A 'W' is a 'W'...

Well... wow. I hate to be too hard on the guys on the day of a homecoming win but... we practically tried to give that game away to Hastings. Gift wrapped and tied with a pretty bow.

We dominated the first half. Dominated. Had 250-some odd yards of offense, moved the ball pretty freely, held them to 83 yards of offense. Their rushing game had negative yards at halftime, I'm pretty sure.

Then came the second half.

Then we looked like a team who couldn't do anything. We looked tired. We looked lost. We couldn't run. We couldn't throw. Protect the quarterback. We had 17 total yards of offense in the second half. Seven.Teen. Hastings had almost 200.

DWU had some big second-half plays. An interception, a fumble recovery. Jesse Holz had a HUGE pass breakup on 4th-and-7 on the DWU 6 in the final minutes of the game to give DWU the ball back. But it was seriously nerve-wracking to watch.

Give the Broncos credit; after that first half they didn't give up. It seemed like it woke their quarterback up, actually. And their defensive line was awesome; Bane was scrambling on every play, it seemed like. At one point, the Bronco D sacked Bane for a loss of 15 yards, back to the Tiger 4-yard line. Yikes.

A few people got a little banged up... Aaron Rolen went down, and Muilenburg had to be helped off after a big hit. Dordt next week, then we have to get ready for Morningside.

On a lighter note... DWU is 4-0 for the first time since joining the GPAC, and (I think) for the first time since its undefeated season in 1992. Let's see how long we can keep this going.
Who ya rootin' for?!

Homecoming!

It's Homecoming week here at DWU... scratch that. It's the Friday at the end of DWU's Homecoming week, which can only mean one thing... Blue and White Days game tomorrow!

Tomorrow's game is a tough one for the Tigers. Hastings comes to town, and the Broncos don't appear to be the team that they've been in the past five or so years, but it's still Hastings, and we seem to have a history of playing very, very close games with them.

Let's look back, shall we. In 2005, Hastings won by three (32-29) in Hastings. The next year the Broncos won pretty handily in Mitchell, but the next year, the Tigers kicked a field goal as time expired to win 34-31 in Hastings. Then comes the 2008 season. That was the year, if you remember, DWU went 7-3 and (I like to think) barely missed a berth in the NAIA playoffs. Well, if they did, in fact, narrowly miss that berth, it's because of the Hastings game.

That year, the Broncos and Tigers played to double overtime, and Hastings pulled off a 28-27 victory in front of DWU's home crowd at Joe Quintal. I was working at The Daily Republic at the time, and was standing on the Tiger sidelines throughout the game. That was such an intense atmosphere. Everyone was one their feet, hoping and praying Hastings wouldn't score. I think it was the first overtime it looked like we held them because we had their QB scurrying in the backfield, but he threw up a prayer of a pass and someone in a Bronco uniform managed to catch it on the 1-yard line, where they ran in for a TD. The Broncos scored again to start the second OT, and then the Tigers scored, but DWU went for two and the win instead of a third OT, and the run failed, giving Hastings the one-point win. Heck of a game.

DWU picked up its second win against the Broncos in school history last year, and is looking for No. 3 tomorrow. The Tigers are also looking for their first 4-0 start in GPAC history tomorrow, and this is a scary game for that. This is a game DWU *should win, but the Broncos are a strange team. They lost 10-0 to Concordia (we rolled past Concordia), but they shutout Briar Cliff and destroyed Dakota State. Their defense leads the league or is at the top of the GPAC in several categories, and their running game is nothing to sneeze at.

The Tigers will need to be at the top of their game, that's for sure. That hasn't been a problem in the first three games; Jon Bane leads the league in passing and total offense, Anthony Muilenburg is at the top of the GPAC in receptions and receiving yards per game and Josh Endres is first in the league in rushing and scoring (and he also leads the nation on scoring). Oh, and Derek Carlson leads the league in punting. We're going to need all those components, plus a solid defense and steady O-line, to come away with a W. We just need to play like we have been.

