NORTH DAKOTA STATE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2022 SAMFORD BISON GAME DAY Presents ► When: 6 p.m., Gate City Bank Field, Fargodome ► TV: ESPN2 ► Radio: 1660-AM, 107.9-FM
Dom Izzo WDAY-TV Record: 12-0
Record: 12-0
NDSU’s run game will continue to dominate against Samford as the Bison punch their ticket to the semis NDSU 36 Samford
S C H E D U L E
M E D I A B L I T Z
BISON GAME DAY BISON Johnson RUSHING No Yds Avg Long TD Kobe Johnson TaMerik Williams Hunter Luepke Cam Miller 714 660 621 344 8 1 7 8 6 3 4 4 75 68 47 68 5 8 9 13 PASSING Comp Att Yds Int TD Cam Miller 184 1516 3 10 PROBABLE STARTERS BULLDOGS RUSHING No Yds Avg Long Jay Stanton Jaylan Thomas 166 107 736 611 4 4 5 7 49 44 5 7 BISON OFFENSE Pos No Name Ht Wt Yr WR LT LG C RG RT TE WR FB RB QB 0 70 66 77 63 74 82 19 49 22 7 Zach Mathis Cody Mauch Nash Jensen Brandon Westberg Jake Kubas Grey Zabel Joe Stoffel Jake Lippe Hunter Brozio TaMerik Williams Cam Miller 6-6 6-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 6-6 6-3 6-2 5-11 6-1 6-1 205 303 329 286 304 290 245 203 230 229 208 Sr Sr Sr Jr Sr Jr Jr Jr Jr Sr Jr BISON DEFENSE Pos No Name Ht Wt Yr DE DT NG DE OLB MLB OLB CB SS 99 91 58 90 26 36 20 6 25 Spencer Waege Will Mostaert Javier Derritt Tony Pierce James Kaczor Nick Kubitz Julian Wlodarczyk Destin Talbert Michael Tutsie 6-5 6-2 6-1 6-1 6-0 6-2 6-3 6-0 5-11 282 260 279 242 215 225 207 187 189 Sr Jr Jr Sr Sr Jr Sr Sr Sr The now ol formula of a first-time opposing quarterback in a playoff game at the dome still applies even if the place doesn't sell out like it used to It's still loud NDSU 38, Samford 17 Running backs Kobe Johnson and TaMerik Williams and the Bison rushing game continue to roll NDSU 28 Samford 17 Williams Hiers Smith RUNNING BACKS RECEIVERS Chandler Smith and Kendall Watson have been the recipients of Samford s high-pace offense with 94 80 catches OFFENSIVE LINE M A T C H U P S P R E D I C T I O N S GAME DAY BREAKDOWN DEFENSIVE LINE Still remains to be seen if preseason Bison All-American candidate Eli Mostaert will see the field LINEBACKERS NDSU reaped benefits of alternating at MLB last week when Luke Weerts went down Nick Kubitz shined SECONDARY Samford's attack will be biggest challenge for Bison secondary since Arizona QB Jayden de Laura Both teams have solid kicking games NDSU's Jayden Price the difference ranked 8th in FCS in punt returns SPECIAL TEAMS RECEIVING Rec Yds Avg Long TD Chandler Smith Kendall Watson D J Rias 94 80 42 951 961 540 10 1 12 0 12 9 49 70 80 10 10 6 88 85 98 79 S T A N D I N G S T E A M S C H E D U L E S NDSU s offensive line has only been stopped twice all season two drives at Arizona and the second half against SDSU It will not happen this weekend look for more home runs from Kobe Johnson NDSU 34, Samford 14 Eric Peterson The Forum Record: 11-1 Logan Campbell WDAY-TV
126
RECEIVING Rec Yds Avg Long TD Zach Mathis Joe Stoffel Hunter Luepke Braylon Henderson Jake Lippe 25 18 14 12 11 365 170 196 183 187 14 6 9 4 14 0 15 6 10 7 3 0 4 0 0 40 21 31 41 26
FCS playoffs Quarterfinals Friday Samford at North Dakota State 6 p m (ESPN2 ESPN+) William & Mary at Montana State 9:15 p m (ESPN2 ESPN+) Incarnate Word at Sacramento State, 9:30 p m (ESPN+) Quarterfinal Saturday Holy Cross at South Dakota State 11 a m (ESPN ESPN+) Samford s Michael
balloting for the FCS Walter Payton Award Opp Date Opponent SU Sept 1 Sept 10 Sept 17 Sept 24 Oct 1 Oct 8 Oct 22 Oct 29 Nov 5 Nov 12 Nov 19 Dec 3 Kennesaw State at Georgia at Tennessee Tech Western Carolina at Furman Wofford at East Tennessee State at The Citadel VMI at Chattanooga Mercer Southeastern Louisiana 17 33 28 12 27 14 45 3 15 24 (2OT) 44 (OT) 42 27 0 33 35 34 28 55 38 34 35 50 48 Rare in FCS that two backs like Kobe Johnson and TaMerik Williams average 8 1 7 8 yards/carry after 12 games MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL CONFERENCE Team Conf Overall S o u t h D a k o t a S t a t e N o r t h D a k o t a S t a t e N o r t h D a k o t a Y