Official Athletic Web Site of the University of South Dakota Coyotes - Football

Nov. 11, 2000

VERMILLION, S.D. - The emotions of winning may never be better expressed than through the words and actions of Josh Stamer after he and his Coyotes teammates won their eighth game in 11 tries with a 24-3 win over Minnesota State, Mankato in the DakotaDome Saturday afternoon before nearly 3,000 in attendance.

As Stamer walked off the DakotaDome field up to the post-game press conference, he said that this win worked perfectly in his plans for today and this season. "It will be a while before I take this (uniform) off. This victory means a lot," said Stamer, who had seven tackles, including five solo stops, three tackles for a loss (for 8 yards) and a pass breakup.

Whether the Coyotes move on to the playoffs or not, Stamer knows the Coyotes made huge progress in 2000. His efforts and those of 20 other seniors set the example for the other team members to strive forward and taste success. After a 4-7 season a year ago, the Coyotes' remarkable turnaround to 8-3 clearly is a major accomplishment for this football team. This is the first time South Dakota has gone 8-3 since 1995.

For the senior co-captain, the 2000 season has been one that he will remember a long time. Proud and a leader by example on and off the field, Stamer was emotional about what this win means. "In our locker room we had posted 21 reasons of Coyote pride (pictures of every senior) and why we have to play hard. This is going to be remembered a long time, especially by the seniors who will be the number one Coyotes fans in the years to come," said Stamer, who has also performed well in the classroom, carrying a 3.8 grade point average in accounting. As the Coyotes improved to 6-3 and a tie for third in the NCC, they overcame an early 3-0 deficit by scoring 24 unanswered second half points.

Early on, it appeared the Coyotes were tentative and a bit hesitant in their play in the first half. But this is a proud team that was experiencing uncharted territory. In the second half, the Coyotes stepped up and continued their unbelievable end-of-the-season run. After dropping their initial two games of the NCC season, the Coyotes have defeated six of seven opponents and finished the regular season with a four-game winning streak. USD's only losses were to teams ranked in the top 10 at time the Coyotes played them.

With the win, the Coyotes keep alive their drive to make the NCAA Division II playoffs. That will be decided tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 12). Regardless if the playoffs become a reality or not, Stamer and his head coach John Austin know this was a special Saturday during a turnaround season featuring a resilient and never-say-die group of student-athletes.

"We were waiting for big plays to happen and we came out a little hesitant," said head coach John Austin, who improved his overall record at USD to 12-10. He is now 9-9 in the NCC during his first two years.

"In the second half we made plays and I think conditioning was a factor in our favor. Our defense and running game seemed to wear them down. This team has jelled together to have a great season," Austin said.

It may be easy to pinpoint the key to success during this winning run. Both the offense and the defense have shined as the Coyotes outscored opponents 181-75 in the last seven games. On this Saturday afternoon, the defense never let an explosive Minnesota State offense gain any momentum. The Coyotes limited the Mavericks to 18 yards rushing and 66 yards passing for 84 total yards. South Dakota had three interceptions, registered two sacks, 12 tackles for a loss (for 48 yards), and 10 pass breakups.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Mavericks grabbed a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Paul Barenz following an interception by Dewey Reilly, who returned the ball to the Coyotes' 26-yard line. After one first down on three T.J. Schraufnagel runs, the Coyotes defense stiffened and forced the visitors to a field goal at 13:29 of the second quarter. Neither team mounted a scoring drive during the remainder of the opening half.

USD mounted their initial scoring drive on the opening possession of the second half. A 15-yard pass from Ryan Justice to Dustin Sagedahl and a 14-yard run by Dusty Stamer moved the ball to the Mavericks' 38-yard line. Two runs by Stamer moved the ball to the 33-yard line and set up a 50-yard field goal attempt by senior Adam Hicks, who knocked home his 17 field goal of the season to notch the score at 3-3 at 11:21 of the third quarter.

The Coyotes grabbed the lead for good when Justice hit Stamer with a short pass that the freshman running back turned into a 77-yard touchdown at 5:46 to play in the third quarter. USD jumped to a 17-3 lead by driving the ball 89 yards in 11 plays to score at 8:19 on a five-yard scoring toss from Justice to fullback Mike Weister. It was the duo's second scoring connection in two weeks. Then after a three-and-out by Minnesota State, the Coyotes put the game on ice when Justice threw his third scoring toss of the game and the second to Stamer. The 26-yard scoring toss culminated a nine-play, 59-yard scoring drive at 2:16 of the fourth quarter. Stamer, who had 127 yards rushing and 109 yards receiving, had 13 yards running in the drive. This was Stamer's third straight game rushing for over 100 yards (126, 242, 127). It is his first game with both 100 yards rushing and receiving. Justice threw for a career-high 253 yards and a career-high three touchdown passes as he completed 16 of 31 passes with one interception.

Overall USD, who held a 16-6 advantage in first downs, had 168 yards rushing and 253 passing for 421 total yards of offense.

The Coyote kicking game was outstanding during this season and again today. Hicks showed why he will go down in Coyote annals as one of the greatest Coyote kickers. In the Minnesota State game, he broke two records and tied another as he had six points, including his third 50-yard or better field goal this season. His three extra points gave him 29 (out of 30) on the season which established a new PAT record, breaking the mark of 26 established by Kurt Seibel in 1983. Hicks' third quarter field goal gave him 17 on the season, which set a new field goal mark in a season. He broke the 1984 mark held by Terry Godfrey in 1984 who made 16 of 26 field goal attempts. For the season Hicks has made 17 of 22 for a .773 percentage. Hicks finished the regular season with 80 points, which tied him with former Coyote great and current CFL kicking star Mark McLoughlin (1986) for points in a season. In addition, Hicks finished his career with 182 points, which places him sixth all-time in career scoring at USD. Complimenting Hicks was the play of junior punter Filip Filipovic, who had a solid day with six punts for 260 yards (43.3 avg.) and a long of 56 yards.

Others placed their names in the Coyote all-time records. Senior cornerback Russel Burwell picked off his eighth pass, which places him second all-time behind Bob Gruber (1979) for interceptions in a season. Rory Triplett picked off his sixth pass that places him in the top 10 for interceptions in a season.

Verick Gray had another solid game for USD with nine tackles including three tackles for a loss (for 8 yards) and his first pass interception of the season. Sophomore defensive tackle Bill Gassen was spectacular in the center of the defensive line with five tackles including three tackles for a loss (for 16 yards) and a sack.

Minnesota State (3-8, 3-5 in the NCC) received 39 yards rushing from T.J. Schraufnagel while quarterback Ryan Dutton was 9 of 28 for 61 yards and two interceptions. Dutton had 10 punts for 512 yards and an incredible 51.2-yard average. He had a 74-yard punt.