November 12, 2005

Dana football played their final regular season game Saturday against Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. Morningside, the undefeated Great Plains Athletic Conference champions and nation’s No. 3 ranked team, defeated the Vikings 49-27.

Dana hung with the GPAC champs early, even claiming a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter. But the Mustangs put up 26 points in the second period to put the game out of reach.

Dana football finished the 2005 season 5-6 overall and tied for sixth place in the GPAC. This is the highest finish for Dana football since the GPAC was formed in 2000 and the most wins for Dana College since 1995.

The 2005 Viking offense broke the school record for offensive yards in a season with 4,016 yards total offense. The previous record was set by the 2004 team.

With 80 catches and 1112 yards receiving, wide receiver Javon Bell (Miami, Fla.) claims school records for most catches in a season and most yards receiving in a single season.

In Saturday’s game against Morningside, Bell caught 8 passes for 128 yards and one touchdown.

Running back Matt Neesen (Omaha, Neb.) turned in 275 all-purpose yards Saturday. Neesen rushed for 89 yards, had 97 yards receiving, and 89 yards on returns. He scored two of the Vikings’ four touchdowns.

Bill Dragonetti (Delafield, Wis.) scored the Vikings’ fourth touchdown of the day on a 7-yard pass from Tom Lensch (David City, Neb.) in the third quarter. Dragonetti has four catches this season and 3 touchdowns.

Lensch completed 13 of 21 passes for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns. Freshman Marcus Sladek (Omaha, Neb.) played the first half. Sladek completed 13 of 27 for 140 yards.

Kicker Rick Lebeda (Omaha, Neb.) was one quarter away from a perfect season when he missed an extra-point attempt Saturday. Lebeda made 29 of 30 extra-point kicks this season. He claims the school record for kicking percentage in a season with 96.7.

On defense, Chris Reinke (Omaha, Neb.) led the Vikings with 7 solo tackles Saturday. Mike Buchanan (Omaha, Neb.) added 3 solo tackles and 5 assisted. Greg Wilmes (Creighton, Neb.) scored Dana’s only sack in the game.

For game stats, visit: http://www.dana.edu/football/Stats/DANMOR.HTM

For more information, contact:
Leslie Rasmussen, sports information director, (402) 426-7298, lrasmuss@dana.edu
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Shad Beam, assistant sports information director, (402) 426-7389, sbeam@dana.edu