The 2016 football roster at the University of Mary in Bismarck listed Brayden Thomas at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds. He had 25 tackles in 11 games with two quarterback hurries and zero quarterback sacks.
There was nothing in that season that screamed Division I prospect.
A year earlier, at Bismarck High, he was a talented player for the Demons who went to the North Dakota State summer camp. The Bison took a look, but passed on any kind of offer, including a walk-on opportunity.
There was nothing with BHS that screamed Division I prospect. Now?
“It’s like he’s a completely different person,” said Mark Gibson, Thomas’ coach at Bismarck High. “He’s like twice the size that he was. He had no idea how good he could be and that’s what we tried to convey to him.”
It was conveyed to him at Minnesota State Mankato, where Thomas transferred after one year at Mary.
“The team was shifty a little bit,” Thomas said. “I felt like it was in my best interest to push myself and challenge myself at a different university.”
It was further conveyed to him when he transferred to North Dakota State for the last two seasons.
The 6-3, 260-pound Thomas has developed into one of the top defensive ends in Division I FCS and is a major reason the Bison are hosting James Madison Friday night in the FCS semifinals at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. Thomas finished runner-up in the voting for Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year and one reason that probably prevented him from more honors is the free-wheeling rotation of Bison defensive linemen.
Thomas has 13.5 tackles for lost yardage and 9 quarterback sacks despite playing the equivalent of a half a game. Moreover, he missed two games because of an elbow injury
suffered at the University of North Dakota.
“Obviously when you get more reps you think you’ll make more plays,” Thomas said. “But when it all comes down to it, getting to the semifinals and winning a national championship and why teams like Mankato and NDSU are so successful is because they rotate up front and keep guys fresh. I wouldn’t go away from that … so I love that we do that.”
A couple years ago, Thomas stopped by Bismarck High. Not knowing it was him, Gibson from a distance saw a “mountain of a man” and the head coach thought it was possibly a transfer.
“I’m running, and I don’t sprint much, and then I see it’s him,” Gibson said. “I couldn’t believe how he transformed.”
Gibson knows a good defensive end. He coached former Bison defensive end Stanley Jones in high school. Jones was a regular in the Bison rotation for three years ending in 2018 and left during a championship run.
It took until getting to
Mankato and NDSU, but Thomas is also on the same path.
“I see a guy who is on a mission,” Gibson said. “Almost a mission to prove people wrong, a mission to say I belong here. I’m sure he was told that league was out of his capabilities but I also think he might be looking at beyond.”
NDSU head coach Matt Entz believes Thomas will get an NFL shot of some sort because of how hard he plays. Thomas plans on training somewhere after the season and will most likely get his best chance at NDSU’s Pro Day in March.
“I’m sure glad 98 is with us now,” Entz said, referring to Thomas’ jersey number. “Just bigger, stronger and I think he was well coached in his earlier days. Minnesota State Mankato is a good Division II program and one that has a ton of postseason success. He’s played for national championships. He continued to work at his craft and skills all along.”
When Thomas arrived in Mankato in 2017, he was around
some good players like defensive end Evan Perrizo, a first team Division II All-American who almost made the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster.
“The guys and coaches there pushed me to be the player I am today,” Thomas said.
Mankato reached the quarterfinals in 2017, the semifinals in 2018 and fell to West Florida in the 2019 championship game.
For Thomas, in his quest to continue to ascend levels of football to the NFL, it was time to try the Division I route. And when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down athletics, there was uncertainty to Division II football.
“It’s the biggest reason I came here, to push myself as an individual and prove that I can do it at this level,” he said. “I think Division II gets a big knock, there are a lot of guys that could play at this level. As much as I love Mankato and wanted to stay there, it was time to show NFL teams what I can do against people of a higher level.”
The winter commencement ceremony at North Dakota State at 2 p.m. on Friday will include 13 Bison football players. Two of them are tight ends who have different outlooks in 2022.
Noah Gindorff will return next season after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in the second round win over Southern Illinois. That wasn’t the original plan since he was invited to participate in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 29. His pro plans have been put on hold for a year.
Josh Babicz is forging on, invited to the same bowl game. When NDSU takes on James Madison in the NCAA Division I FCS semifinals on Friday night at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome, NDSU’s 1-2 senior tight end punch is no longer.
It’s up to Babicz to take the lead role.
“Yeah, but it’s put more on everybody’s plate because he’s such a big part of our offense,” Babicz said. “Just the whole offense has to pick it up. We’re missing a lot of guys and we have to pick them up.”
Whether the players sidelined include standout wide receiver Christian Watson is uncertain. He’s been out with a hamstring injury. Babicz hasn’t gone without his bruises in the postseason, limping off the field in the second half last week in the quarterfinal win over East Tennessee State.
