Mustang
FOOTBALL SATURDAY, SEPT. 4 Morningside University brings the curtain up on its 2021 season. Concordia University visits Elwood Olsen Stadium for a kickoff “under the lights” that begins both teams’ Great Plains Athletic Conference campaign. Head coach Steve Ryan’s Mustangs, the 10-time defending league champions, were picked preseason favorites on the league coaches poll, released last month. Mside received 98 poll points, featuring eight first-place votes, to stand atop the list. Northwestern College (93 points – three first-place votes) and Dordt University (82 poll points) rounded out a tightly-packed first three. Head coach Patrick Dabernow’s Bulldog squad was tabbed for a fifth-place finish.
THE SERIES
Morningside has captured each of the 16 meetings in the series. It was a wild and woolly offensive clash a year ago in Seward, as CU kept things close throughout the first half, trailing only 14-10 after one quarter. However, the Mustangs reeled off four unanswered touchdown drives over the late stages of the second stanza and early into the third to put away a 56-22 victory. The two sides combined for 48 first downs and 937 yards of offense.
THE MATCH-UP
The Mustangs return plenty of offensive firepower in 2021. Two of their top three running backs in senior Anthony Sims and fellow senior Matt Strecker; junior Joe Dolincheck at quarterback; and their top two receivers in seniors Reid Jurgensmeier and Austin Johnson from the 2020 squad that narrowly missed the program’s third straight appearance in the national championship game look to guide the controls. Sims is fifth on the all-time career rushing list (2,349 yards) and tied for fourth with 34 touchdowns among running backs. Dolincheck continues to close in on becoming the fourth signal-caller with 10,000-or-more yards passing as he enters the year just over 2,600 away from the milestone. He’s among the program’s first five in passing attempts, completions, yardage, and touchdowns. Jurgensmeier is also located in the high rent district in regards to receiving. He’s second all-time in yardage (3,854) and touchdown receptions (54) and needs only four more receptions to take the No. 2 slot on that career list. Four players on the defensive side that totaled 30-or-more tackles are back, including first-team all-league defensive back Josh Miller, a junior, who registered 72. Senior linebacker Weston Schultz expects big things after producing 70 tackles, nine and a half tackles for losses, and two and a half sacks last season.
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