Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | KENNESAW STATE - PDF
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OPENING KICK: Dixie State closes the road portion of its 2021 spring schedule this Saturday afternoon, March 20, with a date at current #9/#9 Kennesaw State. The game will be played inside Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga., with kick-off slated for 1 p.m. (ET).

DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State Division I home and away games this season will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, with Devin Dixon calling the play-by-play action and Andy Thompson providing color commentary. A live stream of the radio broadcast will be available at sportsradio977.com.
    Along with the radio coverage, both DSU home games this spring will be simulcast on KCEC-TV (TDS Cable Channel 22), with tape-delay rebroadcasts aired throughout the following week, and streamed live on Dixie State's YouTube channel (youtube.com/DixieStateAthletics).

DIXIE STATE VS. KENNESAW STATE: Saturday game at Kennesaw State will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Owls on the gridiron.

DIXIE STATE HEADING SOUTH AND EAST: Saturday's game at Kennesaw State will mark the first time in the program's four-year era that the Trailblazers will have played a game EAST of the Mississippi River. In fact, the near 3,844-mile trip will be the longest road trip DSU has embarked on to play an NCAA football game.
    In addition, Saturday's game at KSU will be just the second time that Dixie State has played a game against an opponent east of the "Mighty Mississipp, the Old Miss, the Old Man." In the 2007 season, DSU hosted Carson-Newman at then Hansen Stadium (L, 13-35; 9/29/07).
    Prior to this Saturday's game, the furthest east the Blazers had been was Stephenville, Texas, which is where Dixie State opened the 2021 season with a win at Tarleton State (26-14) on Feb. 27.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State made its NCAA FCS home debut last Saturday night with the second game of a home-and-home series with Tarleton. However the Texans spoiled the Trailblazers' house party as Tarleton avenged its own home loss to DSU with a 37-15 victory on the Greater Zion Stadium turf.

HI, MY NAME IS ....: After 14 years as a competing member of the NCAA at the Division II level, Dixie State will officially kick off its D-I FCS era on Saturday at Tarleton.
    During their 14-year Division II era, the Trailblazers played to a 52-100 (.342) overall record, which included a combined 41-61 conference record in the GNAC (16-46; .258) and RMAC (25-15; .625) conferences.
    Dixie State posted winning records in three of its final D-II seasons, including a program best 8-3 mark (8-2 RMAC) last season Head Coach Paul Peterson's first season at the helm.

WE ARE INDEPENDENT...FOR NOW: Dixie State Athletics officially began its transition to NCAA Division I status this past July 1, with all sports except football joining the Western Athletic Conference. The transition also meant that the Trailblazer football program was going to begin its transition as one of three FCS independent programs in the country, joining Tarleton State and Presbyterian University.
    However the WAC announced last month an expansion plan that would include the addition of five new member schools, all of which sponsor football. Among the new members are current Big Sky Conference member and soon-to-be a new in-state rival Southern Utah, and Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin from the Southland Conference.
    The four Southland schools will join the WAC this upcoming July 1, while SUU will move over in July of 2022, thus rounding out a seven-team WAC FCS football league that begins play that fall.
    Fellow WAC member New Mexico State, which DSU played last Sunday afternoon in El Paso, will remain an independent D-I FBS program and will not be included in the new WAC football league.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME (SPRING) FOOTBALL?: Though the 2020 D-I FBS football season has come and gone, the National Football Foundation announced last month that more than 300 schools and 35 conferences in the FBS, FCS, D-II, D-III and NAIA levels are playing college football this spring.
    According to the NFF, Dixie State is one of more than 100 FCS programs which are putting on the helmets and pads for the 2021 spring season.

DIXIE STATE AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: The win at then No. 22 Tarleton (2/27) was just the third Dixie State victory over a ranked team in the program's NCAA era (3-17), and was the first in NCAA D-I FCS play.
    Prior to that victory at TSU, the last DSU win vs. a ranked opponent came on Nov. 3, 2018, in a 52-45 thriller at home against then-No. 6 Colorado School of Mines. DSU claimed its first win over a ranked opponent in a 38-31 victory at then-No. 23 Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction in 2016.

