Saturday, November 17
Fargo, N.D.
2:30 PM
Southern Illinois University
2-9 , 1-7
17
at
65
North Dakota St.
11-0 , 8-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Southern Illinois
14
0
3
0
17
North Dakota State
28
7
16
14
65
Photo by: T.H. Weber
North Dakota State tops Saluki Football in season finale
11/17/2018 | 6:15:00 | Football
FARGO, N.D. — No. 1-ranked North Dakota State rolled up 663 yards of offense and completed an unbeaten regular season with a 65-17 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday at the sold-out FargoDome.
The Bison (11-0, 8-0) won their 17th-straight game overall behind a balanced attack led by senior quarterback Easton Stick, who completed 16-of-21 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Seven-different ball carriers combined for 355 yards on the ground, including 113 by Ty Brooks.
The Salukis (2-9, 1-7) were competitive early, stunning the Bison on the game's opening kickoff with a 100-yard touchdown return by freshman Je'Quan Burton, which matched the longest kickoff return in school history.
"Couldn't get off to a better start than taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, but there's still 60 minutes to be played and (NDSU) settled down and came right back," said SIU head coach Nick Hill.
After allowing a pair of North Dakota State touchdowns, Southern tied it up, 14-14, on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Matt DeSomer to Raphael Leonard midway through a rapid-fire first quarter. A fifth-year senior making just his seventh career start at quarterback, DeSomer played through a painful foot injury that he sustained in last week's game.
"As gutsy a performance as I've ever been around," Hill marveled. "The first time he got out of his (walking) boot was an hour to go before game time. He didn't even do the walk-throughs or take a snap in practice."
Leonard capped off a tremendous two-year career, in which the senior wideout caught at least one pass in every game, and finished this season with 57 catches — the fifth-most in school history. On his touchdown grab, Leonard snatched the ball at the NDSU 40, turned on the jets, and went untouched for the score.
"In the gameplan that was one of our must-calls, it was there, and Matt made the throw," Leonard said. "I wanted to come in and make an impact and be remembered in this program. I feel like I did that. I wish I could have done more."
Added Hill, "Ralph's a guy who I think has a future at the next level. There's been over 20 (NFL) teams (visit), and he's the reason they come to Carbondale. He has an outstanding attitude, he's humble and is really a coach's dream."
After Leonard's TD, North Dakota State scored three-straight touchdowns to take a 35-14 halftime lead. Stick passed for 266 first-half yards against an already depleted SIU secondary that lost cornerback Madre Harper midway through the first quarter when he was flagged for targeting.
"Their gameplan was to come out and start throwing the football, which you don't see a lot from them," Hill explained. "They knew we were pretty banged up in the secondary, they attacked us and made us pay."
The Salukis committed three costly first-half turnovers. They fumbled once at their own 22 yard line, and on the next play, the Bison scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Stick to Ben Ellefson. Midway through the second quarter, SIU was driving deep into NDSU territory when a DeSomer pass was picked off by Robbie Grimsley at the Bison 10.
"There's not many holes in that team, and to beat them, you're going to have to really play sound in all areas," Hill said. "You can't turn the ball over, especially in this dome."
Southern was outscored 30-3 in the second half with its only points coming on a 25-yard field goal by Griffin Cerra. Their best drive of the second half was led by true freshman quarterback Nic Baker, who marched the team 73 yards in 13 plays before turning it over on downs at the NDSU 2. Baker showed poise and a powerful arm during the drive, completing 4-of-6 passes for 45 yards. He impressed the coaching staff with his work on the scout team in practice and will be a key figure in the battle for the starting quarterback job in 2019.
"We have to play championship football at the quarterback position," Hill said. "We have to find a guy who is going to be the guy, the leader. Nic has shown a lot and I had confidence in him going in there."
The Salukis have the building blocks of a good team next season with all 11 starters returning on defense and quality skill-position players coming back such as running back D.J. Davis, tight end Nigel Kilby and wideout Landon Lenoir. Davis went over 1,100 yards rushing on the season today.
"The group we have coming back makes me want to go work out right now, but we're going to take some time off, then get back at it," Davis said. "This was a learning season and it's going to be amazing next year."
Hill said he will undertake a top-to-bottom review of Saluki football in the coming weeks.
"I've got to do a good job of reflecting on the entire program and being critical and seeing what we have to do to take that next step," Hill said.
The Bison (11-0, 8-0) won their 17th-straight game overall behind a balanced attack led by senior quarterback Easton Stick, who completed 16-of-21 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Seven-different ball carriers combined for 355 yards on the ground, including 113 by Ty Brooks.
The Salukis (2-9, 1-7) were competitive early, stunning the Bison on the game's opening kickoff with a 100-yard touchdown return by freshman Je'Quan Burton, which matched the longest kickoff return in school history.
"Couldn't get off to a better start than taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, but there's still 60 minutes to be played and (NDSU) settled down and came right back," said SIU head coach Nick Hill.
After allowing a pair of North Dakota State touchdowns, Southern tied it up, 14-14, on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Matt DeSomer to Raphael Leonard midway through a rapid-fire first quarter. A fifth-year senior making just his seventh career start at quarterback, DeSomer played through a painful foot injury that he sustained in last week's game.