o u n g s t o w n S t a t e N o r t h e r n I o w a I l l i n o i s S t a t e S o u t h e r n I l l i n o i s M i s s o u r i S t a t e S o u t h D a k o t a I n d i a n a S t a t e W e s t e r n I l l i n o i s 8-0 7-1 5-3 5-3 5-3 4-4 4-4 3-5 2-6 1-7 0-8 11-1 10-2 7-5 7-4 6-5 6-5 5-6 5-6 3-8 2-9 0-11 TD Samford has a highly touted QB Bison have a highly touted offensive line Advantage Bison NDSU 42, Samford 14 Mike McFeely The Forum Record: 12-0 Date Opponent NDSU Opp Sept 3 Sept 10 Sept 17 Sept 24 Oct 1 Oct 8 Oct 15 Oct 29 Nov 5 Nov 12 Nov 19 Dec 3 Drake North Carolina A&T at Arizona at South Dakota Youngstown State at Indiana State South Dakota State Illinois State at Western Illinois at Southern Illinois North Dakota Montana 56 43 28 34 27 31 21 24 56 21 42 49 14 3 31 17 14 26 23 7 17 18 21 26 3-4 p m : Bison Gameday pregame show with Dom Izzo Kyle Emanuel Logan Campbell and Jeff Kolpack on North Dakota statewide ABC network (WDAY-Fargo WDAZ-Grand Forks KBMY-Bismarck and Dickinson KMCY-Williston and Minot) 5:45 p m : Gate City Bison Social Media Flow on InForum com After game: Gate City Media Blog Postgame Show with Dom Izzo Mike McFeely Jeff Kolpack and Eric Peterson on InForum com PASSING Comp Att Yds Int TD Michael Hiers Quincy Crittendon 331 30 431 46 3317 361 3 0 35 4
Get it here.
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Hiers finished fourth in the
That new JOB feeling.
It took 46 games, but long road worth it for Dylan Hendricks
By Jeff Kolpack The Forum
Fargo
One of the first orders of video business for the North Dakota State football team this week in preparing for its Division I FCS quarterfinal matchup on Friday with Samford University had nothing to do with the Bulldogs. It had everything to do with a quarterback sack by Bison junior defensive end Dylan Hendricks last week in the second round win over Montana.
And it really didn’t have much to do with that, either. NDSU head coach Matt Entz said he wanted to point out the reaction by Hendricks’ teammates. It was rather celebratory.
They were essentially recognizing the long road for Hendricks to even play college football. It took three years and six games. So long that Hendricks joked he might hold the team record for longest time it took to make a college debut.
“The goal that just kept driving me is I’m not giving up,” Hendricks said. “I put too much time and effort into making this work.”
From the time of Hendricks’ true freshman season in 2019 until his first game Oct. 8 against Indiana State, the Bison played 46 games. He tore his ACL in his senior year of high school in Pulaski, Wis., playing rugby. He tore the meniscus in his knee while trying to come back from that in his first year at NDSU. Then, in December of 2020, while back home during the COVID-19 pandemic, he got in a car accident and injured his neck.
“I made some really poor decisions and I paid for them,” Hendricks said. “I learned a lot. I think it taught me a lot. Definitely went through a lot going through it. I had to fight a lot just to keep my place on this team.”
Hendricks said through all of his downfalls, the Bison coaches and his teammates never lost touch. He was hoping to avoid any procedure on his neck and have it heal on its own, but eventually that plan fell through and surgery was scheduled.
“Dylan has had some moments in his career here at NDSU where he almost wasn’t a Bison,” Entz said. “He made some very poor choices. But it’s exciting to be able to see a young man be able to flip it around and have success.”
Entz said having supportive teammates was also big for Hendricks, as evidenced by the Montana film. Hendricks said two things happened after he put Griz quarterback Daniel Britt to the Fargodome turf: He immediately looked up to the stands and saw his mother and brother and then the Bison players jumping around and yelling.
“It definitely made me feel a lot better about what I’ve been working toward,”
Hendricks said. “I can do this; this is an achievable thing.”
