Endres, Brown lift DWU to win over Midland

• Trevor Schroeder

Luke Hagen/Republic Dakota Wesleyan’s Trevor Schroeder (84) runs the ball during a kick return against Midland University Saturday at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell.

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Scoring drives haven’t come easy for Dakota Wesleyan University late this season.

The trend continued early Saturday against Midland University, when the Tiger football team was in a scoreless tie in its final game of the season.

But Arthur Brown caught two second-half touchdown passes from Jon Bane, Dustin Bergmeier had a criticial interception and Josh Endres sealed the 21-14 victory with a long, fourth-quarter touchdown run at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell.

“That was a great way to end the season and end the year with some momentum to go into next year,” said Bane, who became the school’s all-time career total offense record holder in the game, finishing with 210 yards passing against the Warrriors. Through three years with DWU, he has 6,982 yards in passing and rushing.

The Tigers finished with the same record for the second straight year, going 6-4 overall and 5-4 in the conference. DWU tied for the fourth-best GPAC record.

Before Bane hit Brown on third-and-2 for a 15-yard TD with 9:56 to play in the third quarter, DWU’s offense was held scoreless for eight straight quarters, dating back to the first half of the Northwestern game on Oct. 27.

Two possessions after the Tigers went up 7-0, Bane hit Brown again on third down for a 61-yard touchdown with 12:53 left to play in the game for a two-touchdown lead. Brown had seven catches for 141 yards for the Tigers, who had 378 yards of total offense.

DWU coach Ross Cimpl — also the defensive coordinator — said he hasn’t been frustrated with the lack of offense in recent weeks.

“There’s been other games where, offensively, they’ve kept us in it,” Cimpl said. “ … That’s just the way it goes. Our guys realize if one of the sides of the ball is struggling, the other guys have to rally for the team.”

Midland, on fourth-and-4, got a 19-yard touchdown pass with 8:06 left to make it 14-7. With the game clock winding down and what looked to be the final win of the 2012 season, Endres fumbled on first down with 1:22 left to give the Warriors a chance for a tie.

But Bergmeier picked off a high-thrown ball two plays later, and Endres sprinted to the end zone on second-and-11 for his final collegiate carry with 44 seconds left for redemption of the fumble. Bergmeier, Endres and linebacker Mike Barnaud — who had a team-high 12 tackles, were the three biggest senior standouts on senior day for Wesleyan.

Endres finished with 32 rushes for 181 yards, becoming the school’s all-time single-season and career rushing leader. He finished his four-year career with 3,329 yards and had 1,302 yards this season.

“This game is unexplainable,” Endres said. “We came out and wanted to win for all the seniors. I’m glad we came out on top.”

Midland got a final touchdown with 10 seconds to play, but DWU recovered the ensuing onside kick and the seniors walked off the field winners for one final time.

“We were ready to go and ready to play,” Cimpl said after the game while getting multiple congratulations on his first season as head coach. “We took advantage of our opportunities.”

Dakota Wesleyan 21,

Midland University 14

Midland 0 0 0 14-14

DWU 0 0 7 14-21

Scoring summary:

Third quarter:

DWU: Arthur Brown 15 pass from Jon Bane (Dan Porter kick)

Fourth quarter:

DWU: Brown 59 pass from Bane (Porter kick)

MID: Jared Pelzer 19 pass from Mike Karls (Treyton Buresh kick)

DWU: Josh Endres 70 run (Porter kick)

MID: Kene Martin 8 pass from Karls (Buresh kick)

Individual statistics:

RUSHING: MID – Kene Martin 25-100; Mike Karls 13-28; Larreon White 3-7; Dominic Blood 4-7. DWU – Josh Endres 32-181; Dan Porter 1-(-1); Jon Bane 3-(-11).

PASSING: MID – Mike Karls 15-31-1-200; Kene Martin 0-1-0-0; DWU – Jon Bane 16-25-0-210.

RECEIVING: MID – Corey Beatty 4-29; Jared Pelzer 3-42; Kene Martin 3-15; Kyle Peacock 2-78; Scott Lucks 2-26; Kirk Zinermon 1-10. DWU – Arthur Brown 7-141; Mitch Breen 3-11; Derek Carlson 2-40; Josh Endres 2-11; Travis Salmonson 1-10; Michael Brown 1-(-3).

DEFENSIVE: DWU – Mike Barnaud 12 tackles; Brady Bonte 10 tackles, Chris Ferera 8 tackles, sack; Dustin Bergmeier interception; Matt McManus fumble recovery.

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