SEASON IN REVIEW
After losing senior defensive end Nathan Wayne (Menomonie, Wis.) to a ruptured Achilles tendon, the University of North Dakota football team opened the 2009 season on the road against its most talked about opponent of the summer - Texas Tech. The Fighting Sioux battled against their first BCS conference opponent since 1976, but when the final whistle sounded the Sioux found themselves on the losing end of a 38-13 score. Junior Joel Schwenzfeier (SS, Hallock, Minn.) was named the Great West Conference Defensive Player of the Week after grabbing a UND record three interceptions against the Red Raiders and leading the team with a career-high seven unassisted stops.
Picked to finish fourth in the GWC preseason poll, North Dakota took a week off before grabbing a 27-20 victory over Northwestern State, ending the Demons' three-year home-opener win streak.
The UND defense was credited with six points off of a pair of safeties. The first came with four minutes remaining in the third quarter when redshirt freshman Mitch Sutton (Plover, Wis.) blocked a NWLA punt on the 17 yard line. The second came in the final minutes of the game after the Demons gained possession just outside their own goal line.
Following an unsuccessful three-play drive, UND looked to kick a 52-yard field goal, but instead senior Brandon Hellevang (Fargo, N.D.) took a direct-snap and quick kicked the ball inside the five yard line. Junior Ross Cochran (LB, Kenosha, Wis.) was able to stop the ball before it rolled into the endzone to put NWLA on its own two yard line. On the ensuing snap, the ball sailed high over the hands of the Demons' kicker and out of bounds for the UND safety.
For their efforts, junior Kris Ankenbauer (DB, Murphy, Texas) and Hellevang were named Great West players of the week. Ankenbauer on defense and Hellevang for special teams.
North Dakota suffered its second road loss of the season, a 65-31 defeat at the hands of Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 26), before playing its first game in front of a home crowd. Despite the loss to the Lumberjacks, wide receiver Ismael Bamba was named the GWC Offensive Player of the Week. He picked up a 66-yard Lumberjack kickoff and ran it 95 yards for a touchdown. The return not only tied the third-longest return in Fighting Sioux history, but it was also the second-longest return in Great West this season.
The Montreal, Quebec native is tied with Tracy Martin (1984-86) who logged a 95-yard kickoff return at South Dakota State on Sept. 22, 1984.
On Oct. 3, the Fighting Sioux took a big 27-12 victory over South Dakota. It was the seventh-consecutive Homecoming victory for UND who was playing in front of the largest home-opening crowd (12,431) at the Alerus Center in program history.
Sutton led both sides of the field with 202 all-purpose yards. He finished with a then personal-best and league-high 190 yards rushing and 12 yards receiving. He was responsible for 18 of UND's 27 points with two rushing touchdowns and one TD reception. He was named Great West Player of the Week (offensive) along with teammate Broc Bellmore (So., DL, West Fargo, N.D.) who garnered the special teams honors after blocking a pair of Coyote kicks.
The defensive lineman stopped both of Dustin Nowotny's attempts. Bellmore's first block came in the first quarter and allowed UND to take an early 7-6 lead over the Coyotes. His second block of the game happened in the second quarter as USD scored its final point of the game to take a 12-7 advantage.
Sophomore cornerback Dominique Hawkins (Plymouth, Minn.) was named the Week 6 Great West Conference Defensive Player of the Week following UND's 31-24 victory over Stony Brook in the 44th annual Potato Bowl USA.
With under 30 seconds remaining before the half, Hawkins picked-off Stony Brook quarterback Michael Coulter at the Seawolf 35-yardline and ran the ball in for the touchdown. Hawkins' endzone visit broke a 7-7 tie and gave the Fighting Sioux momentum heading into the second half.
This was the second interception of the season for Hawkins and the second time that he took the pick-off in for a score.
