Blue Hawks soar over Vikings to clinch ninth consecutive NSAA title

DICKINSON, N.D. – Will Madler threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns, and Braden Zuroff rushed for 94 yards and two more scores, as Dickinson State defeated Valley City State, 48-17, to clinch their ninth consecutive North Star Athletic Association football title.

The Blue Hawks got the scoring started early, as they capped off their opening drive with a 10-yard score from Zuroff to take a 7-0 lead. The 10-play, 75-yard drive was a sign of things to come, as DSU didn't have a drive that ended in anything other than a touchdown, or end of half, until late in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.

The Vikings answered back with a field goal to make it 7-3, but on the next Dickinson State possession Madler found a diving Noah Sickler in the corner of the end zone for his first passing touchdown of the day. A bad snap on the extra point attempt turned into a failed try to keep the Blue Hawk lead at 13-3.

DSU made it 27 unanswered points in the second and third quarters on touchdowns by Cameron Sheppard and Zuroff, and a pick-six by Jayden Heartwell to put the game out of reach for good. Sheppard's touchdown came on what was perhaps Madler's best throw of the day, a bomb down the near sideline that turned into a 73-yard touchdown to make it 20-3.

Colin Bowden caught the final touchdown pass from Madler late in the third quarter to answer a VCSU touchdown, and Bridger Grovom found Sickler for another touchdown, and the Blue Hawks final points, early in the fourth.

Chase Miller went 6-6 on extra points on the night to again continue his streak of consecutive makes and Tel Lunde led the DSU defense with 7 tackles and an interception. Austin Dennis and Matt Anderson combined for the only DSU sack on the day, but the defense added five more tackles for loss as they smothered the Vikings offense all afternoon.

"I'm very proud of our team for the getting the conference championship," said head coach Pete Stanton. "We executed at a very high level on both sides of the ball. Our guys have worked very hard to get to this point. It was a great team effort all the way around."

Even with the North Star title wrapped up, the Blue Hawks still have one week of conference play left, as they head to Madison, S.D. to take on Dakota State in a game that still holds a lot of importance. Not only are the Blue Hawks competing for a spot in the NAIA National Tournament, they have put themselves in a position to potentially host an opening round game if they finish high enough in the national polls.