DWU ranked 22 in most recent NAIA football poll

With Dakota Wesleyan University’s 26-23 win over Concordia Saturday in a Great Plains Athletic Conference football game, the Tigers started their season 2-0 for the third straight year.

Monday, the Tigers were featured at the No. 22-ranked team in the NAIA Top 25 Football Coaches’ Association Poll.

DWU is one of four GPAC teams in the top 25. Morningside is ranked No. 4, Doane is ranked 16th and Northwestern is tied for 17th.

Last year, Dakota Wesleyan’s highest mark was 13th after starting the year 5-0.

The last time DWU didn’t start a season with two straight wins was in 2009, when it started 0-2 en route to a 4-6 season.

DWU, which is 1-0 in the GPAC, returns home for another league matchup against Briar Cliff at 1 p.m. Saturday at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell.

Dustin Bergmeier named conference’s defensive player of week

Tigers safety Dustin Bergmeier’s three interceptions Saturday tied a school record.

The Omaha, Neb., native intercepted Concordia quarterback Von Thomas twice in the second quarter and again early in the fourth quarter. He is now leading the NAIA with his three interceptions this season.

Bergmeier is the sixth DWU player to have intercepted three passes in a game. The most recent was Eric Adolph in 2008. Also to have accomplished the feat are Todd Spang (1997), Brandon Mozley (1995), Jeff Larson (1988) and Jon Hilton (1973).

Monday, Bergmeier was honored by the GPAC and was named the conference’s defensive player of the week. Last week, Tigers linebacker Anthony Cervantes earned the same honor for his strong performance in DWU’s season-opening win over Dakota State.

Bergmeier had three of DWU’s four interceptions in the game. The other was a game-sealing interception by freshman Josh Thompson.

Endres moves to fifth in DWU career rushing

Josh Endres had 41 carries Saturday, a career high for the DWU senior running back.

The Ethan native’s previous high was 29 rushes, a feat he accomplished both as a sophomore and as a junior. Last year, he had 29 carries against Briar Cliff and he did it in 2010 against Hastings.

Endres has 379 rushing yards this season, averaging 189.5 yards per game to lead the NAIA.

In his career, Endres has 2,406 yards to be in fifth place in school history. He started the season in eighth with 2,027 yards.

This season, he also has five touchdowns to put his career-scoring total at 188 points, third all-time in school history. He needs 24 points to tie Jason Bailey (1990-’93) for second all time.

This season he’s averaging 5.8 yards per rush.

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