the finale of the team's three-game, month-long road trip to Valley City State on Saturday, Sept. 30 for a 2 p.m. MDT start-time before the team returns for Homecoming on Oct. 7 versus Dakota State at 1 p.m. MDT.
For more information about Dickinson State University's football team, please visit
https://www.dsubluehawks.com/sports/fball/index
and/or keep reading your Dickinson Press.