Said Entz: “We continue to pour into him, he’s battled a lot. For him to see success and just sheer enjoyment. When he had that sack, look at everyone on the sideline and how excited they were for No. 95. It’s good to see and it’s at the right time of the year for us.”
It’s a good time of the year with the Bison battling injuries and the usual battle-tested ailments of a team that has played 12 games. Defensive end Spencer Waege didn’t finish the Montana game with a lower back injury, but will return against Samford. Tony Pierce, the other starting defensive end, missed two games recently. Defensive end Jake Kava was lost for the season back in early October. Four other D-ends are in their first or second year with redshirt freshman Kole Menz seeing his role increased.
Hendricks came to NDSU as a 225pound linebacker. He redshirted in 2019 with 2020 the natural progression of getting on the field. That didn’t happen.
But he’s grown to 6-foot-3 and 243 pounds. Learning the college game and a new position wasn’t going to be the issue, said Jerad Marsh, his coach at Pulaski High School. At Pulaski, he picked up the details of the game in an instant.
“He was one of those players that had a great feel for football,” Marsh said. “You would install something, you watch him after you talked to him about it and in an instant he was able to do whatever we asked of him and understood how that fit into the system.”
Marsh was at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome for the University of North Dakota game three weeks ago. He said Hendricks has introduced him to teammates, which further brought home the point why his
former star player would stick around and play college ball after so many years off.
“They make it really hard not to like football or to be around football the way they kept him engaged,” Marsh said.
“The coaching staff, the support from families, the wherewithal to get through those injuries … in high school he never got injured. Never. And to get through that is a testament to how that program is run.”
Pulaski is a small village of around 3,500 residents located northwest of Green Bay. The Bison have made a living over the years with small-town Wisconsin players, including fullback Hunter Luepke from Spencer, which is half the population of Pulaski.
Like Luepke with career touchdowns, Hendricks was a record-setter in the state of Wisconsin and is currently fifth alltime in rushing yards with 6,359.
“He’s one of those guys the kids still talk about,” Marsh said.
“After three, four, five years out of school, that usually dissipates but even with our little kids, the guys who were waterboys when he was playing, that’s the guy that if you talk about Pulaski football that’s the name that comes out of their mouths.”
Defense, however, was his college calling. NDSU first recruited him as an athlete before the talk switched to linebacker.
“I just kind of fell in love with defense,” he said.
After three years, NDSU couldn’t be more thankful.
“I think everybody on this team, besides maybe a few freshmen, understands my story and the stuff I’ve been through,” Hendricks said. “I mean, all of them helped me through it. I loved that they were all so into the game and cheering for me and everything.”
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at jkolpack@ forumcomm.com. Twitter@ KolpackInForum BISON GAME DAY SAMFORD AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE inforum.com the forum | friday, december 9, 2022 | SPORTS | AA3
Photos by David Samson / The Forum
North Dakota State’s Dylan Hendricks (95) celebrates a sack on Montana quarterback Lucas Johnson with teammate Tony Pierce during the NCAA FCS playoffs at the Fargodome on Saturday.
North Dakota State’s Dylan Hendricks snares Montana’s Daniel Britt during the NCAA FCS playoffs at the Fargodome on Saturday.
Bison’s Hofstedt expects to be ready to go against Samford
By Jeff Kolpack and Eric Peterson The
Forum Fargo
North Dakota State junior Logan Hofstedt’s contributions don’t often show up on the stat sheet with five catches for 53 yards this season, but he’s a vital contributor for the Bison offense.
Hofstedt’s blocking has helped NDSU average 277.7 rushing yards per game, while his versatility has helped provide depth at multiple positions due to injuries.
The 6-foot-1, 237pound Hofstedt is listed as the backup at both fullback and tight end heading into the Division I quarterfinals.
The Bison host Samford at 6 p.m. Friday at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.
“Yeah, it’s been quite a journey,” said Hofstedt, who left NDSU’s second-round victory last weekend with an upper-body injury.
Hofstedt said he’s on track to be ready to go for the quarterfinals.
“We’re getting better every single day and if everything goes the way we planned it to be I’ll be out there Friday at 6 o’clock,” said Hofstedt, who is from Cannon Falls, Minn. “Luckily, we’ve got a great medical staff so I knew once they told me kind of what they were thinking that I was gonna be OK.”
The Bison have already lost starting tight end Noah Gindorff and fullback Hunter Luepke for the season to injuries. Gindorff and Luepke are both considered pro prospects and Luepke
had been invited to the Senior Bowl all-star game. “We rely on Noah and Hunter a lot,” Hofstedt said. “They’re great mentors for us and they always have been ever since we stepped foot on campus.”