Hope to see everyone out at Quintal! Tailgating starts at 11:30 a.m.! Who ya rootin' for?!

Three-plus weeks in...

I had every intention of updating this blog much sooner, I promise. Things move at a much faster pace in the fall than they do in the summer, that's for sure!

Where to begin. How about with football and the Tigers' second-ever 3-0 start? That's right, the DWU football team is 3-0 for the second time in GPAC history and for the second straight year. And they are a dominant 3-0 at that. The Tigers have arguably one of the best passing attacks in the league this season, led by quarterback Jon Bane. He leads the league in passing (297) and total offense (313.3) per game and has nearly 900 passing yards after three games. Add to that a pair of solid receivers (Anthony Muilenburg leads the GPAC in catches per game (8) and and receiving yards per game (93.3) Euedell Clayton is tied for second in catches (5.33) and is third in receiving yards (79.3) per game) and it all comes together nicely.

Muilenburg and Clayton aren't the Tigers' only threats through the air, though. Josh Endres (yes, the running back ) had a HUGE game Saturday and is ninth in receiving yards per game (52.3) and Nate Ovenden has also made some big catches.

A solid offensive line helps, too. The Tigers fought through, and are still fighting through some injuries, but the O-line hasn't given up a sack in two games, and is giving Bane plenty of time to air out the ball. Major contributors include freshman center Kyle Hencke, junior Nathan Little, senior Mario Palencia, along with Spencer Bloch, Kevin Calsbeek, Jake Verry and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Speaking of Endres... he ran for 186 yards and caught 11 passes for 115 more yards and four touchdowns. He leads the GPAC in rushing and scoring per game, and is also No. 1 in the NAIA in scoring per game at 16 points. DWU's running game was pretty slow the first two games, but it flourished thanks to Endres Saturday in a 45-14 win against Briar Cliff.

I was asked Saturday if I thought the Tigers' schedule has allowed them to go 3-0, or if they are that good. I really do think they are that good, although we haven't had a major test yet. Morningside at home on Oct. 15 will probably be our first big test, as Hastings (1-1) lost to Concordia this weekend (and we rolled past the Bulldogs). I have noticed, however, that we seem to get off to slow starts, and that will hurt us against good teams. In all three games in the first quarter we get into scoring position and then stall, or we fumble or get a big penalty. If we can quit that, we'll be even better.

Since I brought up Morningside... they lost Saturday! The GPAC race is now wide open, I think. Morningside, which is/was No. 3 in the nation, lost to unranked Nebraska Wesleyan. Northwestern is currently 1-2 as it lost to Morningside last week and then was upset 20-8 by Doane College, which is undefeated and receiving votes. It will be interesting to see what the polls do when they come out this afternoon. Midland was No. 11, and I bet will vault into the top 10. I think we should crack the top 15, or at least the top 21 (we were No. 21 in last week's poll). Northwestern should drop even farther (was No. 16), and Morningside would (I would think) drop out of the top 10. Oh, and Doane should jump into the top 25. Busy, busy week for GPAC football in the rankings!

Other thoughts... the volleyball team got off to a 7-3 start, but has now lost its last four and is 7-7. Freshman Danielle Bird is going to be a very, very good volleyball player for us. She and/or senior Larissa Veldhuizen have led the team in kills in all 14 games.

The men's soccer team could surprise some people. They are 2-3, and all three losses have been by a single goal, and two in overtime (or double OT). That includes a 3-2, double overtime loss to No. 10 Kansas Wesleyan. Top-ranked Hastings edged KWU 1-0, so that bodes well for us.

I swear I will be better about updating this throughout the fall. No, for real.

Who ya rootin' for?

Welcome to 2011-12

Well, I successfully made it through the summer without a single update to this blog. Oops.

But, I'm ready to remedy that now. Fall sports have been checked in on campus for a week and a half and the rest of the DWU student body arrives tomorrow, so summer is officially over. Time to get back into the swing of sports!

