Football Wins Defensive Slugfest Over Doane
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College football team knew Doane had a solid defense just like the Broncos and the defensive battled ensued as Hastings came away with the 14-9 victory on Saturday afternoon on Lloyd Wilson Field.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
|
|
0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
Team Stats
Doane (NE)
| Game Statistics | Doane (NE) | Hastings |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 198 | 246 |
| Rushing Yards | 45 | 94 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 0 |
| Time of Poss. | 28:33 | 31:27 |
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College football team knew Doane had a solid defense just like the Broncos and the defensive battled ensued as Hastings came away with the 14-9 victory on Saturday afternoon on Lloyd Wilson Field.
Neither team did much with their first possession but it was the Tigers second possession that ate up 7:41 of the first quarter as Doane marched 69 yards on 19 plays only to see the drive end on a missed 42 yard field goal by Kelen Meyer.
In a game where field position was going to be key, Doane looked like it was winning it early with the wind at its back as the Tigers had possession at its own 44 and eventually had a decision to make on fourth and one from the Bronco 47. Doane decided to go for it only to have Laython Shaw and Fareed Soluade swallow Donte Wiggins in the back field for the big stop and the turnover on downs.
The Bronco offense which didn't have a whole lot of success on the day made this one count as John Zamora found a wide open Brett Simonsen down the left side for a 31 yard gain on third and 10 down to the Tiger 21. Two plays later, Antoine Murphy broke free up the middle for a 16 yard touchdown which is his third of the season. Following Jason Bachle's extra point, the Broncos held the 7-0 lead with 10:27 to play in the first half.
The Bronco defense went right back to work as Doane faced a third and 13 from its own 22 when Caden Egr and Jayden Roberts buried Cruz Kirwan back at the 11 where Hastings was hoping for some good field position. But Meyer blasted an 86 yard punt that flipped the field where the Bronco offense couldn't do much with it.
After punting the ball back to the Tigers, Doane faced a fourth and two from the Hastings three but the Bronco defense was up to the task again as Jesse Ulrich stopped Frazzie Wynn at the two holding him one yard short of the first down as the defense forced another turnover on downs.
The defenses really took over until Hastings got the ball with 2:20 to go in the third and got 12 yards on two carried from Simonsen before Zamora found a wide open Courtney Lane down the middle of the field as he streaked towards the left sideline all the way to the end zone for the 59 yard touchdown and the critical 14-3 lead with 1:14 to play in the third.
The Bronco defense continued to assert its dominance and really showed it midway through third when Arjee Mack-Myers sacked Kirwan on back-to-back plays.
The teams continued to trade punts as the clock ticked under 4:00 to play but this is when Doane would make things interesting as Kirwan found Colby Frazier in the back corner of the end zone for the TD but missed the two-point conversion as Hastings clung to the five point lead.
Doane decided to kick the ball deep instead of the onside kick and would get the three-and-out it needed. On the ensuing punt, Bachle kicked the ball away from the returner as the ball went out of bounds at the Tiger 30 but a holding call moved it back to the 20.
The Tigers did not complete one pass as Shaw got his paw on one of the passes and on fourth down, Chris Paitz knocked the ball away from Frazier to end the game as one kneel down was all it took for Hastings to escape with its first victory over Doane since 2018.
Hastings finished the game with 340 yards of offense while the defense held Doane to 243. Zamora finished the game 19-for-32 for 246 yards and one touchdown. Simonsen carried the rock 26 times for 66 yards.
Harrison Udeh led the defense with nine total tackes, a sack and a tackle for loss. Beasley Ihegworo added seven tackled while Shaw finished with six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and two pass breakups. The team finished with seven total sacks which is two off the school record set back in 2002 against Northwestern when the Bronco defense finished with nine sacks.
Hastings improves to 6-2 (5-2) on the year and will be back in action Saturday Oct. 22 hitting the road to take on Jamestown with kickoff set for 1:00 pm in Jamestown, ND. Hastings also earned its first winning season since 2014.
