SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Finding the end zone five times in seven tries over the final 30 minutes Saturday, April 24, top-ranked and two-time defending National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Morningside College moved on in postseason play.
No. 7-ranked Baker University out of the Heart of America Conference made it anything but easy for head coach Steve Ryan’s team and kept the partisan Mustangs’ fan base in attendance on edge in the first half. BU entered the locker room at the break up 21-9 taking advantage of a defensive front that stopped the potent Mside offense on downs twice and picked up a pair of turnovers to lead to three touchdowns on the Elwood Olsen FieldTurf.
It was a completely different theme in half number two. Ryan’s offense posted nearly 350 yards while co-defensive coordinators Casey Jacobsen and Nate Turner’s unit stopped the Wildcats cold. Baker garnered only one first down and didn’t find the end zone again until the home team had reeled off 36 straight points to lock up a ninth consecutive national quarterfinal round victory.
Junior quarterback Joe Dolincheck (JR/Bellevue, Neb.) (Bellevue, Neb.), senior running back Anthony Sims (SR/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), and the upperclassman wide receiver tandem of senior Reid Jurgensmeier (SR/Wahoo, Neb.) (Wahoo, Neb.) and junior Austin Johnson (JR/Sioux Falls, SD) (Sioux Falls, S.D.) made up a stalwart offensive quartet. Dolincheck, hitting the 3,000-yard mark for a second successive season, kept the Wildcats’ defensive secondary in knots, despite a first-half interception, with five touchdown passes behind 375 aerial digits. For a second consecutive weekend, Sims tore up the carpet, carrying the ball 36 times for 178 yards and a touchdown. Johnson, the offensive Player of the Game, and Jurgensmeier combined for 19 catches, 336 yards, and three scores.
Sophomore defensive back Joshua Miller (SO/Lincoln, Neb.) (Omaha, Neb.), gaining his second playoffs’ Player of the Game accolade, blocked a Baker punt that led to a safety, picked off a Wildcats’ pass attempt, and tallied eight tackles. Senior linebacker Tyler Wingert (SR/Holstein, Iowa) (Holstein, Iowa) was the defense’s tackle leader with 15, including a half-of-a-sack.
The Mustangs now prep for a rematch with Great Plains Athletic Conference foe Northwestern College Saturday, May 1, in national semifinal play. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Elwood Olsen Stadium.
