Bison stomp Panthers, 66-7

Prairie View A&M’s long trip from Texas to Fargo will seem even longer on the way back after getting thumped 66-7 by the Bison football team Saturday. The Panthers couldn’t produce anything against NDSU’s defense and the Bison offense methodically moved the ball series after series.

After forcing a three and out to start the game, NDSU drove 55 yards to the endzone after Brock Jensen hit receiver Zach Vraa on a fade route for the 11-yard score. Vraa had a monstrous game for the Bison, finishing with eight catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bison offense got the ball back right away after Ricky Hagen’s sack and forced fumble was recovered by Brian Schaetz. NDSU’s drive stalled after a slant to Vraa was knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Adam Keller was sent in to kick and his 24-yard FG was good to put the Bison up 10-0.

Another sack by Kyle Emanuel and Mike Hardie gave NDSU the ball back and this time, they did not waste any time to score. On the first play from scrimmage, Jensen hit Vraa deep across the middle. Vraa dragged a Panther defender the last 10 yards into the endzone for the 69-yard strike and a 17-0 lead with 5:34 left in the first quarter.

Hardie came up with another sack to force a punt and the Bison offense drove down the field again with ease. Passes to Vraa for 27 and 21 yards moved the ball into the redzone for NDSU. Jensen capped off the drive with an 11-yard TD strike to receiver Nate Moody. Keller’s kick was good to extend the Bison’s lead to 24-0 with 14:11 remaining in the second quarter.

The NDSU offense took over the ball just two minutes later at their own 43-yard line. Passes to Vraa and Kevin Vaadeland set up a 26-yard TD run by running back John Crockett. Crockett weaved and juked his way into the endzone to make the score 31-0 after Keller’s kick was good.

The defense of NDSU continued to torment the Panther’s offense, forcing numerous three-and-outs which led to more points being put on the board. Sam Ojuri plunged into the endzone from the 3-yard line and backup quarterback Carson Wentz’s 10-yard TD pass to Taylor Nelson put the Bison up 45-0 at halftime.

With the starters out, NDSU’s backups didn’t stop the scoring frenzy in the second half. Running back Deveon Dinwiddie scored twice in the third quarter with 9 and 10 yard runs and once again in the fourth from 4-yards out, putting the Bison up 66-0.

The Panthers eventually reached the scoreboard with 5:17 remaining, something that seemed impossible to do all game long. NDSU limited the Panther offense to 192 yards. Hardie had six tackles and two sacks to lead the defense.

Offensively, the Bison rushed for 312 yards and threw for 285 yards.

NDSU will begin conference play next weekend at they travel to Northern Iowa. Kickoff is set for 6:07 p.m.