North Dakota's two-game win streak was snapped when defending NAIA national champion Sioux Falls paid a visit to the Alerus Center and handed the Sioux a 28-13 loss.
USF senior quarterback Lorenzo Brown threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score in leading the Cougars to the win. He accounted for 337 of his team's 360 yards as he threw for a game-high 237 yards and ran for game-high 100 yards.
UND's offensive woes continued back on the road. In the second conference match-up for both teams, Southern Utah showed why most had been calling the Thunderbirds the most improved team in the Great West Conference. SUU's control of the game began on the opening drive and carried all the way through to the 35-10 Homecoming victory.
In what's been termed "The Biggest Game That No One Saw," the Fighting Sioux snapped their two-game skid as they knocked of 16th-ranked Cal Poly 31-17. The 14-point Hall of Fame victory came in front of a home crowd of just 6,711 fans - the smallest regular-season crowd to ever attend a UND game at the Alerus Center.
After trailing 17-14 going into the second half, UND scored 17 unanswered points to take its second Great West Conference win of the season and break a two-game winning streak for the Mustangs.
Led by Sutton, UND totaled 427 total offensive yards - the most it had seen since the South Dakota game on Oct. 3.
Defense was a key factor in UND's win as the Mustangs were held to under 70 yards rushing with zero touchdowns on the ground. Before that game, Cal Poly was averaging 206.9 yards rushing per game. The Fighting Sioux forced three fumbles, grabbed two interceptions and sacked the quarterback twice.
In its final home game of the season, the University of North Dakota football team honored both the area troops and its 18 seniors as it defeated Southern Oregon 30-24 at the Alerus Center. The victory also marked the 600th win in Fighting Sioux football history.
The following week, with a chance to win its first Great West Conference championship, UND fell short to UC Davis as the Aggies won the title with a 28-20 victory.
The UND QB duo of Jake Landry (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) and Brent Goska (So., Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) combined for 139 yards passing and had one touchdown pass apiece. Goska led the rushing team with 77 yards on 10 carries, including a 36-yard run.
Wide receiver Ryan Konrath (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) led the receiving team with 49 yards on five catches, including a 21-yard TD grab late in the fourth quarter.
The Fighting Sioux defense was led by junior Curtis Dublanko. The linebacker from Thorsby, Alberta finished with a career-high 10 tackles (nine unassisted). Defensive lineman Link Gottbeheat (Sr., Tomah, Wis.) finished with a game-high two sacks and his first career forced fumble.
After closing its 2009 conference season with a 2-2 record, Sutton was named the 2009 Great West Conference Rookie of the Year in a vote by the leagues' coaches. He was joined on the all-conference team by junior Ryan Kasowski (LB, Grand Forks, N.D,), Bamba, senior Kyle Bondy (Williston, N.D.), junior Ty Boyle (International Falls, Minn.), Hawkins, and Hellevang.
On Nov. 24, University of North Dakota seniors Hellevang and Nick Nolte (Janesville, Wis.) were named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® football team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Hellevang was selected as the first team placekicker while Nolte was one of four defensive linemen named to the second team.
North Dakota capped its second year of transition to NCAA Division I with an action-packed 17-16 win over Central Arkansas.
After trailing the Bears through the third quarter, the Fighting Sioux took a 17-16 lead at 9:33 in the fourth. Hellevang connected from 34 yards out for his 49th career field goal and his 325th career point.
UCA had a trio of opportunities to regain the lead, but couldn't convert on their home field. Bellmore blocked a pair of field goal attempts, including a game-ending block with 17 seconds left on the clock.
The Fighting Sioux sealed the 2009 season with Landry named Great West Conference Offensive Player of the Week, Dublanko named the conference defensive player of the week, and for the second time, Bellmore was named the special teams player of the week.
With the win over Central Arkansas, North Dakota finished 6-5 2-2 GWC and grabbed its seventh-consecutive winning season and its 19th over the past 20 seasons.
- Go Sioux -
