#16 in the Nation is Too Much for the Vikings

The Dana Vikings football team was coming of a tough loss last week against NAIA No. 9, Northwestern. They knew this week they had another dog fight ahead of them as they faced another ranked opponent, NAIA No. 16 Morningside. On Saturday the Mustangs proved why they have the number one passing team in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Mustangs were able to pick apart the banged up Dana secondary for a 52-3 victory.

On the opening kickoff the Vikings took a big hit when they lost starting cornerback Brandon Terry due to a concussion. This allowed the Mustangs to spread the field with a talented receiving core. The Mustangs seemed do everything right on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, holding the Vikings scoreless and heading into halftime with a 31-0 lead.

In the beginning of the second half, things still didn’t get better for the Vikings. The Mustangs took full advantage of a Vikings’ fumble to increase the Morningside lead to 38 – 0.

Dana’s defense tried to stop the Morningside offense, but the Mustangs were just too strong and put together two more touchdown drives, giving them a 52-0 lead in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Keith Neal (Clarinda, Iowa) hit a 43-yard field goal for Dana late in the fourth quarter to make the final score, 52-3.

The Vikings did have some positives in this game with 19 first downs and rushing for over 100 yards for the second time this season. Robert Fowler (Bellevue, Neb.) led the rushing attack with 64 yards. Quarterback Marcus Sladek (Omaha, Neb.) added 41.

Dana will try to get out of this rut Saturday as they host GPAC foe Doane College. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

For more information, contact:

Shad Beam, sports information director, (402) 426-7389, sbeam@dana.edu
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Francisco Lujan, assistant Sports Information Director, (402) 426-7949, flujan@dana.edu