Woe is Waldorf: Blue Hawks dominate Warriors at homecoming

Oct. 17—DICKINSON — The Waldorf University football team fell prey to the Dickinson State University Blue Hawks, who sunk their talons into a first-quarter lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

In a display of the roster depth, DSU dominated on all three sides of the ball and especially so on the special teams. The Blue Hawks (3-0, 5-2) defended their nest successfully with a 50-7 lopsided victory against the Warriors (2-1, 6-2) at the Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson on Saturday, Oct. 15. Waldorf University was touted as a challenge for the rising Blue Hawks as the Warriors dominated their first half of the season.

"We were ready for it," Pete Stanton, DSU head coach, said. "You could see it in their eyes all week. Even though the weather was rough to practice in, our guys were on top of it and didn't miss a beat in their preparations."

The first quarter reflected what most analysts thought the game would be as two evenly sided offenses battled it out.

Dickinson State would find second gear however and come out hot 15 minutes into the game, finding the endzone for five touchdowns in the game. The Blue Hawks scored on their first drive of the game in an eight play 75 yards outing, but would intercept Waldorf's responding drive resulting in a field goal.

The Warriors would get onto the scoreboard late in the first quarter on a nine-yard pass and the two teams would close the first quarter in a narrow 10-7 defensive showing favoring DSU.

In the second quarter, the Blue Hawks would lose possession on a 4th-and-1 stop on the Waldorf nine-yard line in what appeared to be a changing of momentum. However, DSU's defense and special teams would see the team return to scoring position. A sack on the Warriors' drive ended with a fourth-down punt attempt that resulted in a fumble — recovered by the Blue Hawks. Two plays later the crowds were on their feet as DSU would make it 27-0.

Waldorf held possession most of the remainder of the first half, pushing for a scoring drive on three yard and four yard plays the length of the field. Still alive with less than a minute left in the first half the Warriors would suffer a momentum shifting setback as Matt Anderson recovered a fumble for the Blue Hawks that would lead to a quick and decisive final 30 second two-play drive for a touchdown on a 11-yard pass to Noah Sickler.

"We started a little slow, they are a very good team to start off with and they hit some things early, but we did a good job of moving the football on offense. We had some different packages this week in short yardage that helped us out and were able to hit some short yardage things that gave us that push," Stanton said.

The third quarter featured no touchdowns, but kicker Wade James of DSU would send two field goals between the uprights to increase the lead. James would end the game 5-for-5, and was perfect on PAT's as well. James is on his way into Dickinson State's record books, needing five more field goals to clinch the season record and an entire second half the season still remaining.

"He has been lights out," Stanton said. "People don't realize how tough those kicks are that he is making. Making kicks in the wind that are crossed wind that he is hitting."

Four of the five times Dickinson State held possession in the final quarter resulted with points gained, garnering them their highest scoring quarter on the night with 20 points. Senior running back Alec Lovegren broke into the endzone twice in the fourth from three yards out on both drives.

The Blue Hawks defense tallied three recovered fumbles, four interceptions and five sacks on the day, pushing the Warriors back 22 yards in the process. Quarterback Aaron White went 17-25 for 213 yards, the longest pass soaring for 64 yards. Running back Riley Linder had 16 carries for 122 rushing yards, averaging 7.6 yards per carry.

"The turnovers were huge," Stanton said. "The biggest one in the game might have been the punt. When they dropped the punt at the three. That set us up to take a three-point lead."

Dickinson State remains undefeated in conference play as they head into midseason.