Wild and Woolly - Morningside captures high-flying battle

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Eighty points … 50 first downs … over 1,000 yards of total offense.

Fans in attendance at Morningside College's Homecoming 2019 clash with Midland University got a weekly dose plus of offense Saturday, Sept. 21.

When the dust on a sunny and warm day at Elwood Olsen Stadium settled, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' defending national champions and the top-ranked program had added another victory to its remarkable run of regular season, Great Plains Athletic Conference and overall wins. The Mustangs, behind a 30-point first-half attack, upended Midland University 51-29.

At the forefront of the Maroon's 36^th consecutive regular season, 32^nd straight GPAC and 18^th overall victory in a row was the aerial tandem of sophomore quarterback Joe Dolincheck (SO/Bellevue, NE) (Bellevue, Neb.) and junior wide receiver Reid Jurgensmeier (JR/Wahoo, NE) (Wahoo, Neb.). Dolincheck firing for 471 yards and six touchdowns which each tied for the sixth-best single-game effort in school history, found Jurgensmeier nine times for 266 yards and three touchdowns. The upperclassman wide out's yardage total tied him for sixth on the single-game receiving yardage charts, too.

Each of their three pay dirt connections was highlight-reel worthy. The first saw Jurgensmeier use his six-foot, three-inch, 220-pound frame to bowl past three Warrior defenders down the south sideline and tiptoe into the end zone for a 72-yard score. The second was a 45-yard toss down the middle of the Elwood Olsen Stadium FieldTurf, and the third was an 80-yarder in which the junior shifted into another gear and beat Midland's defense to the end zone. All of those helped head coach Steve Ryan's squad blitzkrieg another opponent with a fast start, as the Mustangs scored the first 23 points and were off to the races.

The multiple-hero theme which Mside gridiron fans have become accustomed to was in full display again at Homecoming 2019. On the offensive side, senior wide receiver Bo Els (SR/Erie, CO) (Erie, Colo.) topped the 100-yard-plus receiving mark with six receptions for 115 yards and two scores; junior running back Arnijae "AP" Ponder (Griffin, Ga.) upped his string of 100-yard-plus efforts to seven with 27 carries for 119 yards; fellow junior running back Anthony Sims (JR/Fort Lauderdale, FL) (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had another strong effort off the bench with 50 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown. Despite a visiting offense that went blow-for-blow with a home side that registered a 50-point-plus outing for the 10^th time in its last 18 contests, Morningside's defense caused Midland much malaise during the afternoon. They forced a safety, sacked elusive MU quarterback Payton Nelson who threw for over 200 yards and crept near 100 rushing yards twice, garnered five tackles for losses and turned in two takeaways as senior linebacker Jacob Katzer (SR/Wellsville, KS) (Baldwin City, Kan.), wrapping a weekend in which he received the Allstate/American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team award, tallied 12 tackles, a sack, two-and-a-half tackles for losses, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery to lead the way. Special teams also created headlines with the foot of freshman placekicker Chase Carter (FR/Knoxville, IA) (Knoxville, Iowa) going seven-for-seven in extra points and averaging better than 50 yards per kickoff and senior punter Addison Ross (SR/Carroll, Iowa) (Carroll, Iowa) delivering a pair of critical 40-plus-yard kicks with Midland attempting to close within two scores in the second half.

Mside, improving to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the GPAC, breaks from competition next weekend. They take to the road Saturday, Oct. 5, for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Hastings College.

NOTES: Ponder moved within 269 yards of becoming the program's third 3,000-yard rusher. His takes a 2,731-yard total to Hastings … Carter has reeled off 19 straight successful extra-point tries … Katzer's double-digit tackle total was the eighth of his career and second this season.