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Utah Tech University Athletics

Robles at APU
Stan Plewe/Utah Tech Athletics

Football John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

FB PREVIEW: Storm at home to face #10 Jacks

A pair of 2-0 teams in the GNAC battle for league supremacy



Football s. #10 Humboldt State - 6 PM MST (Hansen Stadium)
Live Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1210AM, 107.3/102.3 FM
Live Online Audio/Video: Dixie State All-Access
Live stats: Dixie State Live Stats
Game Notes: Dixie State | Humboldt State

THIS WEEK: Dixie State College vies for its first 3-0 start in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action. The Red Storm face the defending league champion Lumberjacks of Humboldt State University on the field at Hansen Stadium at 6:05 p.m. First place in the league will be up for grabs.

• Dixie State enters the game 2-1 (2-0 in the GNAC) after defeating Azusa Pacific 24-22 at Citrus Stadium in Glendora, Calif., last Saturday. The Red Storm came back from 10 points down with seven minutes remaining in regulation to even the all-time series with the Cougars at three games a piece.
• The two-game win streak matches the longest string in DSC's short Division-II tenure. Coincidentally, the previous streak from October 2009 included home wins against Western Oregon (31-23) and Azusa Pacific (33-23).
• Winning on the road has not come easy for DSC. Last week's win at APU was the first road win since October 2, 2010, at Simon Fraser. You have to dive deeper into the calendar to find the last road win on American soil – November 8, 2008 at Humboldt State. Additionally, the win at APU was only the third GNAC road win in 16 attempts.
• The Red Storm are 4-8 all-time against the Jacks – including dropping the last five meetings.

LOOK AT THE JACKS: The Lumberjacks took a hit offensively with the loss of quarterback Mike Proulx and tailback Lyndon Rowells, but still return nine offensive starters from last year. The replacement for Proulx at quarterback is Alex Rump who saw limited duty completing three of seven passes for 32 yards. His only previous experience was at Sierra JC in 2008. At running back, is Nick Ricciardulli, who played for the Jacks three years ago rushing for 109 yards. The Lumberjack offense will also feature three returning all-stars including wide receiver Victor Spencer and offensive linemen Brett Frydendahl and David Kulp. Back on defense is a pair of first team all-league picks – linebacker Chris Peterson and defensive back Jeremiah Maluia– and two second team all-stars – defensive lineman Sean McDonald and defensive back Kevin Cooper. Rob Smith is in his fifth year as head coach at HSU and 22nd year overall.

WHEN DID IT HAPPEN LAST?: Ray Chapman (Compton, CA/Compton)'s fumble recovery for a touchdown was the first since August 28, 2010, when safety/linebacker Chris Aragon (Los Angeles, CA/Crespi Carmelite) returned a GNAC-record 96-yard fumble at Adams State in Colorado. To read about when the last 100-yard kickoff return occurred, please read the next item.

100 YARDS, AGAIN: Cache Morgan (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) of Dixie State is the only player in GNAC history to return a kickoff 100 yards and now he has done it twice. He also accomplished that feat on Sept. 3, 2011 against Adams State. He also now has two career interception touchdowns to tie the GNAC record set by Zach Russell of Western Washington (2002, 04-050 and equaled by Courtney Smith of Central Washington (2008-09). Next to Morgan, Smith has the next longest return in GNAC history, a mere 98 yards. Morgan's record for longest return can never be broken as per rule, kickoff returns are measured from the goal line.

INDIVIDUAL GNAC RANKS: RUSH: A.J. Johnson (Chino Hills, CA/Chino Hills), 5th (74.0), Griff Robles (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork), 9th (37.3). TOTAL OFFENSE: Griff Robles (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork), 5th (189.0). PASS: Griff Robles (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork), 5th (151.7); Kaleo Nawahine (Fruitland, ID/Fruitland), 7th (45.3). RECEPTIONS/GAME: Zack Fox (Spanish Fork. UT/Spanish Fork HS), T-3rd (5.7), Andre Aron (Inglewood, CA/Westchester), T-7th (3.3). RECEIVING YARDS: Zack Fox (Spanish Fork. UT/Spanish Fork HS), 4th (65.7), Andre Aron (Inglewood, CA/Westchester), T-9th (40.0). PUNTING: Robert Metz (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro), 4th (35.8). TACKLES: Jake Duncan (Corona, CA/Notre Dame), T-7th (25.0), Daniel Moffett (Kaysville, UT/Davis)/Matt Tanuvase, T-23rd (16.0).

NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Sept. 15): Team (Top 30): Scoring Defense – 23. Dixie State 16.3. Total Defense – 23. Dixie State 280.7. Passing Defense – 25. Dixie State 155.0. Pass Efficiency Defense – 15. Dixie State 93.8; Kickoff Returns – 3. Dixie State 31.5. Kick Returns – 8. Cache Morgan (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan), DSC, 34.8.
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