This is not going to be a very informative post. Between media guides and meetings and taking head shots of our fall sports teams, I have about 1,207 other things to do. But, one can only format photos and edit media guide copy for so long, so I thought I'd spruce up the blog a bit and let everyone know that I'm back for the school year.

Here, this will be informative: a bit about when sports start. Men's and women's soccer had their first scrimmages Tuesday against Iowa Lakes CC. The women scrimmage at home tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 19) and again Sunday, this time on the road. The first real game for either team is Aug. 26 when they host Jamestown College. Volleyball starts its season Aug. 26 at the Rocky Mountain College Tournament, men's and women's golf is at Morningside Aug. 31 and cross country starts Sept. 2 at a meet hosted by Augustana.

The football team opens the season with a nonconference game -- its first non-GPAC game in several years -- Sept. 3 at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D.

Back to the media guides. More to follow in the very, very near future about the upcoming sports seasons. Should be a good year for Tiger athletics!

Oh, and for those who don't know -- DWU athletics has a new website. www.dwuathletics.com. Check it out. Who ya rootin' for?

Stupid snow.

Well, it's true that our spring sports season is almost over (only about three weeks to go!), but Mother Nature sure doesn't seem to comprehend that. We have, so far, probably 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of heavy, wet snow here in Mitchell, and it's still coming down pretty hard. This would be fine a few months ago. Maybe even in March. But mid-April? Come on now. This is nonsense. I wore my snow boots back to work after I took lunch because I got sick of my feet being cold and wet. Along with being a general nuisance, the snow also creates plenty of problems for our baseball and softball teams. So far, softball has already been postponed from this afternoon (now played on 4/22) and baseball is still waiting to decide what to do (although it doesn't look like there's any way they can play... they would tear that field to pieces). Football was also forced to cancel its spring scrimmage. Now, teams are forced to find a time in the next two-ish weeks to reschedule these games. Both baseball and softball are going to have a busy few days at the end of the season. The baseball team is struggling a bit this year. The Tigers are 7-30 overall and 1-10 in the league. This was expected to some degree, I think. There are 15 true freshmen on the roster, and of the sophomores, juniors and seniors, only a precious few actually saw much playing time last year or in previous years. John Greicar is pretty much the only fielder to have any varsity playing experience, and Ethan Opsahl, Thomas Pickett and Patrick Dennis are the only pitchers with a significant amount of experience. DWU has been in plenty of games. A few weekends ago the Tigers played three games that went to extra innings and lost all three. They are just young and don't have that experience yet. I think down the road they'll be good, as long as they can get some of these young guys to stick around. There are some very talented players on this team. The softball team is doing well; DWU is 12-17 overall and 7-7 in the league. The Tigers have split their past four GPAC doubleheaders, but two of the losses have been 1-0 games. DWU has plenty of power this season, and has been taking advantage. The Tigers have 16 total home runs so far, led by Kelsie Fahr, who has five. The pitching staff has also been solid for the Tigers. The DWU track team has two athletes qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Alex Liberty qualified in the decathlon last week and Derik Fossum in the triple jump. The decathlon is nuts... athletes compete in a 1,500-meter run, several sprint races, at least one hurdle race, high jump pole vault and I think hammer or javelin. Along with a few others. Talk about needing to be athletic and versatile. Kudos to Liberty for qualifying. On a random aside... the senior athlete recognition and DWU Athletic Hall of Fame banquet is Saturday. This year's senior class has accomplished some amazing things. Our latest hall of fame inductees also make up a talented bunch. Should be a fun evening for everyone. Here's hoping no one decides to talk for an hour and a half.

Spring has sprung... and is almost over?

So I was completely wiped out after our 10-hour drive home from Branson (and the subsequent drive back from Mitchell to Sioux Falls and back that same day/night to watch my friend's band play) and meant to blog that next day or early that next week. Well, that's been two weeks ago now, and I have slipped into forgetting to blog again. I swear I'll do better the rest of the spring.