“When you get down to the nitty gritty, like in the semifinals, everybody’s banged up,” Babicz said. “You have to rehab and push through and be ready to play.”
Gindorff will be on crutches when he goes through graduation ceremonies. Babicz will have more on his mind than a diploma.
“We have to stay focused on, of course, the game,” Babicz said. “But you have to enjoy the little things, graduating and being a senior and enjoying my teammates I came in with.”
Familiar foes
North Dakota State and James Madison are playing for the fourth time since 2016 and the winner of the three previous matchups ended the season as FCS national champions.
The Dukes knocked off the Bison at the Fargodome in the 2016 semifinals en route to a national championship.
NDSU defeated James Madison in both the 2017 and 2019 national championship games in Frisco, Texas.
“Since 2016, the top two FCS programs have been JMU and North Dakota State and we’ve squared off a number of times, and two really good teams and every game is a really good game,” said Dukes head coach Curt Cignetti. “I know our guys know who they are and they know who we are. It will be a great ballgame.”
The Bison have a 30-1 FCS playoff record in the Fargodome with that lone loss coming against JMU in the 2016 semifinals.
James Madison quarterback
Cole Johnson has had a stellar season, completing 262 of 388 passes (68%) for 3,569 yards and 39 touchdowns with two interceptions.
Johnson finished fourth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the top offensive player in the FCS.
“Pretty remarkable, 39 touchdown passes, two interceptions, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that,” JMU head coach Curt Cignetti said.
“He continues to improve. It all kind of started kind of midway through the spring (season).”
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Johnson is averaging 274.5 passing yards per game. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-6 victory against the Montana Grizzlies in last weekend’s FCS quarterfinals.
“Cole is a really smart
guy,” Cignetti said. “He has great poise, he doesn’t get flustered. He shakes off a bad play really quick. He keeps you out of bad plays, too, which is really important for a quarterback.”
Wide receivers Atwane Wells Jr. and Kris Thornton are Johnson’s two favorite targets. Wells has 78 catches for 1,197 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Thornton has 77 receptions for 1,050 yards and 13 TDs.
“They’re hard to cover,” Cignetti said. “They’re both explosive players. When it’s game time they’re at their best. They thrive on competition. They made key plays at clutch times.”
JMU
The Bison are averaging 281.3 rushing yards per game, while the Dukes are limiting opponents to 82.5 rushing yards per game. NDSU is averaging 356 rushing yards per game in its past four
games, including two playoff victories.
“Their line is huge, they’re veteran, they’re veteran, they’ve got a lot of running backs,” JMU head coach Curt Cignetti said. “They’ve got a really nice scheme. Their receivers separate and make plays. They’re good. They’ve always been good.”
The Dukes are going to have to prepare for two quarterbacks in Bison starter Cam Miller and Quincy Patterson. Patterson has been a strong running threat during the postseason for NDSU, rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown on 13 attempts in two playoff games.
“They have always been a challenge to prepare for offensively because of their multiplicity and personnel groupings, formations, shifts, motions,” Cignetti said. “That really hasn’t changed at all. The quarterback that they’re playing is completing 70% of the passes. Patterson
has come in lately to run the ball, but we all know he’s very capable of throwing the ball, too.”
Odds and ends
► Friday is the fifth meeting between NDSU and JMU with the Bison having a 3-1 edge in the series. All previous four meetings were also in the FCS playoffs.
► The Dukes have a 1-1 record in Fargo, losing 26-14 in the second round of the 2011 playoffs. NDSU went on to win the national title that season. JMU earned a 27-17 victory against the Bison in the 2016 semifinals.
► In the previous four meetings between the teams the Bison are averaging 22.0 points per contest, while JMU is averaging 18.5.
► James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti earned career victory 100 in last weekend’s win against Montana in the quarterfinals.
► The Bison are playing in the FCS semifinals for a 10th time. That ranks third in the subdivision’s history behind Georgia Southern (13) and Montana (11). NDSU has an 8-1 record in its previous nine semifinal appearances.
► Five Bison players were named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference allacademic team earlier this week, including linebacker Jackson Hankey, who was named to the first team. Fullback Hunter Luepke, defensive tackle Eli Mostaert, kicker Jake Reinholz and defensive tackle Lane Tucker were named to the second team. Defensive tackle Costner Ching, tight end Noah Gindorff and linebacker Cole Wisniewski were honorable mention selections.
► NDSU has won 39 FCS playoff games, ranking second behind Georgia Southern (45) in that category. Montana is third with 34. The Bison have the highest FCS playoff winning percentage at .929 (39-3). Marshall is second at .793 (23-6).
made $127,260 for that season, according to the Mitchell Republic’s records.
Awards season
By Marcus Traxler Mitchell RepublicThe two head coaches in Saturday’s FCS semifinal playoff game will be meeting for the first time but South Dakota State’s John Stiegelmeier and Montana State’s Brent Vigen are plenty familiar with each other.