DIXIE STATE IN THE POLLS: The home loss vs. Tarleton last Saturday knocked Dixie State out of the list of programs receiving votes in the Stat Perform FCS Top-25 poll.
    Dixie State had received votes in the last two Stat Perform FCS Top-25 polls prior to last Saturday's loss.
    Prior to this season, DSU had only received votes in the top-25 just one other time in the program's NCAA era, that came during the 2019 season when the Blazers received 37 votes in the AFCA D-II Coaches' Poll (10/20/19) after a 6-1 start to that campaign. 

ALL-TIME IN SEASON OPENERS: Dixie State improved to 3-12 all-time in season openers in its NCAA era with the win at Tarleton (2/27).
    Prior to that, the Trailblazers' last season-opening win came at home in a 21-14 triumph over New Mexico Highlands on Sept. 1, 2016. DSU's last season-opening victory before that was a 37-28 home win over Adams State on Aug. 27, 2009.
    The Tarleton win also marked the first season-opening road win in the program's four-year era (1-8).

HITTING THE TRAIL
* - Junior QB Kody Wilstead will look to get back on track this week after he was limited to 79 yards on 11-of-29 passing vs. Tarleton last Saturday.
*- Wilstead threw for 350 yards and a TD in the Tarleton road win (2/27), then bettered that a week later at NMSU (3/7), when he completed 26-of-38 of his passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns.
*- Wilstead's 373 yards passing tied for the eighth-most in a game in the program's NCAA era (Judd Thompson vs. Adams State (2009).
* - Wilstead also padded his school record with his sixth-career 300-yard passing game at NMSU.
* - Against NMSU (3/7), Wilstead completed a 65-yard TD pass to senior WR Jalen Powell in the third quarter, and found freshman RB Quali Conley for a 75-yard TD catch-and-run late in the fourth quarter.
* - Wilstead's 75-yard TD pass tied for the 6th longest in the program's NCAA era and was DSU's 15th TD pass all-time in the four-year era that had covered 65 or more yards, which included the Powell TD one quarter earlier.
* - Wilstead's two touchdown passes at NMSU (3/7) moved him into solo third place on DSU's career passing TD list (21).
* - Wilstead also extended his streak without an interception to 21 quarters, dating back to the 2019 season, and he has not been picked off in his last 168 pass attempts overall ... his last INT came just before halftime in a road win at Western Colorado (10/19/19).
* - Freshman reserve QB Kobe Tracy saw his first action as a Trailblazer in the second half vs. Tarleton last Saturday ... the freshman completed six of his 17 passes for 123 yards and his first two collegiate touchdowns.
* - Tracy found fellow freshman David Fisher for both TD strikes, including a 49-yarder with 4:18 to play ... the duo then hooked up for a 14-yard pitch-and-catch at the final gun.
* - Conley just missed his first net 100-yard rushing game of his young career in Saturday's loss to Tarleton ... the freshman back finished with a career-best 98 net yards (100 gained) on 22 carries vs. the Texans.
* - Conley racked up a career-best 179 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns at NMSU (3/7) ... the freshman got Dixie State on the board on the team's opening drive with a 43-yard scamper, which was part of an 84-yard rushing effort on 11 carries ... he also caught four passes for a career-high 98 yards.
* - Conley is averaging 82.0 yards rushing and 154.3 all-purpose yards through his first three collegiate games with three total touchdowns overall.   
* - Powell recorded his second career 100-yard receiving game at NMSU (3/7) as he hauled in six passes for 104 yards to go with his TD ... Powell posted a career-high 127 receiving yards in 2019 vs. Colorado Mesa (11/2/19).
* - Senior TE Chase Hess picked up right where he left off a season ago as he hauled in five catches for 96 yards at Tarleton (2/27), highlighted by a 43-yard catch and run for his eighth career TD, which pulled him into a tie for ninth on DSU's career TD receptions list ... Hess, who saw limited action vs. Tarleton last Saturday, also tallied 49 yards on four receptions at NMSU (3/7).
