October 7, 2006—

Blair, NE—Homecoming 2006 will be a memorable day for Dana College Football fans.  Led by a defense that held Hastings to only 21 first half yards and an efficient offense that took advantage of several Bronco mistakes, Dana defeated Hastings College on Saturday for the first time since 1988 by the score of 21-6.  The Vikings raised their record to 3-3 (3-3 GPAC).  Hastings falls to 2-3 (2-3 GPAC).

Dana led 3-0 after the first quarter on a 49 yard Rick Lebeda (SR, Omaha, NE) field goal.  With 13:09 remaining in the half, following a bad punt snap by the Broncos and a tackle of the Hastings’ punter by Viking linebacker Shaun O’Connell (SR, Omaha, NE), quarterback Marcus Sladek (SO, Omaha, NE) hit wide receiver Greg Hill (SR, Omaha, NE) in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.  The Vikings missed the PAT and led 9-0.  The final score of the first half came for the Vikings on a Matt Neesen (SR, Omaha, NE) 2 yard run with 2:09 remaining.  The PAT was once again missed and the Vikings led 15-0 at halftime.

Hasting's only score of the game came with 11:03 remaining in the third quarter on a 42 yard option run by quarterback Jerad Krecji.  The final six points of the game came on field goals of 51 and 25 yards by Dana's Lebeda.

Without starting quarterback Robert Andrews, the Broncos struggled to move the ball for much of the afternoon.  Krejci finished the game 2 of 15 passing for 39 yards. He also rushed the ball 15 times for 63 yards.  Running Back Dan Bargen carried the ball 20 times for 68 yards for the Broncos who finished with 143 yards rushing.

Dana’s Sladek completed 20 of 41 passes for 214 yards including the 33 yard score to Hill.  Hill caught 7 passes for 99 yards and Javon Bell (SR, Miami, FL) caught 7 passes for 40 yards.  Dana finished the day with 262 total yards.

The Dana defense was led by linebackers Greg Wilmes (JR, Creighton, NE) and O'Connell who both tallied 6.5 total tackles.  O'Connell also had two tackles for loss totaling 15 yards.  Dana safety Chris Reinke (SR, Omaha, NE) tallied 5 solo tackles and 2 pass break ups.

The Vikings will next be in action Saturday, October 14, at Briar Cliff (3-3, 2-3 GPAC).  Game time is at 1:00 PM in Sioux City.

For more information, contact:


Shad Beam, sports information director, (402) 426-7389, sbeam@dana.edu

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Scott Guzinski, assistant Sports Information Director, (402) 426-7949, sguzinsk@dana.edu