Anyway... I don't want to lapse back to the national tournament too much but... I thought we had Northwood. We got it down to a three-point game, then couldn't score. I think if we would have tied that game or even taken a small lead, we would have had it. They were cocky, and you can't tell they weren't used to losing, or even playing close games. One thing I noticed down there is that teams and coaches are generally very, very friendly. They're excited to be in Branson at the national tournament, and they'll sit there and chat with you about the teams, the weather, their trip, their season, where you're from, anything. Northwood did not give off that vibe. They seemed stuck up, like they thought they were better than everyone. Which, yes, they were good. Very good. But very beatable.

Anyway... that's over and done with. Great season for the Tiger men. The offseason has been good to them, too. Brady Wiebe earned All-America First Team honors -- the third All-American honors of his career. Coach Shane Murphy signed Luke Bamberg and Kris Menning, a duo of high scorers and talented players from nearby Corsica/Stickney. Those two, along with Jalen Voss, should mean good things for the future of the program.

And now, it's baseball/softball season. Which seems nuts. We've actually had a handful of home baseball games, though. They haven't been particularly warm, but DWU is playing baseball in March in South Dakota, which is fairly impressive. The softball team hasn't been so lucky, but is hoping to change that Friday with a doubleheader against Peru State.

The baseball team has struggled a bit this season, mostly because it is very, very young. There are only a handful of upperclassmen on the team, and some of those upperclassmen are seeing playing time for the first year, so they don't have that big-game experience. Thomas Pickett and Ethan Opsahl have both excelled, though. Both have won a GPAC Pitcher-of-the-Week award after big performances. Opsahl leads the league with 38 strikeouts and Pickett is second with 31.

The softball team is also young, but experienced because these kids have been playing since they were freshmen. Brandi Nekrassoff earned GPAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors last week for her part in helping DWU sweep previously undefeated Nebraska Wesleyan.

I know it's only the end of March, but graduation is April 30, so spring sports are coming to a close rather quickly! Which is nuts to think about.

Like I said, I promise I'll blog more this spring season. Who ya rootin' for?

Game 2: So close.

We could have had them. We had chances. We should have upset the 2 seed. If only we'd scored more than one point in the last three minutes of the game. If only a few more of our threes would have gone in. I think if we could have gotten one big shot in the final minutes of the game, it would have rattled Northwood and we'd have won.

They were panicked. In the second half when we started making a run and chipping away at the lead... they got sloppy and tight and started fighting with each other. They didn't know how to react. Just one more three, and I think they would have internally collapsed.

But, we didn't. And they didn't collapse. Northwood was tall and athletic and strong and very solid. But they are for sure beatable. Brady had a great game, despite being outsized down low. Fourteen huge rebounds and 19 points. What a career he has had.

I really wanted us to win for several reasons, but one reason was because the Oklahoma Wesleyan scouts I was sitting between didn't take a single note about us. Not one. They had a page and a half worth of notes on Northwood's plays and personnel and whatnot. They had a corner of the page marked off labeled DWU, but nothing written down. I really wanted to win and make them feel stupid. It's not like Northwood killed us. They didn't have it wrapped up; it wasn't a for sure win. Seeing that made me mad.

Excellent season for the Tigers. Considering we were at one point in the middle of the GPAC race and now went 1-1 at the national tournament... an excellent season with some very, very big wins. No one on this team has anything to be ashamed of. Especially after tonight. We left everything on that court. And it showed.

Again, I want to mention how very blessed I, and everyone involved with DWU athletics, am/are. There is so much support for the athletes and staff from the families, the athletes, the community. Families adopt players whose families live far away and invite them into their homes. Welcome new families into the Tiger athletic family. It's amazing to see, and be a part of.

Growing up, I never thought I'd say this, but I am already anxious for next year's basketball season. Who ya rootin' for?!