Mustang
FOOTBALL SATURDAY, OCT. 30
Morningside University’s football, cheerleading, dance, and marching band programs pay tribute to their Class of 2022 members this afternoon, as the University of Jamestown visits for the regular-season finale. A special ceremony will take place before kickoff for the Senior Day 2021 festivities. This afternoon’s match-up between the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics No. 3-ranked Mustangs and the Jimmies is also spotlighted by Breast Cancer Awareness month recognition. All Mside football, cheerleading, and dance student-athletes will have a pink-colored item with them, and the cheerleading and dance squads will throw out special T-shirts during the contest.
THE SERIES The Elwood Olsen Stadium FieldTurf hosts the fifth all-time edition. Morningside has captured all four previous meetings, including a 54-7 final at Jamestown last fall.
THE MATCH-UP Head coach Steve Ryan’s squad continues to be the offensive statistical standard-setter across the NAIA. They are atop ten different categories, including scoring (59.1 points per game); total offense (648.1 yards per game); passing yards per contest (394.4); first downs (229); first downs per outing (32.7); punt return yardage (464); and third-down conversion rate (56 percent). Several individuals are also housed in the same high-rent district. Senior quarterback Joe Dolincheck leads the way in completion percentage (69) and pass efficiency (187.7); senior running back Anthony Sims’ 8.3 yards per attempt is first, and junior placekicker Chase Carter tops the nation in made and attempted extra points (55/56) and kicker scoring (70 points). Mside’s defense isn’t too far off the same measures as the offense. Their 30 sacks are second-most nationally, while their defensive score and nine interceptions are also within the first 30. Senior defensive back Drew Bessey’s three picks and senior linebacker Tyler Wingert’s five sacks, 67 tackles, 9.6 tackles per outing, and 41 sack yards are all situated among the top 30, too. Morningside spent an eighth straight session among the top three of the NAIA’s First Down Playbook Top 25 with the Week Seven poll release Oct. 25. The Mustangs, sporting a 7-0 overall and Great Plains Athletic Conference record, received 411 ranking points and one first-place mention. Those totals put them third, trailing defending national champion Lindsey Wilson College of Kentucky and defending national runner-up Northwestern College. In the wake of a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Dordt in an NAIA top 15 showdown Oct. 23, Mside was lauded by the GPAC on its Player of the Week honors for Oct. 18-24. Senior wide receiver Caleb Schweigart was named Offensive Player of the Week. Junior placekicker Chase Carter was tabbed Special Teams Player of the Week. Morningside got up off the mat in the most difficult of situations Oct. 23. With No. 13-ranked Dordt University sitting on the doorstep of a massive victory, the Mustangs repelled a 28-19 deficit midway through the fourth quarter and scored two touchdowns in the final 7:06 to claim a heart-stopping 34-28 triumph in front of a crowd that sat on the edge of its seat for the full 60 minutes. The comeback started with adversity shadowing
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