SCORE
Dordt defeats Morningside 28-24
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Dordt Defender football team scored a touchdown with less than a minute remaining to win improbably on Saturday afternoon in Sioux City over the Morningside Mustangs 28-24.
The game featured long strings of unanswered points as Dordt scored 21 in a row to open the game and Morningside 24 unanswered from late in the second quarter to late in regulation.
Dordt's first score came on a
Kolson Kruse 13 yard run to cap a nine play, 63 yard drive for a 7-0 Dordt lead on the Defenders' first possession of the game. Â Dordt's second touchdown came after a missed Morningside field goal and the Defenders went 72 yards on 12 plays for a 14-0 lead after a completion from
Kade McDaniel to
Brendan Pieper for a three-yard score with 5:28 left in the half.
Dordt forced Morningside to punt on its next possession and Trey Van Hauen burst through and blocked the punt and
Adam Mohning scooped it up and went 11 yards for a the score and an eventually 21-0 lead after
Stephen Leinen's point after.
After an
Abraham Stoesz interception the Defenders appeared poised to march down the field again. The Defenders moved to the 33 yard line with less than a minute left in the half. Morningside's Dihion Walls stepped in front of the first down pass and raced 72 yards to the Dordt eight yard line and Morningside got into the end zone on the second play of the drive to make the halftime score 21-7.
Dordt was unable to move the football in the third quarter and Morningside's first two drives of the half ended with a turnover on downs at the Dordt 15 and a missed 35 yard field goal. Morningside finally found the end zone again with a 58 yard run on fourth and one to cap a seven-play, 80 yard drive to get within 21-14.
The battle for field position continued with Morningside tying the game on a Laken Harnly pass on a reverse to Joshua Simmons for 47 yards with 6:50 remaining. A fumble on the next drive by Dordt gave the hosts a short field and they settled for a field goal with 3:56 left that split the uprights from 25 yards out.
Dordt's ensuing drive started at the 25 and the Defenders faced third and two at their own 33 and
Brendan Pieper went five yards for a first down. Dordt faced third and five again on the next set of downs and another running play by Pieper extended the drive. A pair of Kruse runs for a combined 12 yards followed by a
Nick Wellen two yard run had Dordt at the Morningside 38 yard line. After a Dordt timeout it was Pieper who got the call and cut to the right sideline and nearly scored before being pushed out of bounds at the five. A run for two yards forced a Dordt timeout and
Kolson Kruse kept it himself on the option, lunging in for the score and the eventual 28-24 lead.
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Morningside's last gasp was thwarted by a
Dan Jungling interception at the Dordt 45, the Defenders' third pick of the day.
THE NUMBERS
- Dordt ran for 218 yards and passed for 67 for a total of 285 yards.
- Morningside ran for 139 yards and passed for 317 and totaled 456 yards.
- Morningside had a 31:06-28:54 time of possession advantage.
- Dordt converted 8-14 third down tries while Morningside was 2-12 on third down and 2-4 on fourth down.
DORDT LEADERS
MORNINGSIDE LEADERS
- Zach Chevalier was 18-35 passing for 201 yards.
- Lenx Brown had seven carries for 73 yards.
- Zach Norton caught seven passes for 91 yards and Drew Sellon caught 10 for 70 yards.
NEXT
Dordt will host Dakota Wesleyan on Saturday, November 11 at 1:00 in the regular season finale.
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