Defense dominant again in 23-0 victory over Iowa Wesleyan

MT. PLEASANT, IOWA - The Dickinson State (4-2, 2-0 NSAA) defense forced six turnovers and held Iowa Wesleyan (3-4, 1-1 NSAA) scoreless to win 23-0 for their second consecutive North Star Athletic Association road win.

Dickinson State jumped ahead early on a 12-play 82-yard drive on their opening possesion to take an early 7-0 lead. Aaron White found Riley Linder on a 4-yard TD pass to start the scoring. The teams traded punts on the following two possesion before the Blue Hawk defense forced its first turnover. On Iowa Wesleyan's next possesion JaQuawhann Booth got into the Tiger backfield to force a fumble, but IWU was able to recover to retain possesion. Six plays later, Dawson McGlothlin intercepted a Zach Chevalier pass in the DSU endzone to end the drive, and the threat.

A 57-yard receiving touchdown by Isaiah Kludt on the ensuing possesion gave DSU a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Blue Hawk defense forced its second turnover of the half at the 09:21 mark of the second quarter when Keaton Meschke picked off a pass in Tiger territory and returned it 17 yards to the IWU 23. A Wade James 40-yard field goal gave the Blue Hawks a 17-0 lead with 09:06 left in the half. On the next Tiger posessions Jayden Heartwell forced a fumble on a completed pass that was recovered by Krew Mathern, giving DSU the ball right back. The Tigers got the ball right back with an interception of their own, but DSU again forced a takeaway whe Mathern forced, and recovered, a fumble three plays later giving DSU the ball on their own 19. Dickinson State could not turn the possesion into points and were forced to punt. On the next Iowa Wesleyan possesion, the DSU defense forced a fourth consecutive turnover when McGlothlin snagged his second interception of the day, returning it 36 yards to the IWU 11. The Tiger defense held strong and forced DSU into another James field goal, bringing the score to 20-0 at the half.

On the opening possesion of the second half Dickinson State almost forced a fifth consecutive turnover when Evan Henke forced a fumble after a completed pass, but IWU was able to recover. DSU got a fourth down stop on the next play to get the ball back. James added another field goal with 05:13 remaining in the quarter to make the score 23-0, DSU. At the end of the quarter, Jermani Brown collected the Blue Hawks fourth interception to end an IWU possesion that started at the DSU 31 thanks to a DSU fumble.

Overall, DSU outgained IWU 387-367. QB Aaron White went 17-34 with 2 TD and 1 INT to lead the Blue Hawk offensive effort. Riley Linder had 55 yards and a TD on 11 carries, while Isaiah Kludt caught five passes for 92 yards and TD to lead DSU on the ground and through the air, respectively.

WHATS NEXT

The Blue Hawks return home next week to take on Waldorf University on Saturday, October 15. It is Homecoming Week at DSU with festivities happening throughout the week, so check out dsubluehawks.com and all Dickinson State social media pages for schedules and details.