GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota football team used a dominant second half on the defensive side of the ball to roll past Mississippi Valley State, 35-7, on Thursday night at the Alerus Center. 

The Fighting Hawks (1-0), who were opening the season at home for the first time since 2013, collected seven sacks, forced two turnovers, and held the Delta Devils (0-1) to -27 yards on the ground in the resounding victory. 

UND wasn't too shabby on offense either, posting 518 yards of total yards. The dynamic duo of Brady Oliveira and John Santiago each went over the 100-yard plateau with Oliveira posting a game-high 108 yards and Santiago close behind with 101. James Johannesson added 32 yards and a touchdown on six carries while quarterback Nate Ketteringham carried for 25 yards and plunged in from two yards out for a rushing TD. 

The junior added 225 yards and three touchdowns through the air, completing 19 passes on just 30 attempts. Ketteringham's perfect 40-yard strike to Travis Toivonen capped off the opening drive of the game and gave the Fighting Hawks the lead for good. 

Mason Bennett led the defense with a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss while Austin Cieslak registered 1.5 sacks. Tank Harris made arguably the biggest play on defense for UND, stripping the Delta Devil ballcarrier at the goal line to keep the Fighting Hawks up 14-0 in the first quarter. 

The hosts were clicking on third down throughout the contest, converting 10 of 16 and were successful on their only fourth down attempt of the game. 

On the game's opening drive UND set the tone with a good mix of run and pass, needing only six plays to march 65 yards. Ketteringham found Izzy Adeoti for 16 yards down the sideline and Santiago broke off a 11-yard scamper to quickly put the Fighting Hawks in opponent territory. On a 3rd and 11, Ketteringham found a cutting Toivonen over the middle of field where the junior broke free of the tackle and trotted in from 40-yards out to put UND on the board early. 

After a missed field goal by the Delta Devils, UND turned to the ground-and-pound as Johannesson and Oliveira led the Hawks down the field with runs of eight, 11, 21, and nine before Ketteringham called his own number on a two-yard QB sneak to give the Hawks a 14-0 advantage. 

MVSU looked to climb back into the game after Booker Chambers broke off a 79-yard kick return to quickly start with the ball inside the red zone before an 18-yard completion put the Delta Devils on the UND 4. After a two-yard rush, Harris stripped Robinson of the ball and Andre Steiger recovered just in front of the goal line to flip momentum and keep the visitors off the board. 

Following back-to-back punts to open the second quarter, UND started driving again when Ketteringham found Noah Wanzek with a 44-yard strike followed by an 11-yard pass to Luke Fiedler on a 3rd and 9 to keep the drive moving. The Hawks polished off the drive with seven again with Ketteringham throwing a back-should fade to true freshman Garett Maag in the corner of the end zone for his first-career TD catch and Ketteringham's third TD of the opening half. 

Mississippi Valley State answered with touchdown drive of its own to send UND into the locker room with a 21-7 advantage. 

UND's defense cranked up the pressure as the second half began, forcing a three-and-out with back-to-back sacks from Darnell Rodgers and Bennett before Jacob Odom laid a huge hit on an attempted screen pass to force another Delta Devil punt. 

Santiago showed off his explosiveness in the return game when the FCS All-American busted out a 17-yard return to put UND on the MVSU 35 yard line. After the senior took a carry for 13 yards, Ketteringham again found Fiedler on a 16-yard slant in the back of the endzone for a 28-7 lead after three quarters. 

The Fighting Hawks added a final score in the fourth when Johannesson found paydirt from seven yards out to polish off a 35-7 victory. 

North Dakota returns to action next Saturday with a trip to FBS Washington in Seattle. The Huskies are currently ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll and battle Auburn this Saturday in a neutral-site showdown.