Lights open season with fifth-ranked DSU
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
Saturday will feature a slight difference in terms of college coaching
experience when the Montana State University-Northern football team heads east
to take on the Dickinson State Blue Hawks in an NAIA non-conference football
game.
First-year head coach Mark Samson brings a young but talented Lights squad into
"It's not an easy game to start the season with," Samson admitted.
"They are a tough, physical team that has had plenty of success over the
years."
The Blue Hawks under long-time coach Hank Biesiot
(202-69-1) have been a consistent picture of football success. DSU comes into
the season ranked fifth in NAIA and poised for a third-straight NAIA football
playoff appearance.
"You know the rankings are nice," Biesiot
said. "But they are mainly based on last year's performance. It's all you
have to go on. It's more of a credit to last year's team, because this year's
team hasn't done anything yet. The recognition is nice, but recognition doesn't
mean a hill of beans on the field."
In his typical fashion, Biesiot managed to undersell
his team a little. The Blue Hawks return 14 starters off of last year's squad
that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NAIA playoffs before being knocked out
by
While Biesiot is
looking to add another trophy to an already crowded trophy case, Samson is
trying to add some wins to a program that hasn't had three in a season since
the reinstatement of the program.
Although Biesiot may be in his 29th season as a head
coach and Samson is in his first, there is no shortage of coaching experience
on the Northern sidelines.
"We know their coaches and players very well," Biesiot
said. "We know they'll be prepared when they step on the field."
Indeed, Samson and his team have been eagerly preparing for this first game
since fall camp started. And right now, the Lights are just ready to get on the
field and play somebody other than themselves.
"The players are ready, the coaches are ready," Samson said.
"This is going to be a good gauge of where we're at and what we can
do."
What the Lights are going to do is something that has Biesiot
concerned. Because of the plethora of new players and the new offensive and
defensive systems, Biesiot and his staff are going in
relatively blind in terms of possible strategies and tendencies.
"They know what we're going to do," Biesiot
said. "But we really have no idea what they're going to do either
offensively and defensively."
Indeed, anybody that has played DSU just once during Biesiot's
tenure has a pretty good idea what what his team's will do, because it hasn't changed much.
Biesiot didn't start coaching when the helmets were
leather and facemasks were forbidden, it just seems that way. His teams play
that old-style, in-your-face, smash mouth football on both offense and defense.
"I'm pretty certain were not going to see anything different offensively
or defensively," Samson said. "It's going to be good old Hank
football. Nothing fancy. Just getting after you,
trying to outmuscle you and control the line of scrimmage."
Even Biesiot admitted that his team probably won't
line up in a run and shoot or five wide receiver formation.
He'd sooner start coaching volleyball than play that way.
"Every team can change systems to start a season, they can't be sure we
aren't practicing the run and shoot," Biesiot
joked. "No, we'll still be running the same three or four plays that we
ran in 1995. But I do think our offense has opened up some over the
years."
Opened up, yes. How much? remains
to be seen. DSU will still feature the run-first look that averaged 240 rushing
yards per game last season, and with good reason.
All-American tailback Jace Schillinger
(5-11, 195) returns for his senior season after rushing for 1,519 yards and 19
touchdowns last season. Schillinger is a workhorse
back, logging 283 carries last season and averaging 126.6 yards per game.
"They are going to try and get Schillinger on
track right away and pound away at us," Samson said.
Schillinger, a former Baker standout, will never be
considered a fancy or flashy runner. He reflects the Blue Hawk offensive
mentality, choosing a North-South style which forces at least two tacklers to
bring him down. He is also running behind an offensive line with two honorable
mention All-Americans and two all-conference players.
"I'm glad we have him," Biesiot said of Schillinger. "He plays extremely hard and is going to
give you everything he has. We have a couple of other guys that will run the
football, but they aren't quite as good as him."
DSU does have athletes as good as Schillinger at
other positions though. The Blue Hawks return the bulk of their skill players
including quarterback Mike Spargo (6-2, 205),
quarterback/receiver Rafe Espinoza (6-2, 205) and
wide receivers Adam Eckert (5-10, 175) and Hugo Anderson (5-10, 175).
Spargo threw for 1,191 yards and seven touchdowns
last season. Espinoza, who also played under center, threw for 496 yards and
two touchdowns.
Spargo is a classic drop-back type of quarterback,
who manages the offense and will take the majority of snaps. Espinoza is a more
of an athlete.
"We'll line up Espinoza all over the field and try to take advantage of
his athleticism," Biesiot said. "He's
capable of doing some things at both positions for us."
Eckert was the Blue Hawks leading receiver with 30 catches for 665 yards and
seven touchdowns. Anderson, a Chinook native, was the second leading receiver
last year, but may not see much action after recovering from a summer accident.
Defensively, the Blue Hawks philosophy is simple: hit you, hit you again and
hit you some more. Unlike many teams in the DAC-10, DSU plays a physical brand
of football on defense.
"They are going to run their base defense," Samson said. "And
make adjustments from there. They certainly aren't afraid to come up and hit
you. "
Standout linebacker Mike Staudinger returns to lead
the defense. Staudinger notched over 100 tackles last
season including seven tackles for loss. DSU also returns its entire secondary
led by All-American Aaron Johansen of
DSU did lose some key starters up front, which has some Biesiot
a little concerned.
"We do return quite a few kids, but we lost some kids that maybe didn't
get the accolades, but we're outstanding leaders and workers."
Offensively, Samson likes the possible match-ups he sees against a Hawk defense
that allowed 120 yard rushing a game last year.
"We feel like we match up pretty well at least in Xs and Os-wise," he
said. "But we still don't know what is going to happen once you get on the
field. Hopefully our kids are up for the challenge, because they are going to
beat on us and beat on us."
Samson's biggest concern is his players' reaction to the first game. For many,
it will be their first college game.
"I'm definitely worried about the kids being nervous," Samson
admitted. "Some of them will be trying to catch up to the speed and
quickness of the game. We've been trying to help them relax and stay loose, but
at the same time, keep them focused on the job at hand."
Northern and DSU kick off at
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