KW Football in ND for Round One NAIA Championship Series

By Bob Davidson KWU November 22, 2024

The Coyotes play No. 14 Dickinson State in the first round of the NAIA Football Championship Series. Kickoff is 2 p.m. (CST) Saturday at the Henry Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson, North Dakota.

LIVE COVERAGE

  • The video stream of the game will be available online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ1VggfbtTw
  • RECORDS 
    • Kansas Wesleyan 7-4
    • Dickinson State 9-1

    THE SERIES
    This will be the second meeting. KWU won 43-40 in a quarterfinal game of the NAIA FCS on November 24, 2018 at Graves Family Sports Complex.

    KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE

    • The Coyotes earned a playoff berth by winning the Kansas Conference’s Gene Bissell Division with a 5-0 record. They defeated Sterling 23-3 in the regular-season finale Saturday at Sterling and have won their last five games.
    • Defense paved the way with a school-record 11 sacks led by Josh King-Bradley with three and Caleb Smith two. KWU also intercepted two passes, recovered a fumble, and held the Warriors to 51 rushing yards on 49 attempts.
    • King-Bradley was named the KCAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He had 3.5 tackles for loss among his seven tackles on the day and forced a fumble in addition to the three sacks that totaled 27 yards lost.
    • Luke Armstrong had 174 yards rushing on 19 carries and two touchdowns – the first a 70-yard run in the first quarter. He is the NAIA’s second-leading rusher with 1,297 yards, averages 117.9 per game, 8.1 per carry and has scored 14 touchdowns. Zarek Fewell has 546 yards and five TDs.
    • Freshman linebacker Myles Elam has a team-best 107 tackles. Safeties Quatama Massaquoi and Colby Klieman have 59 and 53 respectively. King-Bradley has 51 tackles and a team-high 10.5 sacks.
    • KWU averages 27.5 points and 327.5 total yards per game – 209.2 rushing and 118.4 passing. Opponents average 20.9 points and 348 yards – 157.9 rushing and 190.1 passing.

    DICKINSON STATE AT A GLANCE

    • The Blue Hawks won the North Star Athletic Association title with an 8-0 record. There are five teams in the conference and they play each other twice during the season. DSU has won seven in a row since losing to non-conference foe Wisconsin-Stout 22-20 on September 14 in Dickinson.
    • Defense is the Blue Hawks’ forte. Opponents average 15.4 points and 265.4 total yards that includes just 69.5 rushing. Linebacker Riley Walters has a team-best 50 tackles and lineman Dylan Dahlgren nine sacks.
    • Offensively DSU averages 35.6 points and 396.9 total yards – 223.7 passing and 173.2 rushing. Quarterback Will Madler has thrown for 2,211 yards and 24 touchdowns; Semaj Clark is the top receiver with 39 receptions for 758 yards and 10 touchdowns; running back Braden Zuroff has 661 rushing yards and 10 scores.
    • Saturday will be the first home playoff game for Blue Hawks since 2004 when they played Carroll (Montana).
    • Pete Stanton is in his 11th season as head coach and has a 95-28 overall record. He spent 14 years as an assistant at DSU before being promoted in December, 2013.

    CO-INTERIM COACHES CHRIS SNYDER & DAVID LEONARD
    Snyder: “I think you give all the credit to the players for how they’ve handled things (the five last weeks). It shows you kids are pretty resilient. And I give a lot of credit to the other coaches because (the head coaching change) was tough on them too. Just to buy-in and play a game every week and still have relationships with players … a lot goes into it.”
    Leonard: “I think what we were doing (offensively) was good stuff but we weren’t quite executing the way we knew we could. I think the players started to understand ‘this is what we make of it.’ As coaches it’s our job to put them in the best situation but those guys go out there and do it and they just started to execute at a higher level.”
    Snyder: “It’s hard to win games, it’s hard to win championships. Nothing’s guaranteed, playoffs or championships, so you have to really enjoy it and it will definitely be something that we’ll continue to preach with our kids. It doesn’t matter where we’re going for the playoffs, it doesn’t matter if it’s a 10- or 12-hour bus drive. You have to enjoy it because 10 years from now you’re going to remember this playoff game.”
    Leonard: “As you get older you realize how valuable time is and just maximizing that time. The seniors can look back and say ‘man, it seems like a moment ago I was a freshman.’ Every year you understand that this is the last time this team is going to be together. There’s always going to be changes and guys graduating so enjoy the people you’re around because this is a really cool thing to be a part of.”