* - Senior WR Deven Osborne recorded a career-high 67 receiving yards at Tarleton (2/27) ... Osborne, who had only six total receptions a season ago, led the team with five catches and 53 yards last Saturday vs. Tarleton.
* - DSU's offense was held to 364 total yards in last Saturday's loss to Tarleton, which snapped a five-game streak that saw the Trailblazers game at least 440 yards of offense.
* - Dixie State racked up a season-high 483 total yards at NMSU (3/7).
* - DSU eclipsed the 400-yard plateau offensively nine times in 2019, highlighted by a 677-yard day (#2 all-time at DSU) vs. Black Hills State (10/5/19).
* - Dixie State has scored in 5-of-7 red zone
trips this season with four touchdowns.  
* - Dixie State saw its scoring streak stopped at 15 quarters after the Blazers were held scoreless in the first half vs. Tarleton last Saturday.
* - The last time DSU was held scoreless in a quarter was in the first quarter at Colorado School of Mines (11/9/19) during the 2019 season.
* - Meanwhile, the last time the Trailblazers were held scoreless in a half was early in the 2019 season at Fort Lewis (9/14/19), in a game Dixie State scored 23 unanswered points after halftime en route to a 23-14 road win.
* - Dixie State did not turn the ball over in its loss to Tarleton last Saturday ... the last time the Blazers achieved that feat was in a 52-22 home win vs. Black Hills State (10/5/19) during the 2019 season.
* - Through three games this spring, Dixie State has been flagged just 11 times for 128 penalty yards, while the Blazer opponents have racked up 225 yards on 26 accepted penalties.  
* - Junior LB Malaki Malaki is the team's leading tackler through three games with 35 (11.67 tpg), which includes 16 solo stops and 2.5 TFLs.
* - Malaki tied a program NCAA-era record with 19 total tackles, including nine solo stops at NMSU (3/7), which helped earn him Stat Perform Week 4 FCS Player of the Week honorable mention recognition ... Malaki, who also had 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble vs. the Aggies, tied the record first set by former DSU linebacker Robert Metz, who also recorded 19 tackles in a 2015 game at Central Washington (11/14/15).  
* - Senior DL Isaac Fotu complemented Malaki's big day at NMSU as he was credited with 10 total tackles (2 solo) and DSU's lone sack of the game.
* - Freshman DB Malina Ti'a matched Fotu with 10 total tackles at NMSU and he was also credited with 0.5 TFL ... Ti'a also made five solo starts vs. Tarleton last Saturday.
* - Junior safety Darrius Nash collected two strip sacks at Tarleton (2/27), including a big one on the Texans' first possession of the game that help set up Dixie State's first touchdown.
* - Nash (8.0 tpg) made five tackles (4 solo) and broke up two passes vs. Tarleton last Saturday.
* - Sophomore LB Mark Lopez led the DSU defense with nine tackles (3 solo) vs. Tarleton last Saturday, while freshman safety Tyrell Grayson collected eight total tackles vs. the Texans' in his first collegiate start.
* - Junior CB Kaejin Smith-Bejgrowicz and junior DB Devin Chandler accounted for both Trailblazer interceptions at Tarleton (2/27), while Smith-Bejgrowicz also forced a fumble to halt the Texans' first sustained drive of the second half.
* - Chandler also made eight total stops at NMSU with 1.0 TFL and two PBUs.
* - Junior P Johnny Borashan punted eight times for 248 total yards (31.0 ypp) with one kick inside 20 yards vs. Tarleton last Saturday.  
* - Senior PK James Baird hit his second 40-plus field goal of the year in the third quarter vs. Tarleton last Saturday ... Baird
went 2-for-3 in the field goal department at Tarleton (2/27), including a career long 48-yd field goal early in the fourth quarter.
* - Not only was that kick a career best for Baird, it was also the second-longest field goal make in DSU's NCAA era (Jameson Schulz 50-yd FG at Colorado Mesa, 2011).
* - Dixie State special team surrendered a 93-yard Tarleton kick-off return for a touchdown in the third quarter last Saturday... that KOR broke a string of 55-straight games since the last time a DSU opponent housed a kick off (11/8/14 vs. Colorado Mesa).

