Sports
Much-improved Jacks axe Fond du Lac
Matthew Semisch
10/14/2014
Not perfect, but much, much better.
That in a nutshell describes the Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) football team’s 43-6 rout over Fond du Lac (Minn.) on Saturday. Not everything went right for the Lumberjacks in the game, but plenty more than enough did.
A week ago Saturday, the Jacks struggled mightily in a 13-12 home victory over Vermilion. DCB proved on Saturday against Fond du Lac (FdL), however, that big improvements have been made quickly.
“We got better today,” Jacks head coach Tim Pfeifer said after his team moved to 6-1 on the season and 4-1 in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) Northern Division.
“I thought that we made some better decisions today, and we missed a field goal and missed a couple other red zone opportunities, but we were a lot better. We showed signs of improvement, so that’s better.”
Pfeifer was alluding to a tough first quarter in which the Les Christian Field scoreboard operator didn’t have a lot to do.
DCB’s defense silenced the Thunder all day, but the Jacks only led 3-0 after the first quarter. That was thanks to a 23-yard field goal from Drayton Murphy.
A few plays earlier, Jacks wide receiver Kaian Duverger dropped in the end zone what should have been a touchdown pass from quarterback Krae Kelso.
The second quarter saw Murphy miss a 37-yard field goal attempt wide right before he later hit a 27-yard try. Duverger then made a nice seven-yard touchdown catch under coverage in the corner of the end zone to help put DCB up 13-0 with 3:45 left in the first half.
DCB’s defense came up huge all through the first half, too. At the interval, the Thunder found itself held to -33 rushing yards and only 31 yards gained through the air.
It got no better for FdL in the second half, as it only ended the game with three net yards gained. The Thunder also turned the ball over seven times, including four interceptions.
Jacks safety La’Mar Stevenson was a monster all day in the DCB defensive backfield, snagging two of those picks and causing two FdL fumbles.
The Thunder cut DCB’s lead to 13-6 36 seconds into the half through an 85-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but the Jacks dominated from there on.
Murphy nailed a 28-yard field goal before running back Devonte Ransom reeled off a 45-yard touchdown run to put DCB up 23-6 with 1:45 left in the third quarter.
DCB then found itself up 30-6 inside the final minute of the frame. Kelso found Duverger again in the same corner of the same end zone - this time with two FdL defenders on Duverger - and the wideout won out.
Stevenson later returned an interception 45 yards to the house 3:01 into the fourth quarter to put DCB up 37-6.
Backup tailback Joe Hines then helped to cap off the scoring with an 87-yard jaunt with 6:17 left in the game.
DCB will close out its 2014 regular season slate next Saturday against the North Dakota State College of Science. The opening kickoff at Wahpeton’s Frank Vertin Field is set for 2 p.m.