Vikings fall to defending national champs

Dana College Vikings’ football team challenged defending NAIA National Champions University of Sioux Falls in the Cougars’ new stadium Saturday. The Vikings came up short to the NAIA powerhouse, 50-6.

The Vikings offense got off to a good start in their first series of the game, with quarterback Marcus Sladek (JR, Omaha, Neb.) completing his first three passes of the game to wide receivers BJ Fields (SR, Omaha, Neb.) and Andrew Hawley (FR, Lincoln, Neb.). The drive stopped in Cougar territory on a fourth down attempt.

Sioux Falls took the momentum into their offensive series, starting off their first drive of the game with a nine-play, 70-yard drive, giving the Cougars a 6-0 lead after a bobbled snap on the extra-point try.

The Vikings tried to come back strong on the ensuing drive, but the Cougar defense was just too tough for the Viking offense to get anything going in the first half. The Vikings defense came up big in the middle of the second quarter with a fumble recovery, putting the Vikings’ offense in scoring position on the Cougars’ 30-yard line. The scoring opportunity was squelched by an interception. That was the turning point in the game as the Cougars scored a touchdown and a field goal on their next two drives to put them up 23-0 going into halftime.

The Vikings offense showed that they had still fight in them in their first series of the second half, driving down to the Cougar 3-yard line before being held to a Keith Neal (SR, Clarinda, Iowa) field goal. The only other points by the Vikings would be a late third quarter field goal by Neal.

“Even though the scoreboard didn’t show it, our team played with a lot of heart and we learned a lot from this game that will carry us over into the upcoming weeks,” Dana Head Coach Bill Danenhauer said after the game. “We saw a lot of potential in our quarterback Marcus Sladek that should be a great for this offense when we get deeper into this season. We had a lot of young players that played that showed that can be great players at this level.”  

On Saturday the Vikings are at home against the Concordia University. Concordia won its season opener against Briar Cliff, 36-33.

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