Lights stun sixth-ranked Blue Hawks
Ryan Divish
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
rdivish@havredailynews.com
After waiting 10 games before getting its first win last season, the
MSU-Northern football team wasn't about to wait as long in 2005.
The Lights, behind a solid all-around game from junior quarterback Kyle Samson,
stunned the sixth-ranked Dickinson State Blue Hawks 32-17 Saturday afternoon at
Blue Pony Stadium.
Samson threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for two other scores to lead
Northern to the upset win in its season opener. It was a stark contrast from
last year's season opener in
"We had a lot to prove in this game,"
Samson said. "We weren't ready to play last year. This year, we came in
much more prepared."
It didn't look like it right away. In fact, early on it looked as though DSU
was headed for another blowout win, jumping out to a 14-0 lead with seven
minutes remaining in the first quarter.
DSU quarterback Mike Spargo connected with a ridiculously wide open Jake
Schmitz on a 50-yard scoring strike on the Blue Hawks' first possession to take
an early 7-0 lead.
"I don't know what happened there," said head coach Mark Samson.
"We were in the right coverage, but there was a miscommunication. I don't
know where our safety was. He was probably halfway to
Northern's offense sputtered on the ensuing possession and went three and out.
The Blue Hawks needed just four plays to put the ball in the end zone as
tailback Larry Aldridge scampered in from 16 yards out to push the lead to 14-0
with
The two quick scores had Northern staring at a possible blowout. But instead of
letting the early
The offense started to move the ball a little more consistently, while the
defense shook off the initial shock and started coming up with stops.
"It took our kids a little while to adjust to how fast everything is in a
game," Coach Samson said. "You can't simulate it in practice or in
scrimmages."
After putting together decent drives that failed to result in points, Northern
finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter as Samson found Jake
Eldredge on a 33-yard touchdown pass at the
"The interesting thing is that we had the wrong personnel in there and
were actually a man short," Coach Samson said. "It still worked out.
We saw that other teams had success with that route. You get their safeties
cheating up a little. They really bit on that option."
Unfortunately, Northern botched the extra point, as the snap bounced before
reaching holder Dan Wirtzberger.
After waiting three games to get their first touchdown last year, the Lights
had their second touchdown of the season in a matter of minutes.
The brother-to-brother tandem of Kyle Samson and Marc Samson connected on a
32-yard pass play, setting up an eventual 11-yard touchdown pass from Kyle
Samson to Don Saisbury.
"We started off a little slow," said Kyle Samson. "I think
everyone was a little bit nervous. Once we got the jitters out and got some
momentum with that first touchdown and defensive stops, we started to believe
we could come back. It's not as tough coming back as you think it is."
Down 14-12, Northern attempted a two-point conversion, but Saxton Shearer was
stopped short of the goal line.
After forcing a DSU fumble on the ensuing possession, which Marc Samson
recovered on the DSU 28-yard line, Northern would use the good field position
to find the end zone for the third time in the quarter.
Kyle Samson completed a 14-yard pass to Nick Arnold and then scampered into the
end zone one play later on a quarterback draw. Chaz Kountz kicked the point
after to give Northern a 19-14 lead before halftime.
"Fumbles are always costly when they're deep in your own end," said
After surrendering the quick 14 points in the first quarter, Northern's defense
would allow just three more points the rest of the way as Shawn O'Brien booted
a 34-yard field goal with
Kountz answered with a 20-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter, and
Samson plunged in from two yards out to push the lead to 29-17. Kountz added a
27-yard field goal with
Northern's problems with the kicking game have been well documented since the
program's reinstatement in 1998. Although they were far from booming, Kountz'
kicks have solidified the position some.
"What can I say about Chaz Kountz?" Coach Samson said. "This is
a kid who came here to play wide receiver and halfway through two-a-days he
tells us he kicked in
"It's nice to know that when we're inside the 20-yard line we can get
three points. Sometimes three is just as good as six."
Samson completed 14 of 27 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns, while
Saisbury led the rushing attack with 60 yards on 11 carries.
