Dordt Athletics
Mike Byker, Sports Information Director
SIOUX CITY – The Dordt Defenders secured a lopsided 64-0 win over Briar Cliff on the road Saturday and finished its season with a 7-2 record and locked up third place in the GPAC.
Dordt used a strong passing attack in the first half to establish a 30-0 lead and then used a punishing ground attack to score 34 in the second half.
Hayden Large started the scoring with an 11 yard grab in the back of the endzone on a pass from Noah Clayberg midway through the first quarter. Dordt went to its bag of tricks later in the period as Clayberg option pitched to Anthony Trohahn who passed to a wide open Levi Jungling for a 75 yard score.
Moments later Dordt added to the lead by forcing a safety and a Clayberg 23 yard run followed for a 23-0 lead. The score stood 30-0 at half after Clayberg found Jungling for a 29 yard scoring pass.
Dordt opened the second half by going to the ground almost exclusively and Carter Schiebout plunged in from one yard out for a 37-0 lead. Dordt didn’t score again until the last drive of the quarter when Clayberg found Jungling in the end zone for a touchdown grab where the wide receiver was on his back in the end zone when he grabbed the deflected pass.
Leading 44-0 Dordt went to Jake Carroll in the backfield and the freshman responded with scoring runs of 80 and 31 yards respectively and Michael Sonderman scored on a one yard plunge as well for the 64-0 final.
“Our guys put together another great effort today,” head coach Joel Penner said. “We played against our best selves and closed the gap. I’m proud of how these guys finished through the line, not just to the line.
“The truest character of a team shows up in November and I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
Dordt outgained Briar Cliff 711-135. The Defenders ran for 437 yards and passed for 274 while Briar Cliff had 56 on the ground and 79 passing.
Clayberg was 17-27 passing for 199 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 113 yards on 11 carries and had one touchdown.
Jungling caught four passes with three touchdowns for 121 yards. Jayden Huisman caught seven passes for 74 yards and Hayden Large had four catches for 62 yards.
Jake Carroll ran for 170 yards with nine carries. Michael Sondermann had 11 carries for 76 yards and Carter Schiebout ran for 53 yards with ten carries.
Jalen Placide had nine solo and five assisted tackles with an interception. Brayton Van Kekerix had nine solo and four assisted tackles with 1.5 sacks.
Colyn Oostenink had two sacks and David Kacmarynski had two tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Dordt is now 7-2 overall and Briar Cliff ends at 1-8.