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Trojans visit former DAC foe Valley City State in football Saturday night
September 13, 2011
THIS WEEK: Dakota State (0-3) travels to Valley City, N.D. to battle their former Dakota Athletic Conference rival Valley City State (1-1, 1-0 DAC). Kickoff from the newly renovated Shelly Ellig Field is set for 6 p.m.
THE SERIES: Saturday's night game will mark the 20th meeting between Dakota State and Valley City State. The Vikings own a 17-2 record versus the Trojans. DSU defeated Valley City State in 2007 by the score of 31-21 in Valley City, N.D. The other DSU's victory (27-7) over the Vikings was in 1998. The series began in 1986.
LAST WEEK: Dakota State suffered their third straight defeat to open the 2011 season. Doane scored 42 points in the first-half and defeated the Trojans 52-13 in both teams' first-ever meeting last Saturday. Valley City State defeated Dickinson State 28-26 in both teams' DAC conference opener in Dickinson, N.D.
NAIA DAKSTATS NATIONAL RANKINGS: Robert Ortiz ranks first in the nation in kickoff returns yards with 573 and all-purpose yards with 658. Ortiz is third in the nation in all-purpose yards per game with an average of 219.3 yards. Craig Hertz ranks first in the nation in tackles (all position) per game with 13.7 tackles. Wes Dauz is seventh in the nation in total receptions with 16. DeVonte Garica ranks seventh in the nation in total interceptions with two. Josh Licht is ninth in the nation in tackles-for-loss with five. Keith Knudsen ranks 17th in the nation in total tackles with an average of 10.7 tackles. Brandon Large is 17th in the nation in total passing yards (526 yards). As a team, Dakota State is 23rd in the nation in kickoff returns yards per attempt with an average of 23.6 yards. The Trojans rank 20th in the nation in total pass offense with 526 yards.
DSU QUICK LEADERS: Jeb Olsen leads the team in rushing with a total of 205 yards, an average of 68.3 yards per game. Brandon Large averages 175.3 passing yards with a completion percentage of 49.0. Wes Dauz leads the team with 16 receptions. Craig Hertz records 41 tackles for the Trojans. Josh Licht records a quarterback sack this season for DSU.
FOOTBALL FORECAST: Saturday's forecast for Valley City, N.D., calls for a high of 74 degrees and a partly cloudy sky. The forecast calls for a windy day, but will become calmer during the night hours with a forecast low of 50 degrees.
DSU FOOTBALL HISTORY LESSON: Dakota State is in its 92nd year of competition. The Trojans own an all-time record of 267-442-17. DSU opened their first year of competition in 1908 with an overall record of 4-1-1.
FOLLOW LIVE COVERAGE: Follow Trojans-Vikings on live paid coverage through http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=72. There will be a live stats of the game, check on www.dsuathletics.com under 'Upcoming Events' for all live coverage.
STAY CONNECTED: Follow Dakota State all season long on its official online home, www.dsuathletics.com.
UP NEXT: Dakota State returns home for their annual Trojan Homecoming event. The Trojans host nationally-ranked Northwestern (Iowa) of the Great Plains Athletic. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Trojan Field.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
