MCAC Football Heads Into Week Two Action

MCAC Football Heads Into Week Two Action

Rochester, MN-

With the first round of contests in the books for football teams across the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, teams and fans look towards Saturday, September 8 for week two of the 2018 MCAC Football season.  The games this weekend represent the second of two cross-divisional contests each team will play prior to jumping into Eastern and Western Division play in week three. 

Read on for insights into the upcoming contests this Saturday across the MCAC. 

(1-0 Overall / 0-0 West)

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(1-0 Overall / 0-0 East)

Both Minnesota West and Mesabi Range College are coming off of wins in week one and their showdown this Saturday has the potential to be an offensive affair. 

MnWest, led by quarterback Andrew Ortiz, put up 36 points last week, including all of the first half scoring against perennial power Central Lakes. BlueJay receivers Reginald Colson III , Gary Smith III  and Caleb Tinklenberg combined for 230 yards of receiving yards, including four touchdowns.  Defensively, MnWest was led by Jayvon Green, La'Darous Laster and Rashawn Crumpler, who each tallied a sack and were dominant behind the line of scrimmage for the Blue Jays

Mesabi Range College played their way to the MCAC State Championship game in 2017 and they picked up where they left off to begin 2018, with a 48-6 win on the road at M State-Fergus Falls last week. 

The Norse will hope that Ny'Travoius Barkley continues his stellar rushing form, as he ran for 111 yards and two scores last week. Receiver Mario Johnson hauled in six catches and two touchdowns for MRC and Sam Okuayinou was a one-man wrecking crew for Mesabi, with five tackles-for-losses last week.  Mesabi also features Connor Cusick in their kicking game, who excelled in week one with punting, placekicking and kickoff duty. 

Host school information at: http://www.mesabirange.edu/athletics/football/

 

(1-0 Overall / 0-0 East)

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(1-0 Overall / 0-0 West)

In another match-up of 1-0 teams, the Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College Thunder will take their show on the road to Thief River Falls to face Northland Community & Technical Community College.  The Pioneers are currently 'Receiving Votes' in the NJCAA national poll, based on the strength of their week one win at Rochester CTC  by a 34-6 margin.  FDL's week one triumph came at the expense of Ridgewater, with the Thunder winning 32-6 on the road. 

Northland showed a balanced offense on against RCTC, with the Pioneers running back Jarel Youree coming close to 100 yard games on the ground while quarterback Craig Wells threw for three scores.   NCTC placekicker Simeus Rockley hit a pair of field goals and was 2-for-3 in PAT's.  Defensively, Western Division Player-of-the-Week Jonathon Pickett had a strong performance with a 16-yard sack and a pair of stops behind the line of scrimmage. 

Fond du Lac was led by Trebian Suggs, who ran, caught and returned kicks for the Thunder in their win.  Additionally, KeAndre Smith returned a pick for a touchdown while Dondre White scored on a punt return for FDLTCCDenez Foster collected eight tackles for Fond du Lac, including two stops behind the line of scrimmage. 

Host school information available at: http://www.northlandcollege.edu/athletics/football/

 

(0-1 Overall / 0-0 West)

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(0-1 Overall / 0-0 East)

 

In Rochester, two 2017 playoff teams smarting from week one losses will tangle to put their 2018 campaigns back on track, as Dakota College-Bottineau travels to Rochester Community & Technical College.  DCB dropped a 15-13 decision at home in week one to Itasca Community College, while RCTC was dealt a 32-6 setback by Northland. 

Rochester will look to Greg Henry to get their run game going on Saturday; against the Pioneers, he had 128 yards on 10 carries while accounting for the only Rochester score. Defensively, the Yellowjackets were led by Bangalee Bamba who had 10 tackles in week one as well as Anthony Harper who had eight stops.   RCTC had moments in special teams play on Saturday, as Cazz Martin and Trey Johnson put together several long kick and punt returns against the Pioneers. 

Dakota College-Bottineau quarterback Keane Hoggard was 18-35 last week, passing for 136 total yards. Joshua Booker led the 'Jacks in rushing with 57 yards on seven carries. DCB spread the wealth in their receiving corps with seven different athletes registering at least one catch, with Michael Dunn leading the way with 10 receptions.  The 'Jack secondary was active, with Emonte Wilson, Rikishi Buchana and Maleek Davis all registering an interception. 

