Defense dominates as Tigers brush aside winless Briar Cliff

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Sep. 19—MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan's defense was in control from the get-go on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers' offense and special teams weren't far behind.

That complete three-phase effort yielded the biggest win of the season to date, as DWU rolled to a 37-3 victory over Briar Cliff in a Great Plains Athletic Conference contest at Joe Quintal Field. The win moved DWU to 3-0 in GPAC play for the first time since 2015 and 3-1 overall.

"Through these first four games, this was our most complete game. Most definitely," said DWU head coach Alex Kretzschmar, who notched his first three-game win streak leading the Tigers. "There are still some things we've got to clean up, but I thought we played some good complementary football. All around, all three phases did well."

For the game, DWU limited the BCU (0-4, 0-3 GPAC) to 226 total yards and a combined 5-of-18 (27.8%) conversion rate on third and fourth down. Exactly half of the total — 113 of those yards — came in the fourth quarter, with the outcome well out of reach for any Chargers comeback bid. Additionally, the Tigers came away with five sacks and forced four turnovers.

"Even before the game, we were in the locker room talking about flying around and being confident. It was about us," said linebacker Reed Rus. "We didn't think we had a great week last week against Waldorf, so we came out wanting to get after it. It was a fun one today. Everybody was enjoying themselves."

The Tigers came out firing on offense, too, scoring on three of their first four possessions. Jed Jenson tossed scoring strikes of 43 and 35 yards to Caleb Kilbride on either side of a 19-yard touchdown connection with Sean DeBlieck, and it was 21-0 DWU just over 10 minutes into the game.

Meanwhile, BCU's first three drives were all three-and-outs, covering a total of 1 yard and lasting 4:20.

With DWU's defense making life difficult for BCU quarterback Brock Saya, who went 14 for 30 passing with three interceptions, the end result was already something of a formality.

Neither team scored in the second quarter before the Tigers resumed the rout in the second half with three more scores. Landon Iverson weaved his way to a 75-yard touchdown run, Nate Wilber kicked a 22-yard field goal and Jenson scampered for a 4-yard rushing touchdown, making it 37-0 late in the third quarter.

The Chargers kicked a 34-yard field goal on third-and-4 as time expired to spoil what would have been DWU's first GPAC shutout since 2013.

"Realistically, we probably would have done something similar trying to get some points on the board, so I get it," Kretzschmar said. "Ultimately, we've just got to keep them out of that opportunity to score."

"Nobody was a fan of that," Rus offered. "All of us ones (first-team players) were saying we wanted to go back out on the field again that last drive and keep them from scoring. That's just football, though."

Jenson finished 11 of 22 through the air for 197 yards with his three first-quarter touchdown passes against one interception, and he tacked on 26 rushing yards with his fourth touchdown involvement.

Iverson rushed for 129 yards on 13 carries, leading DWU to 182 yards on the ground. Kilbride caught three passes for 90 yards, and DeBlieck also had three receptions for 50 yards, as the Tigers accumulated 423 total yards.

Rus paced the Tiger defense with 11 total tackles, including three for loss with 1.5 sacks, as Drue Davis added three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Trevor Sladky snagged two interceptions, and Tayden Nave had one. Carter Skogsberg forced a fumble that was recovered by Dominic McGargill.

Of note, Saturday marked the 10th straight meeting between the Tigers and Chargers in which the home team prevailed. BCU has not won in Mitchell since Oct. 17, 2009.

For the Chargers, William Quintana had 73 yards rushing on 10 attempts, while Ezra Heiner caught three passes for 32 yards. Tegen Hoffman had 14 total tackles and a pass breakup to lead the defense, and Dayton Harrell grabbed two interceptions with four tackles. Marquise Thomas-Gray had three tackles for loss, including a sack, among his four stops and also recovered a fumble.

Dakota Wesleyan hits the road next week for the first of back-to-back road games, visiting Midland on Sept. 26, in Fremont, Nebraska.

Dakota Wesleyan 37, Briar Cliff 3

Scoring summary

First quarter

DWU: Caleb Kilbride 43 pass from Jed Jenson (Nate Wilber kick), 13:15

DWU: Sean DeBlieck 19 pass from Jenson (Wilber kick), 6:54

DWU: Kilbride 35 pass from Jenson (Wilber kick), 4:52

Third quarter

DWU: Landon Iverson 75 rush (Wilber kick), 10:21

DWU: Wilber 22 field goal, 7:51

DWU: Jenson 4 rush (Wilber kick blocked), 1:52

Fourth quarter

BC: Sveinung Torring 34 field goal, 0:00

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos