Orange City, Iowa — Tyson Kooima accounted for over 300 yards of offense and three touchdowns and the Raider Defense put together a dominating effort in leading No.6 Northwestern to a 31-7 win against Dickinson State in a NAIA Football Championship Series Opening Round game played Saturday at DeValois Stadium / Korver Field.
The win propels Northwestern into the NAIA Quarterfinals for the seventh time in program history and for the second time under Head Coach Matt McCarty. The Raiders move one with a 9-1 record and will head to Des Moines where they will play No.2 Grand View at noon on Saturday, April 24.
Kooima’s dual-threat abilities were on full display against the Blue Hawks as he rushed 13 times for a game-high 100 yards and two scores while also throwing for 263 yards and a score. Kooima was named the game’s most outstanding player on offense as he recorded his third career 100-yard rushing game.
The Raider D was equally impressive as they held Dickinson State to a season-low 227 yards of offense, forced five turnovers and sacked quarterback Drew Boedecker three times. Today’s game was the seventh straight that the Raiders held an opponent to under 300 yards. Noah Van’t Hof accounted for a game-high 12 tackles and nabbed one of the four interceptions. Parker Fryar totaled 11 stops and registered 1.5 quarterback sacks while being named the game’s most valuable player on defense.
Both teams were forced to punt after their first possessions but Northwestern made quick work on its second drive, needing three plays to go 69 yards, finished off by a 60-yard run by Kooima to make the score 7-0 after an Eli Stader extra-point with 8:14 left in opening quarter.
Northwestern opened up a 14-0 lead early in the second frame when Konner McQuillan crossed the goal line on a seven-yard run to finish off an impressive 15-play, 97 yard drive that used up over seven minutes. The Blue Hawks answered with their lone scoring drive when Boedecker completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jaret Lee with 6:42 left in the half. A Stader 24-yard field goal completed the scoring in the first half, giving Northwestern a 17-7 advantage.
The Raiders stopped Dickinson State on consecutive drives at the start of the third quarter, the first on a Van’t Hof interception and the second on a punt, giving the Northwestern offense great field position after a 25-yard punt return by Michael Storey. Three plays later, Kooima recorded his second rushing touchdown with a two-yard run for a 24-7 lead with 4:19 left to go in the third. A Devin Mouw interception near midfield stopped another Blue Hawks drive and set up Northwestern’s final touchdown, a 35-yard pass and catch from Kooima to Shane Solberg.
Northwestern held the Blue Hawks to under 62 yards of offense and forced three turnovers during the final half.
The Raiders totaled 512 yards on offense, the seventh game with 500+ yards gained this season, 249 rush and 263 pass. McQuillan carried the football 16 times for 89 yards and a score while catching a game-high six passes for 32 yards. Solberg totaled four catches for 91 yards and a touchdown while Cade Moser caught three passes for 72 yards.
On defense, Brett Moser and Tanner Oleson both totaled five stops; Moser had a quarterback sack and Oleson forced a fumble and had one interception.
Boedecker completed 13-of-26 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted four times and fumbled once.
Northwestern improved to 22-19 in the NAIA Football Championship Series; Dickinson State’s season ends with a 9-1 record.