Host school information available at: http://www.rctcyellowjackets.com/sports/fball/index

 

(0-1 Overall / 0-0 West)

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(1-0 Overall / 0-0 East)

Ridgewater College and Itasca Community College will face off in Coleraine, Minnesota on Saturday.  ICC has some momentum, coming off of a 15-13 win on the road over Dakota College-Bottineau, while Ridgewater will look to spark their offense after a 32-6 setback to FDLTCC

Ridgewater saw quarterback Bryant Walker go 15-for-42 against FDL, clocking in 179 passing yards with a longest throw of 36 yards. Four different running backs got touches for the Warriors on the day, with Chross Jaramillo accounting for 53 yards and Marquell Platt picking up 47 on the day.  Isaac Mortensen led all defenders in the contest in terms of tackles; he had 11 total stops, 8 solo against the Thunder. 

Itasca fields a revamped line-up from their 2017 sqaud and the Vikings will hope to replicate a strong defensive outing in week one, when they held DCB to 13 total points.  Last week, Cameron Strapp and Sam Moberg combined for 22 tackles, while Emonte Wilson, Rikishi Buchanan and Maleek Davis all had ICC interceptions.  Itasca held Dakota to 57 total rushing yards. 

Host school information available at: http://www.itascacc.edu/athletics/football/

 

(0-1 Overall / 0-0 East)

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(1-0 Overall / 0-0 West)

In their week one opening win, North Dakota State College of Science tackled not only Vermilion Community College but one of the more challenging road trips in the league, traveling from Wahpeton to Ely to deal the Ironmen a 33-24 setback.   Central Lakes was upended at home in Brainerd by a fast-starting Minnesota West squad that raced out to a 30 point lead by halftime.

NDSCS was paced by the strong rushing performance of Jay-Len Brown, who rumbled for 139 yards, two touchdowns on 27 attempts.  Kingston Myles gave the Wildcats a change of pace in the run game, picking up 58 yards of his own on the day. Defensively, NDSCS presented a balanced front, with JaDerian Johnson grabbing three sacks while Caleb Kennedy had two stops behind the line of scrimmage. Grant Brown broke off a 80-yard punt return for a score on Wildcat special teams against VCC.

Central Lakes was forced into pass-mode against MnWest in week one, with quarterback Jake Franklin completing 18-of-36 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown.  The Raiders will look to get their ground game going against NDSCS; last Saturday Ridge Reed, Nyassinu Crowell and Jaron Moor handled the running duties for CLCZach Severtson led the Raiders with a 108 yards receiving, with teammate Jordan Thompson coming close to the century mark at 93 yards on seven catches. On defense, Central Lakes will hope Anthony King can have a similar week two performance as his week one edition, with 2.5 tackles for loss among his six total stops. 

Host school information available at: http://www.ndscswildcats.com/sports/fball/index

 

(0-1 Overall / 0-0 East)

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(0-1 Overall / 0-0 West)

Vermilion Community College will face M State-Fergus Falls on the road in a week two matchup that has both teams pursuing their first 2018 win. 

Prior to the kickoff, both teams shall honor Sean Giles, Jr. a Ironmen sophomore who passed away suddenly on Monday, September 3 in Ely.  

Vermilion was led in their week one contest against NDSCS by a pair of quarterbacks; Breon Jackson was 8-of-14 passing for 184 yards with two TD's while Micheal Innello was 5-of-13 with 92 yards and a touchdown. Jeffery Crittendon hauled in 162 yards worth of receptions, including two touchdowns on the day.  The Ironmen defense was led by Hayden Leach and Malik Gainer, who tallied eight tackles and six tackles, respectively. 

M State, who fell 48-6 to Mesabi Range in week one, will see some promise in the quarterbacking of Winston Sweeting, who was 23-of-44 for 183 yards in the opener.  The Spartan ground game will seek to find a spark, as M State running backs were held to less than 30 yards each last Saturday. On defense, Darrell Williams had a strong week one effort, picking up seven total tackles against the Norse. 

Host school information available at: http://athletics.minnesota.edu/sports/fball/index

             

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For more on football in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference:                                        

MCAC Football Sport Pagehttp://www.mcacsports.org/sports/fball/index

MCAC Football Stat Leaders: http://www.mcacsports.org/sports/fball/2018-19/leaders

NJCAA Football Twitter Feedhttps://twitter.com/NJCAAfootball

 

 

 

About the Minnesota College Athletic Conference

The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State system.  The mission of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference is to advance intercollegiate athletics by providing an engaging and supportive environment for success of our student athletes and competition among member institutions.  The MCAC is committed to the guiding principles of encouraging the development and success of student athletes, promoting the integrity, honesty and loyalty to member schools as well as upholding the sustainability of conference athletic programs.

For more information, visit www.mcacsports.org