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North Dakota defense shuts down South Dakota offense in 42-14 Fighting Sioux victory
South Dakota (2-1, 0-1) had just 38 net yards rushing and 86 net yards passing, while North Dakota (3-0, 1-0) had 394 yards of total offense (181 rushing, 213 passing). Among the North Dakota defensive leaders were safety Brad Wagner (Sr., Mandan, N.D.), who had six solo tackles and three assisted tackles, and cornerback Dustin Thornburg (So., Forest Lake, Minn.), who had four solo tackles and broke up three passes. South Dakota punter Filip Filipovic (Jr., Belgrade, Yugoslavia) punted 15 times for 616 yards (41.1 yard average, breaking the Coyotes single-game record for most punts and yardage. The previous USD single-game record was 12 punts for 558 yards by Bill Moats vs. Nevada-Reno in 1978. Filipovic's 15 punts were one short of the NCC conference record of 16 punts in one game set by South Dakota State's Mike Doty in a 1971 game against North Dakota. UND junior wide receiver Dan Graf (Aberdeen, S.D.) had five receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and had 226 all-purpose yards (95 receiving yards, 104 punt return yards, 27 kick return yards). UND junior running back Jed Perkerewicz (Washburn, N.D.) rushed 19 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns. The Fighting Sioux scored first when Perkerewicz scored on a 13-yard run with 10:25 to play in the first quarter, capping a six-play, 53-yard drive. After Perkerewicz was stopped for no gain on the first play of the drive, UND quarterback Kelby Klosterman (So., Spearfish, S.D.) completed consecutive passes to tight end Chad Mustard (Jr., Columbus, Neb.) for 13 yards and wide receiver Robbie Holmquist (Sr., Buffalo, Minn.) for 22 yards to move the ball to the Coyote 18-yard line. A five-yard run by Perkerewicz and an incomplete pass made it third down and five at the USD 13-yard line, and on the next play, Perkerewicz scored. North Dakota upped its lead to 14-0 with 1:16 to play in the first quarter when Graf caught a pass deflected by Holmquist for a 24-yard touchdown. Graf had caught a pass for 17 yards on the previous play. South Dakota narrowed the score to 14-7 with 11:04 to play in the second quarter when Coyote quarterback Ryan Justice connected with freshman flanker Charles Johnson on a nine-yard touchdown pass, completing a three-play, 11-yard drive set up by a blocked punt. The blocked punt came as North Dakota faced a 4th and 2 from its own 31. USD's Ronnie McDougle blocked a punt attempt by Fighting Sioux punter Dan Hildebrandt (Sr., Medford, Ore.), and Coyote special-teams player Collin Busse scooped the ball up at the Fighting Sioux 20-yard line and returned it to the UND 11. Three plays later Justice hit Johnson for the touchdown, and the first half ended with the Fighting Sioux leading 14-7. South Dakota had a chance to tie the score on its first possession of the second half. Facing a 2nd-and-11 from his own 19-yard line, Justice found wide receiver Steve Young all alone on a deep pattern down the middle of the field, but Young dropped Justice's perfectly thrown pass. Two plays later, Filipovic boomed a 57-yard punt to the North Dakota 27-yard line, but Graf found an opening down the left sideline and returned the punt 47 yards to the Coyote 26. A personal foul by South Dakota gave UND a first down on the USD 13-yard line, and the Fighting Sioux immediately converted, as Klosterman hit Holmquist with a 13-yard touchdown pass. That gave UND a 21-7 lead with 12:55 to play in the third quarter. South Dakota responded with his best drive of the game. The Coyotes drove 63 yards in seven plays and scored with 9:41 left in the third on a 20-yard, play-action pass from Justice to tight end Dustin Sagedahl, who was wide open in the right side of the end zone. The next six drives of the game resulted in punts, three by each team, but UND finally capitalized on its second possession of the fourth quarter. Two UND penalties forced the Fighting Sioux into a 3rd-and-36 from their own 33-yard line. From there, Perkerewicz ran 23 yards to the USD 44, and a USD facemask penalty added an additional five yards and allowed the Sioux another third-down play. On that play (3rd and 8 from the Coyote 39), Klosterman found Graf open on a short slant down the middle, and Graf outran the USD secondary for a 39-yard touchdown pass. That extended the Sioux lead to 28-14 with 10:27 to play. North Dakota closed the scoring with two late touchdowns, one a 32-yard touchdown run by Perkerewicz and the other a 37-yard touchdown run by freshman Jim Miller (Stanley, N.D.). It was Miller's first collegiate touchdown. In its next game, North Dakota will travel to Mankato, Minn., where it will take on Minnesota State, Mankato (0-3, 0-1) on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. at Blakeslee Stadium, while South Dakota travels to Fargo to play North Dakota State (3-0, 1-0). |
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