Dakota State at Northwestern

• PREVIEW
• BOXSCORE

The Red Raiders opened the 2006 regular season in impressive fashion, defeating Dakota State 44-7 in front of a large crowd at renovated De Valois Stadium on Korver Field. NW dominated the Trojans from the beginning, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter to go up 14-0. Junior quarterback Craig Hector connected  with wide receivers Tyler Reichle and Seth Moen on touchdown strikes in the quarter. The Raider offense continued to click in the second frame, scoring two more touchdowns before intermission and increasing their lead to 27-7. Hector scored on a four-yard quarterback keeper and then connected with tight end Blake Reinke on a perfectly thrown ball in the left corner of the end zone from 26 yards out. Dakota State scored their lone touchdown in the second quarter on an 11-play, 81-yard drive capped off by quarterback Josh Somerville's six-yard run.

NW continued to roll in the second half as both special teams and the Raider defense put points on the scoreboard. Grant Mosier hit a 24-yard field goal and then Austin Janssen electrified the crowd with a 40-yard interception return. The Raider offense scored the final points of the game with just seconds left in the third quarter when Hector and Reichle connected for their second touchdown, this time an 11-yard score.

The Red Raiders gained 389 total yards of offense and limited the Trojans to 137. Hector set a career high mark with his five touchdowns and tied his career high record with four TD strikes through the air. He was very efficient running the offense, completing 14-20 passes for 211 yards and connecting with four different receivers. Blake Reinke led the receiving corps with four catches for 90 yards and one score. Tyler Reichle added four catches for 50 yards and two scores. Senior Keith Sietstra rushed for 117 yards on just 15 carries for an average of 7.8 yards per carry. The Raider defense was just as impressive, as they forced two turnovers and tallied five sacks. Sophomore Nathan Jansen led the way with seven tackles and a sack.

NW will next host Morningside in the Raiders' GPAC opener on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 7:00 p.m.