Aug. 28—The Dickinson Midgets’ football team were looking to erase the memories of last year’s 1-6 season as they welcomed fellow Class A West member Jamestown to their home turf.
It wasn’t the start to the season they had hoped for as Dickinson were unable to fend off the Blue Jays, who walked away with a 19-7 victory. The Midgets’ tried to establish their run game early, but couldn’t generate enough offense. A short field gifted Dickinson their only score, but were unable to do any damage to the scoreboard outside of that.
“We talked about it before the game and we told the guys. I thought the two big keys to the game was winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and having fewer mistakes than they did and unfortunately we weren’t able to do both of those things,” Head Coach John Tuchscherer said. “I don’t know the total number of penalties that we had but it was a lot. I think Jamestown’s defensive line did a really great job. They are well coached and they were just more physical than we were.”
Jamestown got the ball first but wouldn’t score until their fourth possession, when wide receiver Preston Kroeber was on the receiving end of a touchdown, making a dive towards the right corner of the end zone, as the Blue Jays took a 7-0 lead.
The Midgets wouldn’t get on the scoreboard until late in the second half. They were gifted a short field after Jamestown muffed a punt in their own territory. Soon after, quarterback Troy Berg was quick on his feet and ran for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 going into halftime.
The Blue Jays tried to strike quickly before the half ended, but Berg was there to intercept the Jamestown quarterback.
Berg, primarily a running back on offense last year, was given the keys to the offense in the Midgets’ opener.
“I thought he (Troy Berg) played a really good game. First time playing quarterback in a live game,” Tuchscherer said. ” I thought he did well and made some good reads and decisions about when to pull the ball down.”
With the momentum shift towards the end of the half in their favor, they would fail to capitalize on it as the Blue Jays added another touchdown in the third quarter, this time caught by Adam Kallenbach. They missed their extra point so it was 13-7 Jamestown.
With as high as the Midgets left the game at the end of the first half, it would change with an early injury in the third. Their defensive lineman Taik Larsen was taken off the field by ambulance. They would also have another lineman Evan Davidson struggling who appeared to have a pain coming from his left ankle as a teammate helped him off the field.
The Midgets knew they had to score on the next drive if they wanted to keep the game close. Berg showed great composure, completing a first down pass facing a blitz and running for another key third down conversion, but would eventually see their drive stall and turn it over on downs.
Jamestown dominated possession in the fourth, scoring a third touchdown with about five minutes left, making it 19-7.
Dickinson mounted one last attempt to stay in the game, but an interception by Aden Braun ended any dramatic comeback story.
“The good news is that the sun is going to come up tomorrow and we are going to get back to work. I have to be better, I have to do a better job at getting these guys prepared and that’s on me and that starts Monday.”
It’s the fifth season in a row the Midgets have started the season with a loss.
Their next contest will be next Friday on the road against Bismarck Legacy.