MADISON, S.D. -- Dickinson State had several chances to close out Dakota State on Saturday afternoon.
However, an invigorated offense couldn't make up for a dismal special teams performance and help the Blue Hawks capture their first victory of the season.
Senior kicker Shawn O'Brien missed an extra point in the first quarter and missed all three of his field-goal attempts through a swirling crosswind in the fourth quarter, allowing the Trojans to hold on for a 14-12 nonconference victory on Saturday afternoon at Trojan Field.
It was Dakota State's first win against the Blue Hawks in eight tries. The win also marked the 100th career victory for Dakota State coach Tom Shea.
"We missed some opportunities early in the game and missed some chances to score and make plays," Blue Hawks coach Hank Biesiot said.
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The third consecutive loss to open the season is a new development for Biesiot. The last time the Blue Hawks did that was in 1967. The last time a Dickinson State team lost three straight games was 1972, Biesiot's first season as an assistant coach.
Dickinson State got on the board first near the end of the opening quarter when junior quarterback Caleb Midura led the Blue Hawks 75 yards on 11 plays.
Midura capped the drive with a 32-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Clint Grosz.
Midway through the third quarter, Midura went down with a separated shoulder and was replaced by both Jared Tuma and Matt Gittings.
Tuma swung a pass out to Derek Beadle for a short gain on his first play, but was hurt on the play. Gittings came in and threw a 38-yard pass to Grosz that set up James Macey's 1-yard touchdown run to narrow the Trojans' lead to 14-12.
Dickinson State went for the two-point conversion, but Derek Pauley couldn't haul in Gittings' pass.
"We had both hands on it," Biesiot said. "They had a big defensive play there."
O'Brien missed field goals of 39, 33 and 46 yards on consecutive Dickinson State possessions to end the game.
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The Blue Hawks had less than one yard to go on what became their second-to-last drive of the afternoon, but opted to take the short field goal.
Biesiot said it was easy to second guess the decision, but added that losing two fumbles and walking away with no special teams points figured in more.
"It all adds up," Biesiot said.
Tuma returned to the quarterback spot for the remainder of the game and finished 6 of 11 for 126 yards.
"Tuma came in and gave us some plays," Biesiot said.
However, the star signal-caller of the day was Trojans junior Donald Strand.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound scrambler led his team to a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter using his arm and his legs.
Dakota State dug in and drove a mere 26 yards on eight plays early in the second quarter, capping the drive with a 6-yard Andrew Fatten touchdown run.
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Strand then took the Trojans 45 yards on six plays with time winding down. The quarterback gave his team a 14-6 first-half lead with an 18-yard scramble for a touchdown with 1 minute remaining in the half.
"It was a game today between two evenly matched teams," Biesiot said.
The Blue Hawks will be without starting tailback Zach Hepperle for some time. The sophomore began the game with 31 rushing yards but injured his knee after being crushed on a play by the Trojan defense in the second quarter.
Despite the loss, the Blue Hawks gained 365 total yards, far more than their two previous losses.
"It's a good way to get it going, but you've still got to get it in the end zone," Biesiot said. "We just had to get it in there one more time. We should have finished. We just came up short."
