Winona, MN-
Ten of the eleven football teams from across the Minnesota College Athletic Conference opened up their 2019 seasons over the past weekend. Read on for game summaries from Week One action.
Pre-season Eastern Division No. 1 Itasca Community College lived up to it's billing in Week One, pitching a shutout in a 26-0 win over Minnesota West CTC.
The Vikings rolled to 403 yards of total offense, including 226 yards in the air. They also registered eight sacks as a team. Minnesota West registered five sacks defensively; Blue Jay quarterbacks were 19-of-35 combined for 234 yards in the air.
Itasca Community College: Cameron Strapp had ten total tackles vs. MnWest, including four sacks for 19 yards in loss yardage. Eight of his tackles were solo; teammate Tavian Edwards also had 8 solo stops among his team high 12 tackles- Edwards also notched a fumble recovery and a sack. ICC quarterback Javon McInnis was 9-of-11 for 218 yards, two TD's and no INT's. He had a 98 yard completion to Antwan Davis; Jamari Scott hauled in three catches for 54 yards . Rikishi Buchanan had a 15 yard interception return.
Minnesota West CTC: Andrew Ortiz was 15-of-27 for 195 yards, with a longest completion of 63 yards. Montrez Hearon tallied six catches for 128 yards, averaging 21.3 yards a catch. He also had a pair of kickoff returns for 43 total yards. Defensively, Dashawn Harlan and Xavier James led the Blue Jays with 8 and 6 tackles respectively, each had a sack on the day. Brandon Vashti had two sacks for MnWest among his three stops, along with a fumble recovery.
ICC (1-0 Overall; 0-0 East) travels to M State-Fergus Falls (0-1 Overall; 0-0 West) in Week Two.
Minnesota West will have their bye week next Saturday.
In Bottineau, North Dakota, Central Lakes College defeated Dakota College-Bottineau, 12-0. The week one shutout allowed interim head coach Robb Kolodziej to start off his HC career at 1-0 DCB was led defensively by Malik Green, who had five sacks.
The central North Dakota region was saturated with rain on the days leading up to the game, leaving a challenging surface for the offenses of both teams. Combined, the two teams had only 126 net passing yards; CLC, accumulated 327 yards of total offense, 207 of it on the ground. The two squads hit 15 punts on the day, with DCB tallying 407 yards on ten kicks.
Dakota College-Bottineau: Malik Green had a monster day for the 'Jacks, registering five sacks and accumulating 43 total loss yards for the DCB defense. Jalin Harris had 13 total tackles and Tyrese Claiborne registered 12 stops. Calvin Stribbling contributed nine tackles, including one stop behind the line of scrimmage. On specials teams, Travis Hissom averaged 40.7 yards a punt, dropping two inside the 20 yard line and had a longest punt of 55 yards.
Central Lakes College: Returning All-Conference performer Ridge Reed got his sophomore campaign off to a great start with a 146 yard rushing performance; he carried 27 times for a 5.4 average and a longest carry of 65 yards. Dylan DiMaggio added four carries for 44 yards, with a 23-yard scamper. Mike Bostrom tallied six catches and two touchdowns for CLC. Punter Jakob Olson averaged 41.0 yards a punt in his five tries; Brady Anderson returned four DCB punts for 67 yards, with a 60 effort among them. Eli Winegarner had four tackles; two were sacks totaling 14 yards-for-loss. Steph Brown and Charles Dressel also had sacks on the day.
CLC (1-0 Overall; 0-0 East) will host Vermilion (0-1 Overall; 0-0 East) in Week Two.
DCB (0-1 Overall; 0-0 West) will host Rochester (0-1; 0-1 East) next week.
In Rochester, Mesabi Range College defeated RCTC, 61-31. The Week One contest was an Eastern Division affair, moving the Norse to 1-0 in the Division. Mesabi Range racked up 415 yards on offense and had three interceptions, including a 75 return for a score. Rochester rolled to 28 first downs and were 10-of-20 on third-down conversions. RCTC quarterbacks combined for 381 yards passing.
Mesabi Range student-athlete Taquarius Wair was featured on ESPN on Sunday, in a 8-minute feature on his inspirational story of overcoming burns and injuries sustained as child in a house fire. The contest marked RCTC's first game on the new surface at Rochester Regional Stadium; the new synthetic turf was installed over the summer.
