The Dixie State football team kicked off the second half of the season in dramatic fashion Saturday with a 38-35 win over Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C., Canada. The Storm overcame three turnovers and steady rainfall for the first three quarters of the game to earn the victory. The win, the first of three consecutive games on the road in October, moves the Storm to a 2-4 overall record and 1-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action. SFU falls to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in GNAC play.
Both teams traded three-and-outs to start the game before Dixie State opened the scoring a little less than five minutes into the opening period. The Storm started their second drive of the game at their own 23-yard line and drove 58 yards behind a 22-yard run from senior running back
DeJon Coleman (Los Angeles, Calif./Arleta HS) and a 37-yard pass from freshman quarterback
Tyson Blackner (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) to redshirt freshman receiver
Brad Duran (Corona, Calif./Santiago HS). The drive stalled at the SFU 19-yard line, and sophomore kicker
Alex Giordani (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) connected on a 37-yard field goal to give the Storm an early 3-0 lead.
Simon Fraser wasted no time in responding to the field goal, as the Clan took advantage of a short field after Giordani slipped on the soggy Swangard Stadium field on the ensuing kickoff. SFU started the drive at their own 38-yard line and marched 51 yards in seven plays, setting up an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Stanford to Andrew Pauls to give the Clan a 7-3 lead with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter.
The teams then took turns trading turnovers thanks to the steady rainfall and soggy conditions. The Storm committed the first, a fumble after a shaky exchange from Blackner to Coleman. The Clan took over at the Dixie State 25-yard line, but fumbled four plays later, and sophomore defensive back
Colton Olson (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) recovered for the Storm. However, possession was exchanged again just two plays later when Blackner was intercepted by SFU defensive back Cairo Messer-Barrow. The Dixie State defense stiffened on the next Clan drive and forced a field goal, and SFU kicker Tiernan Docherty's 39-yard attempt missed wide right. The Storm escaped two consecutive turnovers unscathed, and the score remained 7-3 in favor of the Clan after one quarter.
Dixie State regained the lead just over four minutes into the second quarter, marching 87-yards on eight plays in just two minutes and 42 seconds, capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Coleman to push the Storm back in front at 10-7 with 10:37 remaining in the quarter.
The Clan responded again on the ensuing drive, turning things over to running back Ante Milanovic-Litre. Despite only having two carries on the season prior to the game, SFU handed off to Litre on 10 consecutive plays before settling for a field goal. Docherty made the most of his second try, and split the uprights from 24 yards out to tie the score at 10-10 with 4:41 remaining in the second quarter, a scoreline that would hold up until halftime.
Like the start of the first half, the Storm struck first in the second half on an 11-play, 76-yard drive that featured a 25-yard run by Coleman. The drive was capped when Blackner found senior receiver
Nate Stephens (Redding, Calif./Shasta HS) in the right corner of the end zone and floated a 28-yard touchdown pass. Stephens timed his jumped perfectly and wrestled the ball away from multiple SFU defenders for the score. The pass marked Stephens' first touchdown catch of the season and Blackner's first touchdown pass of the game. With 8:11 remaining in the third quarter, DSU was in front, 17-10.
But like every other Dixie State score to that point, Simon Fraser matched it on the ensuing drive. The Clan marched 76 yards in 11 plays and scored on another strike from Stanford to Pauls, this time from 11 yards out to tie the game at 17-17 with 4:36 to play in the third quarter.
Dixie State again pulled ahead in the third quarter when, after forcing an SFU punt, freshman receiver
Damarrio Hammonds (Oakland, Calif./Patterson HS) juked a defender and sprinted for what appeared to be a 78-yard touchdown. However, the return was called back on an illegal block. Hammonds was rewarded for his efforts four plays later when Blackner found him in the right corner of the end zone and fired a strike for a 29-yard touchdown pass to give the Storm a 24-17 lead with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter. The play marked the first touchdown catch of the season for Hammonds.
Simon Fraser responded on its first drive of the fourth quarter, marching 55-yards in eight plays to set Docherty up for a 31-yard field goal to close the gap to 24-20 with 13:10 to play in the final period. The teams then traded three-and-outs before the Clan took advantage of a Dixie State special teams miscue. After forcing SFU to punt, Hammonds looked to settle under and field the ensuing kick. However, Hammonds decided against it and backed away just before the ball bounced to the turf. The ball bounced and deflected off of Hammonds, and Simon Fraser recovered at the DSU 24-yard line.
Simon Fraser took the lead four plays later, when the Clan opted to go for it on fourth-and-seven from the Dixie State 21-yard line and Stanford found Justin Buren in the end zone for the touchdown. With 9:59 to play, SFU had its first lead of the second half at 27-24, and it was gut check time for the Storm.
Dixie State wasted no time answering the call. Despite giving up consecutive scores to concede the lead, the Storm responded two plays later, when Coleman took a handoff and shot through a big hole for a 75-yard touchdown. DSU regained the lead at 31-27 with 9:06 remaining.
"Our biggest Achilles heel this season has been not being able to respond after a big play from the other team," Head Coach
Scott Brumfield said. "We were able to get over that tonight, and I was proud of our guys. We had a lot of new guys playing tonight. For them to be able to overcome the adversity in the fourth quarter, I was proud of them."
The defense then got in on the action, forcing an SFU three-and-out to get the ball back for a chance to extend the lead. And again, the Storm did not disappoint. Freshman running back
Orlando Wallace (Cathedral City, Calif./Cathedral City HS) picked up a first down, setting up a 59-yard bomb from Blackner to Stephens to move DSU down to the SFU 6-yard line. Two plays later, Blackner fooled everyone in the stadium with a perfectly executed read-option play, opting to keep the ball, and scampered three yards for the touchdown to extend the Dixie State lead to 38-27 with four minutes to play.
Simon Fraser refused to go down easy, marching 63 yards in less than two minutes and converting on fourth down to set up a Stanford touchdown pass to Christain Berger from 19 yards out. The Clan then converted on a two-point try to pull to within 38-35 with 2:19 remaining. After forcing Dixie State to punt, the Clan had a chance for a game-winning drive with 1:40 remaining and no timeouts.
But the Storm defense was up to the task. After conceding a first down, the defense stiffened and forced three consecutive incompletions to regain possession and secure the victory. Blackner led the offense out for the victory formation play and kneeled down to run the remaining 38 seconds off the clock.
Dixie State outgained Simon Fraser 499-331, one yard shy of its second consecutive game with at least 500 yards of total offense, although the final kneel-down to end the game lowered the final total by six yards. The Storm delivered a balanced attack, rushing for 252 yards and passing for 247.
"That's been our goal offensively the whole year," Brumfield said. "Early on we had a lot of success running the ball, and teams started loading up the box. It's going to make our offense and our team better when we're able to run and throw the ball successfully and take advantage of what teams are trying to do against us."
Blackner completed 12-of-31 passes for two touchdowns and one interception in his first collegiate start. Coleman recorded his third 100-yard rushing performance of the season, rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Stephens led the receiving corps with 133 yards and a touchdown on five catches. Duran added six catches for 85 yards, and Hammonds had one catch for 29 yards and a touchdown.
The Red Storm now head to Azusa, Calif., for a rematch with Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PT (7:30 MT).
