Football Drops Heartbreaker to Dakota Wesleyan
Vermillion, S.D.- After a weather postponement on Saturday, the Hastings College football team traveled to Vermillion to play against the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers in what would be a 38-35 heartbreaker at NCAA D-I South Dakota's DakotaDome on Sunday.
The Broncos (3-1) started off strong against the Tigers (3-2) when in the first drive of the game, Tahj Willingham (JR/Greenwood Village, CO) gained a total 57 yards and Anthony Cloyd (SR/Omaha, NE) got a 1-yard rush for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
On the second drive of the game for the Tigers, Wesley Jardim (SR/Waco, NE) intercepted a pass by Dillon Turner and took it for 31 yards. Hastings got to the 6-yard line later in the drive, and on a 4th-and-goal, elected to go for it, but turned the ball over on downs.
Hastings padded their lead when Willingham rushed for four yards in the second quarter for another touchdown. With 6:40 left in the half, the Broncos added to their lead off of a Cloyd to Khaleo Buckmon (SR/Greenwood Village, CO) 9-yard pass to give the Broncos a 21-0 lead.
With Alex Stogdill (JR/Lincoln, NE) punting, the Tigers brought the pressure and blocked it and got the ball on the Hastings 34-yard line. Three plays later, Dillon Turner connected with Tre Hobbs for a 24-yard touchdown to cut the Broncos' lead to 14 going into halftime.
DWU struck again when Dillon Turner took the ball 38 yards for the touchdown, but the PAT attempt failed, keeping the deficit at eight with 12:44 left in the third quarter. Dakota Wesleyan tied the game up with 2:29 left in the third quarter when Luke Loudenburg rushed for 57-yards and a successful 2-point conversion. With time expiring in the third quarter, Dakota Wesleyan scored again to take a 28-21 lead.
Dillon Turner got another passing touchdown when he connected with Hayden Adams for five yards and gave the Tigers a 35-21 lead with 8:10 left in the game.
Hastings answered back when Cloyd rushed for two yards to make the score 35-28 with 3:36 left. The Broncos struck again on the next drive when Cloyd passed the ball to Buckmon who ran for 88 yards for the game-tying touchdown.
Hastings and Dakota Wesleyan traded possessions until the Tigers' Seth Paulson kicked a 22-yard field goal with :03 left in the game to seize the 38-35 win over the Broncos.
Willingham led the Broncos with 159 rushing yards while Buckmon led with 104 receiving yards. Jardim and Ross Ostendorf (SR/Gothenburg, NE) both made an interception.
The Broncos play again on Saturday when the host the Concordia Bulldogs for Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
