Winona, MN-
For the first time this season, all 11 football teams in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference will be in action over the weekend.
The Itasca Community College Vikings will host the North Dakota State College of Science Wildcats in Grand Rapids at 1:30pm. ICC is currently in the 'Receiving Votes' category of the NJCAA Football Top 20 poll; NDSCS was in the same category two weeks ago. Both teams are unbeaten so far in 2019 as the Vikings are 2-0 with impressive wins over Minnesota West CTC (26-0) in week one and M State-Fergus Falls (38-0) last weekend. NDSCS is 1-0 with a 38-28 win over FDLTCC under their belt.
Itasca head coach Weldon Braxton and his team has yet to give up a point in the regular season, and carry their shutout streak into the contest on Saturday. Tavain Edwards is second in the MCAC in tackles to lead ICC in that category; the freshman from Columbus, Georgia is averaging 9.5 stops a game and has two sacks for far this year. Patrolling the Vikings secondary, Waylon Washington has two picks on the year for Itasca. Offensively, Antwan Downs is averaging 114.5 receiving yards per game and quarterbacks Javon McInnins and Brandon Hokkanen have combined for five passing touchdowns and an average QB efficiency rating of 179.9 between the two of them.
On the opposite sideline, the North Dakota State College of Science Wildcats bring their own set of impressive credentials. NDSCS was the MCAC State Championship Runner-up last season, and return several key components of last year's squad. NDSCS also has the advantage of playing through adversity already this season, having had to come back from 28-21 deficit in the third quarter of their 2019 opener against Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College last weekend. Coach Eric Issendorf's team put up 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to claim the 38-28 win.
NJCAA All-America offensive lineman Nick Radunz anchors an offense that rolled to 324 total yards last Saturday. Quarterback Trashawn McMillain had 134 yards and another 38 on the ground to lead a balanced NDSCS attack. Sophomore placekicker Spencer Skeesick hit a 34 yard field goal and was a perfect 5-for-5 on PAT's to lead the NDSCS special teams unit. Jamire Jackson had nine solo tackles in the season-opening 38-28 win over a much-improved FDLTCC Thunder program.
All factors point to an outstanding NJCAA football contest on Saturday in Grand Rapids; the Wildcats and Vikings will kickoff at 1:30pm. For more information on the host college, please go to:https://www.itascacc.edu/ and to learn more about North Dakota State College of Science, visit: http://www.ndscswildcats.com/landing/index
In Mt. Iron, Minnesota, Dakota College-Bottineau will face off with Mesabi Range College. Mesabi Range is 2-0 on the year and receiving votes in the National poll. DCB has dropped it's first two contests of 2019 but look to be coming together offensively as they move into week three.
The 'Jacks held Eastern Division power Central Lakes College to only two scores in their opener and saw their effort against RCTC derailed by a blocked punt for touchdown last week. Chugiak, Alaska product Aaron Tomasuolo was 14-19 for almost 140 yards and had to TD tosses in week two. Abdul Bangura racked up 64 yards on kick returns on special teams while kicker/punter Travis Hissom has also been a bright spot in DCB specialty game. Defensively, Jalin Harris leads the MCAC in tackles-per-contest at 10 each game and teammate Malik Green is tops in sacks so far at 6 total on the year across two contests.
Mesabi Range College put up 61 points on RCTC in a Week One win and scored 27 in downing Northland last Saturday. The Norsemen has scored the most touchdowns of any squad in the Conference so far (13). MRC has accumulated 805 yards of total offense and their offense has been particularly good in the red zone so far in 2019; scoring 100% of the time their team has the ball inside the 20. Defensively, Mesabi has picked off four passes, tied for second-most in the league. Quarterback Tareq Shaw has been responsible for five Mesabi scores so far on the season against only one interception and is averaging 118 yards a game at the helm.
The two squads did not meet in 2018 in MCAC play, the 2017 edition of the 'Jacks-Norsemen was a shootout in Bottineau. Mesabi escaped with a 48-43 win in a contest that had the teams combine for 800 yards of total offense; both quarterbacks had three touchdown throws on the day.
The Week Three football game on Saturday in Mt. Iron, Minnesota will kickoff at 1:30pm. For more information on the hosts - Mesabi Range College, please go to: https://www.mesabirange.edu. To learn more about Dakota College-Bottineau and 'Jacks Athletics, visit: https://www.dcbjacks.com/landing/index
Rochester, Minnesota and Rochester Regional Stadium will play host to Rochster Community & Technical College and Northland Community & Technical College in football action at 1:30pm, Saturday, September 7.
Northland comes into the contest at 1-1 under first-year coach Jeremy Richardson; the Pioneers opened up 2019 with a win at Vermilion, doubling up the Ironmen, 42-21. They fell in Week Two at home to Mesabi Range College, 27-10; the Norsemen are receiving votes in this week's NJCAA Football Top 20 poll.
The Pioneers feature Brandon Brown on defense; the freshman from Miami has five sacks already in 2019. On offense, Zacharie Georges is 23-of-39 for 253 yards; his favorite target has been Derrick Spencer who has six grabs and is averaging 15 yards a reception. Malcolm Richards has been a threat in the kick return department for NCTC, while Keidre Taylor has a sack, two interceptions and ten total tackles to lead the Northland defense.
