SAINT GEORGE, UT-Dixie State College scored 14 points in just under five minutes to come from behind to defeat Humboldt State University 24-20 in a football victory in front of 3,394 fans at Hansen Stadium.
Trailing 17-10 to start the 4th quarter, Humboldt State kicker Kyle Shierholt added a 46 yard field goal, extending the HSU lead to 20-10. The field goal was Shierholt's second of the game, his first came in the first quarter from 23 yards out.
The Red Storm offense seemed sluggish most of the night and would need a jump start in order to pull off a victory.
Well, that's what happened!!!
Dixie State marched 80 yards on 9 plays for a touchdown in 2 minutes and 44 seconds. The drive featured six completions from quarterback Judd Thompson (Crystal Lake. IL/Prarie Ridge HS) (19-30-3 264 yards). He found Robert Evans (Washinton, UT/Pineview) for 14 yards, Nash Fowler (Orem, UT/Timpanogas HS) for 11 yards, Tauni Vakapuna (North Salt Lake. UT/Hunter HS) for 25 yards, and Adam Wells (Kenmore. WA/Inglemoor) for 22 yards. That spotted ball on the five yard line for the Red Storm. Capping the drive off was a 5 yard touchdown pass to Adam Wells (Kenmore. WA/Inglemoor) to bring DSC within 20-17.
Dixie State's defense held HSU through its first two plays after the kickoff, and a penalty forced the Jacks into a third-and-20 situation. Wesley Beavers (Las Vegas. NV/Cheyenne) came up with the big play, intercepting QB Mike Proulx's pass and returning it 34 yards to the HSU 7, setting up Vakapuna's 1-yard touchdown run for a 24-20 lead.
The defense would hold HSU to just 22 yards in its final two possessions and would add another Wesley Beavers (Las Vegas. NV/Cheyenne) interception with just over a minute left to seal the victory.
Leading the defense for the Red Storm was Nick Cragin (Issaquah, WA/Skyline) (4 solo, 4 asst) and Micah Harward (St George. UT/Dixie) (4 solo, 4 asst).
Offensively, Dixie State had 346 yards of total offense. 264 of those yards came in the air and added a season high 82-yards on the ground. For HSU, they had 291 total yards (239 passing and only 52 rushing).
Wells had another career night against HSU, his two previous came against the Lumberjacks as well. He rushed for 226 yards on 9/29/07 and 125 yards on 10/20/07. Tonight he had only 39 yards on 7 carries rushing but a career high 86 yards on 5 catches receiving. He also caught two TD passes.
Dixie State will travel to unbeaten Central Washington next week. The Wildcats are coming off a 33-22 win over Division One FCS opponent Idaho State.
You can listen to John Potter and catch all the live action on www.dixieathletics.com.