"Kyle made some great individual plays to keep things going," Coach
Samson said. "Donny played a very good game and Zach Wermers had a nice
game in his first real college game at fullback."
Even with the 32-point outburst and 302 yards of total offense, Coach Samson
admitted his offense could play better.
"We dropped some passes and made some mistakes that I didn't like,"
he said. "We weren't especially crisp, but that's a good defense we played
against."
Said Kyle Samson: "We didn't execute all that well, but when we needed to
get it done, we got it done."
Northern was led defensively by linebacker Kennedy Anderson with 12 tackles,
while safety Marc Samson added nine tackles and two fumble recoveries.
"Our defense played great," Coach Samson said. "We did a good
job of tackling after that first quarter and we forced some turnovers. They
just started playing with more confidence as the game went on."
Aldridge led DSU with 96 yards on 24 carries, while Spargo was 10 of 23 for 129
yards. The Blue Hawks hurt themselves with three costly fumbles and only
managed 251 yards of total offense, well below their season average.
Obviously knocking off a top 10 team is a major accomplishment for Northern,
but perhaps the team's ability to come back from an early deficit is equally as
impressive.
"The kids really believe that we can win," Coach Samson said.
"It shows them that all the hard work they put in the last three weeks was
worth it. I know I made the 'little sisters of the poor' comment, but I really
believed deep down inside that if we played well we could win."
It is perhaps one of the biggest wins since the program was reinstated and Kyle
Samson admitted it was the biggest in his college football career.
"Our first goal of the season was to win this game," he said.
"We can take this into the conference opener against Western. It gives us
so much confidence. It shows that you can do great things if you just believe
you can do it."
Dickinson, which defeated Black Hill State last week, falls to 1-1 on the
season.
The Lights open their Frontier Conference season on next Saturday when they
travel to Dillon to face UM-Western.
Dickinson State 14 0 3 0 - 17
MSU-Northern 0 19 0 13 - 32
First Quarter
DSU - Jake Schmitz 50 pass from Mike Spargo (Shawn O'Brien kick) 10:05
DSU - Larry Aldridge 18 run (O'Brien kick) 7:06
Second Quarter
MSU-N - Jake Eldredge 33 pass from Kyle Samson (Kick failed) 10:52
MSU-N - Don Saisbury 11 pass from Samson (run failed) 3:43
MSU-N - Samson 11 run (Chaz Kountz kick)
Third Quarter
DSU - Shawn O'Brien 34 field goal 5:15
Fourth Quarter
MSU-N - Kountz 20 field goal 14:57
MSU-N - Samson 2 run (Kountz kick) 5:53
MSU-N - Kountz 27 field goal 2:42
MSU-N DSU
First downs 17 13
Rushes/yards 46/85 36/122
Passing 14-28-0 10-23-0
Passing Yards 217 129
Total Offense 302 251
Punts/Avg 8/34.9 5/28.2
Fumbles/lost 1/0 5/3
Penalties/Yds 9/69 5/38
Possession time 46:12 22:29
Individual Statistics
RUSHING - DSU: Larry Aldridge 24-96, Ryan Vaira 3-5; Rusty Knuths 2-25,
Cherone Schneider 1-1, Michael Spargo 4- (-5); MSU-N: Don Saisbury 11-60,
Saxton Shearer 5-17, Zach Wermers 4-17, Adrian Largent 1-2; Kyle Samson
24-(-10).
PASSING - DSU: Spargo 10-23-129; MSU-N: Kyle Samson 14-27-217, Don Saisbury
0-1-0.
RECEIVING - DSU: Rafe Espinoza 3-30, Larry Aldridge 3-8, Jake Schmitz 2-58,
Zach Greff 2-33; MSU-N: Zach Wermers 3-38, Don Saisbury 3-29, Clint Herrera
2-38, Nick Arnold 2-22, Jake Eldredge 1-33, Marc Samson 1-32, Dan Wirtzberger
1-14, Saxton Shearer 1-11.
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