Rochester will enjoy home field advantage as they line up on a new synthetic surface at Rochester Regional Stadium; the Yellowjackets come into the game with some momentum after a 25-13 win at Dakota College-Bottineau last week. The Yellowjackets have averaged 28.0 points a contest over the first two weeks of the season- they lead the league total passing yards (552) and are third in total offense with 774 yards to their credit. Quarterbacks Jacob Guidry and Dylan VanBoxel have both attempted 36 passes on the year, with Guidry going 18-for-36 and VanBoxel 17-for-36. Cameron Green has seven catches for the Yellowjackets. Ken Bohnenkamp and Keshon Williams both have 13 total tackles to lead the RCTC defense while Prentiss Sayeweh is tops in sacks with two so far.
For more on the host - Rochester Community & Technical College - in this Week Three MCAC Football match-up on Saturday at 1:30pm, please go to: http://www.rctcyellowjackets.com/sports/fball/index
To learn more about Northland Technical & Community College and Pioneer Sports, visit: https://northlandpioneers.com/
In Worthington, Minnesota, the Minnesota West CTC Blue Jays are coming off of a bye week and will looking forward to hosting perennial power Central Lakes College at 2:30pm.
Central Lakes is 2-0 so far in 2019, having been able to grind out a 12-0 win at Bottineau and dispatched Vermilion Community College 49-13 at home in Brainerd. Quarterback Jakob Olson looks to be in solid control of the Raiders attack; the sophomore from Bismarck, North Dakota was 17-of-23 in Week Two with five passing touchdowns on the day. Running back Ridge Reed rambled to over 140 yards in Week One, while Rashaun Cage has been effective both on special teams and as a running back for CLC. Interim head coach Robb Kolodziej has his defense playing well; the Raiders held Vermilion to 137 yards of total offense last week and stifled the 'Jacks attack to the tune of 23 offensive yards in Week One
In Week One, Minnesota West featured the first MCAC West Athlete-of-the-Week on offense, as Montrez Hearon had six catches for 128 yards and rushed twice for 13 yards in the Blue Jays only contest so far in 2019. MnWest is coming off of their bye week. Last season, Minnesota West took down Central Lakes 36-12 in Brainerd. The Blue Jays racked up the first four scores of the game in 2018 and will likely be looking to start fast in the same fashion on Saturday.
The CLC-MnWest clash will kickoff at 2:30pm, in Worthington. For more on Minnesota West CTC athletics, please go to: https://www.mnwestathletics.com/landing/index Central Lakes College Raider Athletics is found at: https://www.clcraiders.com/landing/index
The greater Duluth area will play host to a local - and Divisional - MCAC football contest on Saturday.
Eastern Division neighbors Vermilion Community College and Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College will square off in Superior, Wisconsin in a 5pm start.
The FDLTCC Thunder are 1-1 on the season and have shown an ability to find the endzone so far in 2019. The Thunder beat M State-Fergus Falls 36-3 in Week One at home and gave North Dakota State College of Science all they could handle in a Week Two 38-28 loss. FDLTCC led after three quarters of play in Wahpeton, 28-21, but saw the Wildcats claw back with 17 unanswered in the fourth.
Danny Jackson has gone for 19-of-39 and two touchdowns, while teammate Anthony Boyd is 10-of-18, also with two scores. Justice Bice and Quri Hickman have handled the majority of the FDLTCC ground game, with 34 combined carries. Placekicker/punter Michael Hall has been perfect on PAT's at 8-of-8 and has hit two field goals as well, the longest from 35. He averages 36 yards a punt and has dropped two inside the opponents 20. Mason Klinger leads his team in all-purpose yards at 206.
Vermilion Community College will look to add to their 306 passing yards so far in 2019; the Ironmen have five passing touchdowns so far on the year. Defensively, they are credited with four interceptions; Joshua Brooks leads his team in tackles. Murphy Theodore is 14-of-41 in the pocket for VCC, with a longest completion of 46 yards and two scores.
Saturday's contest will be an important Eastern Division game with the winner gaining an inside track to the MCAC Football post-season.
Saturday's contest is to be held at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex at Superior High School, located at 2600 Catlin Ave in Superior, Wisconsin. For more information on FDLTCC, please go to: https://fdltcc.edu/ Vermilion Community College - located in Ely, Minnesota - can be research at this link: https://www.vcc.edu/
The final MCAC program in action this weekend will be Minnesota State-Fergus Falls, who will take on the JV team of Concordia Colllege-Moorhead, Sunday September 8th at 2pm
With the reduction of football teams from 12 to 11 in 2019, two MCAC schools will face-off against Concordia, with both contests counting as MCAC non-Divisional games. The Spartans, under first-year head coach Cory Miller, will be the first to take on the Cobbers. North Dakota State College of Science will face CC on Sunday,
M State will be looking to jump-start their offense, as the Spartans were shutout in Week Two by Itasca and connected on an Irving Friedman field goal for their only score in Week One. Joel Dorjuste is averaging 10.7 yards a carry and Kenny McKay has contributed on both Spartan special teams and on defense, where he has notched two interceptions so far this season.
Concordia College - one of the traditional football powers in the MIAC - will play five JV contests in 2019; in addition to fixtures with M State-Fergus Falls and NDSCS, the Cobber JV will play twice against St. John's University and face Gustavus Adolfus College this year. For more on Concordia College athletics, go to: https://concordiamn.prestosports.com/sports/fball/index
The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, as well as select member colleges in North Dakota and Wisconsin. 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.
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