"As gutsy a performance as I've ever been around," Hill marveled. "The first time he got out of his (walking) boot was an hour to go before game time. He didn't even do the walk-throughs or take a snap in practice."
Leonard capped off a tremendous two-year career, in which the senior wideout caught at least one pass in every game, and finished this season with 57 catches — the fifth-most in school history. On his touchdown grab, Leonard snatched the ball at the NDSU 40, turned on the jets, and went untouched for the score.
"In the gameplan that was one of our must-calls, it was there, and Matt made the throw," Leonard said. "I wanted to come in and make an impact and be remembered in this program. I feel like I did that. I wish I could have done more."
Added Hill, "Ralph's a guy who I think has a future at the next level. There's been over 20 (NFL) teams (visit), and he's the reason they come to Carbondale. He has an outstanding attitude, he's humble and is really a coach's dream."
After Leonard's TD, North Dakota State scored three-straight touchdowns to take a 35-14 halftime lead. Stick passed for 266 first-half yards against an already depleted SIU secondary that lost cornerback Madre Harper midway through the first quarter when he was flagged for targeting.
"Their gameplan was to come out and start throwing the football, which you don't see a lot from them," Hill explained. "They knew we were pretty banged up in the secondary, they attacked us and made us pay."
The Salukis committed three costly first-half turnovers. They fumbled once at their own 22 yard line, and on the next play, the Bison scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Stick to Ben Ellefson. Midway through the second quarter, SIU was driving deep into NDSU territory when a DeSomer pass was picked off by Robbie Grimsley at the Bison 10.
"There's not many holes in that team, and to beat them, you're going to have to really play sound in all areas," Hill said. "You can't turn the ball over, especially in this dome."
Southern was outscored 30-3 in the second half with its only points coming on a 25-yard field goal by Griffin Cerra. Their best drive of the second half was led by true freshman quarterback Nic Baker, who marched the team 73 yards in 13 plays before turning it over on downs at the NDSU 2. Baker showed poise and a powerful arm during the drive, completing 4-of-6 passes for 45 yards. He impressed the coaching staff with his work on the scout team in practice and will be a key figure in the battle for the starting quarterback job in 2019.
"We have to play championship football at the quarterback position," Hill said. "We have to find a guy who is going to be the guy, the leader. Nic has shown a lot and I had confidence in him going in there."
The Salukis have the building blocks of a good team next season with all 11 starters returning on defense and quality skill-position players coming back such as running back D.J. Davis, tight end Nigel Kilby and wideout Landon Lenoir. Davis went over 1,100 yards rushing on the season today.
"The group we have coming back makes me want to go work out right now, but we're going to take some time off, then get back at it," Davis said. "This was a learning season and it's going to be amazing next year."
Hill said he will undertake a top-to-bottom review of Saluki football in the coming weeks.
"I've got to do a good job of reflecting on the entire program and being critical and seeing what we have to do to take that next step," Hill said.
Team Stats
SIU
NDSU
Total Yards
286
663
Pass Yards
198
308
Rushing Yards
88
355
Penalty Yards
50
65
1st Downs
17
29
3rd Downs
2
8
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
25:51
34:09
1st Quarter
SIU 7, NDSU 0
SIU - Burton, JeQuan 100 yd kickoff return (Cerra, Griffin kick)
SIU 7, NDSU 7
NDSU - Ty Brooks 36 yd run (Cam Pedersen kick), 4 plays, 79 yards, TOP 1:44
SIU 7, NDSU 14
NDSU - Easton Stick 1 yd run (Cam Pedersen kick), 3 plays, 50 yards, TOP 1:09
SIU 14, NDSU 14
SIU - Leonard, Raphae 59 yd pass from DeSomer, Matt (Cerra, Griffin kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:43
SIU 14, NDSU 21
NDSU - Nate Jenson 60 yd pass from Easton Stick (Cam Pedersen kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:55
SIU 14, NDSU 28
NDSU - Ben Ellefson 22 yd pass from Easton Stick (Cam Pedersen kick) 1 plays, 22 yards, TOP 0:05
2nd Quarter
SIU 14, NDSU 35
NDSU - D. Shepherd 31 yd pass from Easton Stick (Cam Pedersen kick) 2 plays, 38 yards, TOP 0:55
3rd Quarter
SIU 14, NDSU 42
NDSU - Bruce Anderson 18 yd run (Cam Pedersen kick), 9 plays, 85 yards, TOP 4:21
SIU 14, NDSU 44
NDSU - TEAM 14 yd safety
SIU 14, NDSU 51
NDSU - Bruce Anderson 30 yd run (Cam Pedersen kick), 2 plays, 57 yards, TOP 0:42
SIU 17, NDSU 51
SIU - Cerra, Griffin 25 yd field goal 9 plays, 59 yards, TOP 4:34
4th Quarter
SIU 17, NDSU 58
NDSU - Saybein Clark 19 yd run (Cam Pedersen kick), 16 plays, 75 yards, TOP 9:10
SIU 17, NDSU 65
NDSU - Adam Cofield 20 yd run (Jake Reinholz kick), 2 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:51
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
Players Mentioned
WR
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RB
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