ABERDEEN, S.D. -- In a tale of two football halves, Northern State used big plays to defeat Dickinson State 27-21 on Saturday at newly remodeled Swisher Field.
Dickinson State's Cherone Schneid scored on 5-yard touchdown run to cap a 16-play, 79-yard drive with 1 minute, 26 seconds left in the game, but the Blue Hawks would't get another chance.
After the touchdown, Dickinson kicker Shawn O'Brien acted as if he was going to kick the onside kick with his right kicking foot.
However, O'Brien caught the Wolves off guard when he kicked the ball with his left foot to the opposite side of the field. Only his Dickinson State teammates were near the ball, but they could not reach it before it rolled out of bounds.
"It was scary, but it was a win," said Northern State coach Chris Boden, whose team had built a 21-0 halftime lead. "I told our guys at halftime that Dickinson was not going to give up. They are a well-coached team and they are fighters. We saw that tonight."
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After Dickinson State scored its first touchdown with about five minutes left in the third quarter, it looked like the Blue Hawks were going to take the momentum and run with it.
The Blue Hawks' defense quickly stopped the Wolves. Dickinson State then used three plays of 15 yards or more on runs by receiver Tyler Greff and quarterback Brandon Bishop-Parise and a reception by running back Zach Hepperle to get to the Northern State one-inch line.
The Wolves, however, shut down Dickinson State and kept the Blue Hawks out of the end zone on the next four plays.
"(Football is) a game of inches and we didn't get an inch on any call tonight," Dickinson State coach Hank Biesiot said.
Northern State quickly added insult to injury when quarterback Jimmie Griffin hit receiver Brian Jark for a 94-yard touchdown pass on the Wolves' ensuing drive.
Jark broke a tackle near midfield before taking off down the field. The score put Northern State ahead 27-7 with 11:10 remaining in the game. Jark had 10 catches for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
The Blue Hawks rallied with two touchdowns. The first was a 9-yard run by Punk Humphrey, who was one of several running backs to replace starter Damon Woolsey.
Woolsey was lost for the season in the first half when he broke his leg.
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"You have to give Dickinson credit," Boden said. "They have a quality program. But I am proud of our guys for keeping after it and getting the win."
Northern State got some of its best plays from special teams - two blocked punts from Nate McGruder were both recovered by Jackson Hegerfeld.
"Oh my gosh, we have so much work to do on special teams," Boden said. "We are going to get after those guys right away next week to get things straightened around. We have to execute better."
Hegerfeld returned one of those blocked punt recoveries for a 25-yard touchdown.
"That was the big difference," Biesiot said of the blocked punts.