Mesabi Range College: Norse receiver Mario Johnson had four catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way for Mesabi Range. Torrey Patterson and Montrellis Wilson also had touchdown catches as Mesabi Range quarterback Tareq Shaw was 8-for-13 passing on the day. Hassan Biggus had only three carries but accumulated 90 yards and a TD. Markell Rasher averaged 5.8 yards a touch on ten carries. On special teams, Hunter Pierce was 3-for-3 on his PAT attempts; Mario Johnson returned two kickoffs, averaging 20 yards a return. Defensively, Chamar Dumas returned an INT 75 yards for a score and Kam Greene and Jarien Ramos also had Norse picks. Shawn Smith has seven tackles, including a 10-yard sack, while Tay Paige led MRC with 8 stops and a fumble recovery.
Rochester Community & Technical College: Yellowjacket QB Dylan VanBoxel was 17-for-30 passing for a 154 yards and teammate Jacob Guidry had 123 yards passing as well. Israel Lozoya had a solid all-around day with one 78 yard touchdown catch, two kickoff returns for 40 yards and a punt return. Braulio Arango-Aguilar hit his only PAT attempted and kicked off five times for 187 total yards. Defensively, Rochester was led by Larry Lecount with six tackles and Prentiss Sayeweh with five stops; all of Sayeweh's stops were solo tackles and two were sacks.
Mesabi Range (1-0 Overall; 1-0 East) will face Northland CTC (1-0 Overall; 0-0 West) in Week Two in Thief River Falls.
Rochester (0-1- Overall; 0-1 East) will travel to Dakota College-Bottineau (0-1 Overall; 0-0 West) next week.
In Superior, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College defeated Minnesota State-Fergus Falls, 36-3. With the win, FDLTCC head coach Robert Smith picks up his first FDLTCC victory, largely on the strength of 375 yards of total Thunder offense. FDL's special teams were impactful on the day as well, as kicker Michael Hall was 4-for-4 on PAT's and hit two field goals, including a 35 yarder. Minnesota State-Fergus Falls notched three sacks on the day defensively for first-year coach Cory Miller.
FDLTCC quarterback Danny Jackson had 171 yards passing and Anthony Boyd added 83 yards and touchdown. Quri Hickman had 46 yards on six carries. Mason Klinger hauled in six passes for 128 yards and touchdown; Eric Grant also caught a TD pass. Michael Hall kicked four PAT's, hit two field goals and punted twice, averaging 36 yards an effort. Boyd had a kickoff return for 21 yards. Defensively, the Thunder were led by DJ Buckhanan who had ten total tackles and a sack; teammate Rayshaad Roddy added seven stops. The two also combined for a fumble recovery. Jhanviey Nichols registered five sacks on the day.
Minnesota State-Fergus Falls: Dacari Dickens led the Spartans with seven tackles, including a sack. Rook Rowe and Collin Neely both had seven stops for first-year head coach Cory Miller, making his Spartan debut. Devaughn Prince registered an interception for MSFF. Julio Clauson was a bright spot on special teams, with a pair of kickoff returns for 47 yards, including a 25 yard effort. Placekicker/punter Irving Friedman hit a 24-yard field goal and punted ten times for a 28.3 yard average. Joel Dorjuste had seven carries for 75 yards to lead the Spartans; he had a 37-yard burst among his carries.
FDLTCC (1-0 Overall; 0-0 East) will travel to North Dakota State College of Science, who was idle in Week One.
Minnesota State-Fergus Falls (0-1 Overall; 0-0 West) will host Itasca (1-0 Overall; 0-0 East) next Saturday.
In Ely, Minnesota, Northland Community & Technical College defeated Vermilion Community College, 42-21. With the win, NCTC head coach Jeremy Richardson picks up his first Northland victory. With the loss, Vermilion falls to 0-1 Overall, 0-0 in the Eastern Division.
Northland (1-0 Overall; 0-0 West) will host Mesabi Range College (1-0 Overall, 1-0 East) at home in Thief River Falls in a showdown of two teams who were MCAC post-season qualifiers last fall. Vermilion will travel to Central Lakes College in Brainerd for the Eastern Division opener for both teams.
For all things MCAC Football, go to: https://www.mcacsports.org/sports/fball/index
The 2019 MCAC Athlete-of-the-Week honors program - sponsored by the United States Marine Corps, Nicklasson Athletics and Adidas - will begin the week of August 26-31. In football, Conference coaches will submit nominees for Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Athlete-of-the-Week, additionally, the MCAC will recognize a Lineman-of-the-Week, a new honors category in 2019.
