Morningside moves to 4-0; BC and Wayne State fall - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

Fourth-ranked Morningside made its most dominant showing of the season to date when it thumped previously unbeaten Midland 42-0 in Saturday's GPAC football contest at Elwood Olsen Stadium.

The Mustangs climbed to 4-0 on the season, including a 3-0 mark in the GPAC, while the visiting Warriors suffered their first loss in three outings.

Morningside rolled up 609 yards total offense against a Midland defense that had surrendered only 10 points in its first two games. The Morningside defense was equally impressive as the Mustangs posted their first shutout of the season and surrendered only 95 yards in the process. The Mustangs were especially impressive against the pass as Midland quarterbacks Lee Horky and Mike Karls combined for only seven completions in 23 attempts for a scant 33 yards.

Senior quarterback Joel Nixon enjoyed another big game directing the Mustang offense. Nixon, a converted wide receiver who has been named the GPAC Offensive Player of the Week each of the last two weeks, amassed a season's high 456 yards total offense. Nixon rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown in 13 attempts and completed 20 of 28 pass attempts for 344 yards and two scores. Nixon broke loose for a 63-yard run with 2:12 left in the third quarter, while his touchdown passes covered 79 yards to Jake Allen with 9:01 left in the second quarter and 63 yards to Joel McCabe to cap the scoring with 10:41 left in the game.

Nixon has amassed 1,274 yards total offense in just four starts as a collegiate quarterback for an average of 318.5 yards per game.

The Mustangs had two receivers amass big numbers. Kyle Schuck finished with eight receptions for 146 yards for his second 100-yard game in a row, while Allen added six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.

It didn't take the Mustangs' defense long to make an impact when Horky's first pass attempt of the game was intercepted by Jared Goforth to set the Mustangs up on the Warriors' 31-yard line to start their first drive of the game. Morningside scored five plays later on a three-yard touchdown run by Josh Gaedke to go up 7-0 with 12:06 left in the first quarter.

The score remained 7-0 at the quarter break before the Mustangs broke the game open with a two-touchdown second stanza to take a 21-0 advantage into the intermission. The first touchdown came on Nixon's 79-yard pass to Allen. The second was a seven-yard TD run by Jon Halvorson with 3:55 left in the second quarter.

A one-yard touchdown run by Gaedke at the 10:23 mark of the third quarter and Nixon's 63-yard touchdown dash with 2:12 left in the stanza put the Mustangs up 35-0 going into the final quarter.

Aaron Roberg paced the Mustangs' defensive effort with nine tackles, including five solo stops and two tackles in the Warriors' backfield for losses of nine yards. Roberg and Andrew Broocks each had quarterback sacks.

The Mustangs' other defensive leaders were Chris Calvillo with seven tackles and a quarterback hurry, Colby Henderson with five tackles and a pair of pass breakups, and Goforth with four tackles, an interception, and a pass breakup.

The Mustangs will have an open date next Saturday before they travel to Crete, Neb., on Saturday, Oct. 6, for a game against nationally ranked Doane College. The Tigers are ranked 23rd in this week's NAIA Coaches Top 25 poll.

Courtesy: Morningside Media Relations

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Vermillion, SD - Briar Cliff gave up 14 first quarter points to Hastings, but outscored them the rest of the way in a 34-24 loss at the DakotaDome.  The Chargers racked up 413 yards through the air as PJ Quiroga was 30-40 with three touchdowns and no interceptions.  Quiroga utilized six different receivers in the game.  Bryce Harshman had 11 receptions for 189 yards and two scores.  Tyler McGhee scored the first receiving touchdown of his career as he finished with six catches for 85 yards.

On the ground, the Chargers were held to only 60 yards rushing.  Robert Wilson led the Chargers with 18 carries for 58 yards.  The Broncos rushed for 243 yards and threw for another 181. Keenen Ballage had 27 carries for 143 yards and a touchdown, while John Dostal was 15-23 with a touchdown pass and an interception.  Marcell Moody led the Charger defense with eight solo and 12 total tackles.  Alfredo Vizcarra and Jordan Lester each finished with eight total tackles.  Josh Block had the Chargers only sack and only interception.

With the win, the Broncos, who were receiving votes nationally, improved to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the GPAC.  The Chargers are now 0-4 on the season, including an 0-3 mark in league play.   

Courtesy: Briar Cliff Media Relations

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Wayne, NE -  St. Cloud State held off a late Wayne State rally where the Wildcats scored nine points in 15 seconds as the Huskies defeated Wayne State 24-19 in Northern Sun Conference football played Saturday afternoon at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne.  St. Cloud State is now 2-2 on the season and 2-2 in league play while Wayne State suffers its first loss of the season and drops to 3-1 and 3-1 in the NSIC.

