ARCATA, Calif. – It had been over two years since a kickoff had been returned for a touchdown and over five years since a pick-six, but even individual success could not aid Dixie State as they fell to Humboldt State, 71-13, to close out the 2014 season.
The Red Storm allowed 607 total yards to the Jacks (8-2, 4-2 GNAC) and went for over three and a half quarters before topping the 100 yards. Dixie State finished the year 1-10 overall and winless in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 0-6.
After HSU marched down the field on their opening drive and tacked on a 2-point conversion, junior
Aubrey Reed (Tacoma, WA/Woodland Hills) grabbed the kickoff at the one-yard line, spun off two defenders and ran down the near-sideline for a 99-yard kickoff return. It was the first scoring play on a kickoff since Cache Morgan went 95 yards against Simon Fraser on Oct. 27, 2012.
The Jacks would get in to the end one on their first four drives to take a 29-7 lead and had another drive going. On an attempted bubble screen, sophomore linebacker
Trevor Oakley (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill High School ) jumped ahead of the route and picked off the pass. He ran nearly untouched to the house for the first Dixie State pick-6 since Sept. 19. 2009, when Nick Cragin did it against Western Oregon on the road.
Ben Longshore (Santa Clarita, CA/Canyon) threw for 27 yards on 8-of-16 passes before an injury in the third quarter.
Brody Garr (Taylor, UT/Fremont) completed seven passes for 111 yards, including a 71-yarder to
Nate Stephens (Redding, CA/Shasta) in the fourth quarter. The Storm had 172 total offensive yards on 48 plays.
Stephens led the receiving corps with 97 yards on four grabs while
Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon),
Colton Peterson (Logan, UT/Skyview) and
Brock Johnson (South Weber, UT/Northridge) all added three grabs each.
Myles Burton (Berkeley, CA/Rodriguez) rushed for 37 yards on 10 carries.
Leading the DSU defense with nine tackles apiece were
Aeryus Holloway (Compton, CA/Ayala),
Robert Metz (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro) and
Justin Ence (St. George, UT/Pine View).
Garland Munns (Garland, UT/Bear River), wearing the jersey of friend and teammate
Jake Miller (Tremonton, UT/Bear River) had eight tackles.
Bobby Patton (Lynwood, CA/Lynwood) had seven solo stops and
Benson Laumatia (Seattle, WA/Mountain View) also had seven total tackles.
Dixie State will return to action on Sept. 5. 2015, at home against Colorado Mesa.