The two coaches and their teams locked horns on numerous occasions when Vigen was an assistant coach for North Dakota State in an era where the Jackrabbits and Bison became true rivals. Now the winner of Saturday’s 1 p.m. Central time contest in Bozeman, Montana, will go to the national championship game for a potential meeting with NDSU on Jan. 8 in Frisco, Texas.
Stiegelmeier said Tuesday he doesn’t have to look hard to see the similarities of NDSU teams past in the current Montana State team.
“They play great defense. That’s always been a trait of the teams he’s coached, I know he’s always been an offensive coach but that’s been a trait of the teams he’s been a part of,” Stiegelmeier said. “They want to run the football, that’s always been part of his program. To see where that program is with a new coaching staff … that’s a credit to the head coach that he went in there and somehow, some way said, ‘I believe in you. Believe in me.’ It’s evident that’s happened. Where a lot of coaches don’t do that, they make guys earn their keep, and they get rid of guys because they didn’t recruit them.”
Stiegelmeier said he looks forward to coaching against someone he knows and has battled over the years.
Vigen, who played at North Dakota State from 1993 to 1997, was a Bison assistant for more than a decade until Craig Bohl moved on to Wyoming after the 2013 season. Vigen took over as Montana State’s head coach in February and got the Bobcats quickly into gear with an 11-2 season, returning to the FCS semifinals after a 2019 loss to North Dakota State. Montana State did not play football during 2020-21 due to COVID-19.
“They’ve been on the doorstep for a long time,” Vigen said of SDSU. “(I have) a lot of respect for what he’s done for that program. We had a lot of back and forth in my time at NDSU. We’ve got our hands full. It’s not a surprise they’re a semifinal team … How they’ve played this year, this is where they belong.”
Some of South Dakota State’s most veteran players — including center Wes Genant, linebacker Logan Backhaus and defensive tackle Xavier Ward — played in both of the last meetings between the Bobcats and Jacks. SDSU won 31-27 at Montana State on Sept. 9, 2017, followed by a 45-14 win over the Bobcats in Brookings on Sept. 8, 2018.
The two teams are on each other’s schedules again in the near future, with Montana State coming to Brookings in 2023 and playing again in
Bozeman in 2025.
Stig says he’s back for more Stiegelmeier also made some news on Monday with the announcement of a twoyear contract extension that now plans to keep him on the SDSU sideline through 2025.
The coach is currently in the best era of SDSU football in school history, with 10 straight playoff appearances and 11 in the last 13 seasons. Saturday’s game at Montana State will represent the fourth national semifinal appearance in the last five seasons, with SDSU falling in its first national championship appearance in May by a 23-21 score against Sam Houston. Stiegelmeier, 64, smiled on Tuesday at the idea that the team’s successes made the contract decision easy. He said he consulted with his wife, Laurie, who encour-
aged him to sign the contract because coaching still makes him happy.
Stiegelmeier is 185-110 as the Jacks’ head coach, a role he’s held since 1997. He has worked uninterrupted on the SDSU coaching staff since 1988. The financials of Stiegelmeier’s new contract were not announced. According to state budget documents, Stiegelmeier was already the state’s highest-paid collegiate coach, scheduled to make $306,000 in salary in the 2021-22 school year. University of South Dakota coach Bob Nielson was scheduled for a salary of $300,800. Both coaches’ salaries are emblematic of the growth of the Division I football budgets. Stiegelmeier’s salary has doubled in the last nine years, as he made $150,010 in 2012-13, while Nielson’s predecessor — Joe Glenn —
Tuesday brought more season-ending awards to SDSU running back Pierre Strong, Jr. and tight end Tucker Kraft, who were named to the Associated Press Football Championship Subdivision All-America teams.
A senior from Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong leads the FCS with 1,592 rushing yards, averaging 113.7 yards per game and seven yards per carry. He has scored 17 rushing touchdowns and also has thrown for four scores for a Jackrabbit squad that has advanced to the FCS semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons. Strong has topped the 100-yard mark in nine of 14 games this season to move into third place in career rushing at South Dakota State with 4,433 yards.
Kraft, a sophomore from Timber Lake, was a second-team honoree on the AP honor squad. He emerged as a top receiving target for the Jackrabbits in 2021, catching 59 passes for 677 yards and six touchdowns so far this season.
Genant was recognized Tuesday by the Missouri Valley Football Conference as a first-team all-academic selection.
A Parkston native who is in his first semester of graduate school, Genant has a 3.90 grade-point average and studies human biology as part of his plan to be a physician. The 2021 fall season is his sixth on the SDSU roster and Genant has played each season. He is in line to play his 64th game as a Jackrabbit on Saturday and his 53rd start on the offensive line.