The visiting Huskies scored early as Jack Moro intercepted a Nate Most pass on the third play of the game and sprinted 17 yards for a touchdown giving St. Cloud State a 7-0 lead 52 seconds into the contest.  On Wayne State's second series of the quarter, the 'Cats drove from their own 25 to the SCSU five before Jordan Sefon intercepted Most to stop a potential Wildcat score.

Early in the second quarter, the Huskies extended their lead to 10-0 when Tyler Aldridge booted a 36 yard field goal.  The Wildcats made a quarterback switch midway through the second quarter as redshirt freshman Brian Kent came into the game and energized the WSC offense that resulted in a 46 yard field goal from Max Martin to make the score 10-3 with 8:24 to play in the second quarter.  Later in the quarter, the Wildcats took advantage of a bad punt snap by St. Cloud State and recovered the ball at the Husky 35 yard line.  Three plays later, Kent scampered 22 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 10-10 entering halftime.

But St. Cloud State regained the momentum with two lengthy scoring drives to open the second half that set the tone for the rest of the game.  The Huskies took the second half kickoff and marched 79 yards on 10 plays with running back Michael Walker plunging in from one yard out to give SCSU a 17-10 lead.  After forcing WSC into a three and out, the Huskies then drove 80 yards on 12 plays capped by another one yard run from Walker making the score 24-10.

Wayne State then made the game interesting in the final two minutes.  The 'Cats took advantage of another bobbled punt snap by the Huskies and recovered the ball at the SCSU 36.  WSC then drove inside the 10 but Most was intercepted again by Moro at the one yard line. The WSC defense held SCSU and forced the Huskies to take a safety running out the back of the end zone with 1:52 to play making the score 24-12.  On the ensuing kickoff, Wayne State's Kevin Paulsen returned the kick 77 yards to the Husky eight yard line and then caught an eight yard pass from Most with 1:37 remaining to make the score 24-19.  But St. Cloud State recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to preserve the 24-19 win.

St. Cloud State held a 345-165 advantage in total offense over Wayne State.  The Huskies ran 91 plays compared to Wayne State's 47 and had the ball for 40:46 to just 19:14 for WSC.  The 'Cats had 119 yards rushing and 46 yards passing compared to the Huskies having 123 on the ground and 222 through the air.  Wayne State's top rusher was Brian Kent with 66 yards on nine carries.  Most finished 7 of 17 passing for 41 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown while Kent was 1 of 7 with one interception for five yards.  Kevin Paulsen was Wayne State's with two catches for 15 yards and one score.

Defensively, senior linebacker Benjamin Perry recorded a game-high 14 tackles with three sacks while Jeff Pokorny notched 11 tackles. 

Wayne State will be at home again next Saturday as the Wildcats host Augustana College in the annual Homecoming/Hall of Fame Game with kickoff slated for 1 p.m. at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne.

Courtesy: Wayne State Media Relations

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College Football

Morningside 42, Midland 0 F 
Northwestern 47, Dakota State 12 F 
Hastings 34, Briar Cliff 24 F 
St. Cloud State 24, Wayne State 19 F 
Concordia 52, Dordt 12 F 

College Volleyball

Dordt 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 2 F 
Iowa State 3, Baylor 1 F 
Nebraska 3, Ohio State 1 F 
Doane 3, Morningside 2 F 
Northern Iowa 3, Indiana State 0 F 
Wayne State 3, Bemidji state 0 F 
Penn State 3, Iowa 1 F 

College Soccer

Dordt (M) 2, Concordia 0 F 
Loras College (M) 10, Buena Vista 0 F 
Bemidji State (W) 4, Wayne State 0 F 
Briar Cliff (W) 2, St. Mary (Kan.) 2 F/2OT 
Morningside (3) 3, Midland 0 F 
Concordia (W) 3, Dordt 2 F 
Loras College (W) 4, Buena Vista 0 F 
Northwestern (W) 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 2 F/OT 
Briar Cliff (M) 4, St. Mary (Kan.) 2 F 
Midland 2 (M), Morningside 1 F

High School Softball

South Sioux City 10, Omaha Mercy 7 F 
Ralston 15, South Sioux City 0 F

High School Volleyball

Dakota Valley 2, Milbank 0 F 
Dakota Valley 2, Tri-Valley 1 F 
Dakota Valley 2, EP-Jefferson 1 F 
Madison 2, Homer 0 F