DIXIE STATE LANDS SEVEN ON PHIL STEELE PRESEASON ALL-INDY TEAM: Though its seems forever ago, July 24, 2020 to be exact, but Dixie State landed seven player on the annual Phil Steele 2020 Preseason FCS Independent Team.
    Four of the Blazers' seven selections were on the offensive side of the ball, including redshirt junior quarterback Kody Wilstead, senior tight end Chase Hess, senior wide receiver Jalen Powell and junior offensive lineman Nathen Aceves.  
    Dixie State redshirt junior defensive lineman Dylan Hendrickson was the Trailblazers' lone representative on the Steele defensive team, while senior placekicker James Baird and redshirt senior quarterback/punter Keaton Mott (who opted out of the 2021 spring season) were special teams selections.

#AB3FOREVER: Just prior to the start of its first NCAA Division I fall camp, Dixie State Football announced that senior running back D'Arman Notoa was awarded the No. 3 jersey for the 2020 season.
    The awarding of the No. 3 jersey is the first of what will become an annual tradition honoring the memory of former Dixie State football player Abraham Reinhardt, who passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2019. DSU Head Football Coach Paul Peterson noted that the No. 3 jersey would be awarded to a student-athlete who best exemplified Reinhardt's leadership, both on and off the field.
    "When we lost a great young man in Abraham [in 2019], we wanted to honor him and his legacy the best we possibly could," Coach Peterson said. "Abe was a perfect representative of our team culture which focuses on toughness, hard work, trust and accountability.
    "When we thought of a player to carry on his legacy and have the honor of wearing the number three, D'Arman was clearly the best candidate. We know D'Arman will continue to exemplify our team culture, carry on Abe's legacy and help propel us into becoming an elite D-1 football program."
    Notoa played in all 11 games in his first season at Dixie State in 2019, during which he rushed for 308 yards on 75 carries and three touchdowns. He also caught 16 passes out of the backfield for 124 yards with one more touchdown.

NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES: The Dixie State University football program was presented the Life Saving Medal Award last September by the DSU Department of Public Safety for its heroic efforts in the St. George community The award was presented to the team at Greater Zion Stadium by DSU Chief of Police/Director of Public Safety Blair Barfuss and several DSU Police officers.
    This past August 7, the Trailblazer program received national attention when several football players and coaches sprang into action to rescue a rappeler who was stranded in mid-air below the face of the "Dixie Rock" located on the Dixie Sugarloaf that overlooks the city. The entire team was at the Sugarloaf as part of an annual tradition prior to the start of fall preseason camp when the call for help came.
    Then two weeks later on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 23, two members of the team, along with two other fellow students, helped lift a vehicle off another Dixie State student who was trapped under water during a sudden flash flood as a result of a massive thunderstorm that hit the St. George area.
    "I am really proud of this team, we have some really good young men on this team," Coach Peterson said. "We are trying to establish a culture of positivity and to champion everything that we do. We definitely want to give back to our community.

SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE: Kennesaw State enters Saturday's game with a 2-0 record in the early going with home wins over Shorter University (35-3; 2/27) and Charleston Southern (24-19) last weekend.
    The Owls' triple-option attack averages 268.5 yards rushing, with sophomore quarterback Jonathan Murphy leading the way with 63.5 rpg and two touchdowns, while senior QB Tommy Bryant has gained 79 yards on the ground with a team-high three rushing TDs.  
    KSU is averaging 29.5 ppg and 336.0 yards of total offense, while allowing 11.0 ppg and 202.0 yards in two games. 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State will put a bow on its 2021 Spring FCS debut season next Saturday night at home vs. former RMAC opponent Fort Lewis. Kick-off inside Greater Zion Stadium is set for 7 p.m. (MT).