MITCHELL, S.D. — Dakota Wesleyan Football squared off against the fourth-ranked Morningside Mustangs at Joe Quintal Field for the third home contest of the 2025 season.
The Tigers were the first to strike with a 42-yard field goal towards the end of the first quarter by Danny Carsrud following a solid defensive performance against Morningside’s initial attack. The DWU offense found success in the underneath pass game, with Morningside giving Tiger receivers room to work. Cole Holden led the Tigers in a career day, bringing in 12 catches for 233 total yards and catching both of DWU’s two touchdowns during the game.
Quarterback Jed Jenson went 21-31 for 293 yards, connecting with five other receivers to account for the other 60 passing yards outside of Holden’s performance. Even still, Dakota Wesleyan would not be able to capitalize on all of their offensive drives, leaving room for Morningside to score two touchdowns to go up 14-3 in the second quarter. The Tigers struck back with one of Holden’s two touchdown catches before the half. Still, a good return set Morningside up with good enough field position to get another score heading into the half, up 21-10 on Dakota Wesleyan heading into the locker room.
Dakota Wesleyan brought the game within one score early into the second half on a 19-yard touchdown pass to Holden to bring the score to 21-17. Morningside swung back in just three minutes with a 60-yard drive to go back up 28-17, and the points continued to roll in for the Mustangs as the game continued. Defensively, the Tigers were led by Trevor Sladky, who recorded seven tackles and a tackle-for-loss, and Joe VanOverschelde, who recorded six total tackles on the day. Landon Ruesink led all defensive backs on the team with two pass breakups to prevent big Morningside plays, but sustained drives led to more touchdowns for the Mustangs. Two more third-quarter scores and a fourth-quarter touchdown put the game out of reach for DWU, with the contest ending by a score of 49-17. The Tigers move to 2-5 on the season and 1-5 in GPAC play.
DWU Football will be on a bye next week before returning to Joe Quintal Field on Saturday, October 25th, at 2:00 PM for their Homecoming showdown against Waldorf. S