Yankton, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan football pushed their win streak to four with their 51-45 2OT shootout with Mount Marty. The Tigers racked up a staggering 543 yards of total offense compared to the Lancers 489 giving both teams over 1K in the game. The 51 points and 543 total yards for DWU was the most since 2018 when they scored 64 points and had 822 yards of offense against Presentation College. The Tigers picked up 31 first downs, went 6 for 12 on third downs, and forced two key turnovers in the game. DWU improves to 5-1 (4-1 GPAC) while the Lancers fall to 2-4 (1-4 GPAC). Dakota Wesleyan stays unbeaten against Mount Marty with a perfect 3-0 record. This is the Tigers best record through the first six games since 2015 when the 9-2 Tigers that year started 5-1 as well.
Game Notes
- Jamin Arend rushed for a career-high 212 yards while breaking the school record with his five rushing touchdowns.
- Austin Lee moved into 10th all-time in career passing yards with his 252 yards and two TD in the game.
- Kiel Nelson had 112 yards and one touchdown receiving, making that his third straight game with 100+ receiving yards.
- Ethan Engen had a career-high 10 tackles and tied a career-high with 1.5 sacks, making that two games in a row with 1.5 sacks.
- Jaxon Patrick had a career-high (9) points going a perfect 6-6 on extra points and drilling his lone field goal attempt from a season-long distance of 31 yards.
Recap
Jamin Arend had a monster day with his 42 touches for 238 yards and a school record five touchdowns. His 212 rushing yards propelled him into third all-time in DWU history in career rushing. The Lancers had no answer for Arend and the Tigers offensive line in the run game from start to finish. Of Jamin’s 212 rushing yards most came from yards after contact, as Arend was shaking off arm tackles all night.
DWU opened the game facing a 14-0 deficit with the Lancers scoring on both their first drives with big strikes through the air. The Tiger offense struggled to find their rhythm in the first two drives, but whatever was said on the sideline changed that quick with Dakota Wesleyan going on to score touchdowns in four of their next five drives. Every time DWU put points on the board MMU answered with a score of their own though, making it a tied 21-21 ball game at halftime.
In the fourth quarter the ‘bell cow’ back in Arend started to take over the game, imposing his will on the Lancer defense with physical run after physical run that visibly was wearing down the Mount Marty defense. His offensive line matched Arend’s physicality as well delivering punishing blocks left and right in front of their star back. The Tigers, down seven with five minutes on the clock committed a costly turnover with Lee getting hit and just overthrowing his intended receiver and a Lancer defender standing right there to intercept the pass. With the ball back, seven-point lead, and had been having great success against the Tiger defense, the door looked as though it was slowly closing for DWU in this one. That was when DWU on a big pass connection stripped the ball from the Lancer receiver and came up big recovering it and giving the ball back to the offense with three minutes left, down by seven.
It was Austin Lee and Cole Holden though who came up with the big play down the stretch when the team needed it most with time winding down in the game and needing a score. Lee and company facing a first and twenty after a holding penalty and with just 53 seconds left in the game, dropped back and threw a perfect dart to Holden up the left side in the back corner of the endzone where only Cole could get it. Holden made an unbelievable grab and did a little tony two-tap just keeping his feet in bounds for the touchdown and tying the game at 38 after Jaxon Patrick hit the clutch extra point with just 46 seconds left.
In overtime the Tigers got the ball first and went Arend-Arend-Arend for chunks of 6, 12, and capped off with a strong seven-yard touchdown run to give him the school record at four touchdowns and give DWU the lead at 45-38. Mount Marty wasted no time connecting on a touchdown pass on the first play on offense to even the score and send it to 2OT. The Lancers got the ball first in the double overtime and went three straight incomplete passes, forcing them to attempt a 43-yard field goal. The attempt was blocked by Gavin Spurrell and the ball eventually fell way short, setting up the Tigers to walk away with the win with any score on their drive from the 25. As you might have guessed the Tigers went to Arend five straight times, with the biggest rush coming on second and six when he busted a 15-yard run setting up first and goal from the MMU 6. The Lancer defense did hold strong holding Arend and the Tigers offense to four yards in the first two attempts, setting up a third and goal from the MMU 2. The DWU coaching staff stayed with their work horse that had carried them all game and he didn’t disappoint plunging it from two yards out right up the middle with a little help from his offensive lineman pushing from behind.
Head-to-Head (Mount Marty)
- Dakota Wesleyan stays a perfect 3-0 against Mount Marty with their football program just starting three years ago.
Up Next
- Dakota Wesleyan football returns to Joe Quintal for a matchup against a tough No. 3 ranked Morningside University. The game is set for Saturday, October 14 at 1:00 p.m.