Junior tight end
Joe Stoffel and junior fullback Hunter Brozio are the listed starters at their respective positions heading into
the Samford game, but Hofstedt is a valuable chess piece with the Bison often using formations with multiple tight ends and/or fullbacks.
Senior fullback Luke Waters has also been a contributing player.
“They do a great job, just the flexibility that we can utilize those guys with,” Bison head coach Matt Entz said of the fullbacks. “They
play on the ball, off the ball, in the backfield, they’re special teams guys, as well.”
Hofstedt’s longest catch was a 32-yard reception against the University of North Dakota on a play in which he made a diving catch after the ball deflected off the helmet of a UND defender.
Hofstedt said he started to learn a more expanded role as far
as position versatility last spring and that has carried into this fall.
“It was a little different at first just to get used to lining up in a different position or a different stance a little bit, sometimes being flexed out,” Hofstedt said. “It’s something that takes a lot of reps to get used to, but I’ve (done) it a lot at practice every single day and I’m finally
getting comfortable doing that.”
Hofstedt said it’s been invaluable to play with a talent like Luepke.
“It’s incredible just to watch his film and look at all the hard work he puts in at practice, just to try to mimic that the best that you can, you know if you can you’re going to put yourself in a really good spot to succeed,” Hofstedt said.
NOTEBOOK: Page AA5
AA4 | SPORTS | Friday, december 9, 2022 | the Forum inForum.com BISON GAME DAY SAMFORD AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE GAME DAY NOTEBOOK
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
North Dakota State’s Logan Hofstedt has been a versatile player in the Bison offense this fall, playing fullback and tight end this season.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
North Dakota State fullback Hunter Brozio has been a key member of his position group for the Bison.
Parking around dome could get complicated
With the Bison and Bulldogs set for a 6 p.m. kickoff and the NDSU wrestling team hosting the University of Minnesota at that adjacent Scheels Center at Sanford Health Athletic Complex at 7 p.m., parking could become an issue, especially for latearriving wrestling fans. Tailgate lots at the dome will open at their customary five hours before game time at 1 p.m.
All football parking areas and policies will remain the same, with paid parking in the Fargodome lots and surrounding parking areas. Wrestling fans are encouraged to use the parking lots on the south side of the Scheels Center and east side of the Shelly Ellig Indoor Track & Field Facility after 6 p.m., as well as parking in the in R lot south of the Ellig indoor facility.
Parking will also be available north of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex in the Fargodome lot, but will not be free, and may be limited due to the football game.
Former Bison linebackers coach
passes away
Phil Engle was a star football player at South Dakota State who played two years in the old World Football League, winning a title
with the Birmingham Americans in 1974. It wasn’t his last championship.
Engle went on to coach linebackers at NDSU and hooked himself to the Don Morton coaching train, with the Bison winning a Division II national title in 1983. Morton and several of his assistants, including Engle, went on to coaching stops at the University of Tulsa and the University of Wisconsin, where Engle stopped his coaching
career in 1988. He died recently at the age of 72.
Engle got into the commercial roofing business after football. He also got involved in his Baptist church serving as a deacon to his congregation. A memorial service is set for Friday, Dec. 9, in Stillwell, Okla. Etc. etc. etc.
► NDSU has made 13 consecutive trips (2010-2022) to the FCS quarterfinals. The Bison have 42 FCS playoff victories, which rank
second behind Georgia Southern — now in the FBS — with 45.
► Samford University won the Southern Conference with an 8-0 record in league play. The Bulldogs’ (11-1) only loss this season came against FBS and Southeastern Conference power Georgia. Samford is making its second appearance in the national quarterfinals. The Bulldogs made the national semifinals in 1991.
► Samford junior quarterback Michael
Hiers finished fourth in the voting for the Payton Award, which is given to the top offensive player in the FCS. The top three finalists are headed to Frisco, Texas, where the award winner will be named in early January ahead of the national championship game. Hiers has completed 331 of 431 passes (77%) for 3,317 yards and 35 touchdowns with three interceptions.
The 6-foot-1, 211pound Hiers has also rushed for 161 yards and three TDs on 103
attempts. Hiers is a game-decision against the Bison after leaving Samford’s secondround game due to injury.
► NDSU senior defensive end Spencer Waege finished 13th in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the top defensive player in the FCS. Illinois State linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh is one of three players invited to the awards ceremony on Jan. 7 in Frisco.
BISON GAME DAY SAMFORD AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE inforum.com the forum | friday, december 9, 2022 | SPORTS | AA5
Michael Vosburg / Forum Communications Co.
NOTEBOOK From Page AA4
North Dakota State defensive end Spencer Waege finished No. 13 in voting for the Buck Buchanan Award.
AA6 | Friday, december 9, 2022 | the Forum inForum.com
