ASHLAND – The No. 21-ranked Dakota State (S.D.) football team dodged Southern Oregon's last-second try at a field goal and escaped Raider Stadium's Laurel Field with a 27-25 win in Frontier Conference crossover action on Saturday afternoon.
After travelling 61 yards on their final drive, the Raiders called a timeout with four seconds left and lined up kicker
Andy Nguyen from the right hash for a 31-yard attempt that sailed wide left as time expired. They fell to 1-3 ahead of next week's Frontier West Division opener at Montana Western.
The Trojans – who defeated SOU last year in Madison, S.D., by making a go-ahead field goal with 12 seconds remaining – improved to 4-1. Tray Hettick completed 27-of-42 passes for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and with six minutes left he led the Trojans on a 65-yard drive that set up Malte Hamann for a 22-yard field goal that erased what had been a 25-24 Raiders edge.
SOU quarterback
Dom Montiel threw for 361 yards, connecting with
Walker Bonar,
Sean La Chapelle and
Milan Reilly for touchdowns. He and the Raiders were working on an early 11-0 lead until the DSU picked off three passes in the second quarter, one of which was Tamareon Foster returned 17 yards for a touchdown.
Foster also had the first of those interceptions, which ultimately lifted the Trojans to a 21-18 halftime advantage.
All three of the Raiders' losses this season, and five in a row going back to last year, have been against Top 25 teams.
SOU running back
Fresh Ison had a big day with 145 total yards on 18 carries and four catches.
Dawson Douglas had seven receptions for 91 yards.
Before missing the 31-yarder, Nguyen was successful on an attempt from 37 in the first quarter.
Defensively, linebacker
Raiden House led the Raiders again with 12 tackles, including one for a loss.
Isaiah Griffin had eight and
Antonio Vasquez Williams broke up three passes.
DSU was without one of the NAIA's top receivers, injured junior Melek Ford, but Maddox Kihne shined in his stead with eight catches for 103 yards and a score. The Raiders limited DSU's ground attack to 65 yards on 25 carries.
