Derek Schlieve saw his first season at the helm end with a 6-0 victory in a hard fought, defensive contest with the Dakota State University Trojans.  It was also senior day for Mayville State University so all of our seniors were sent off with a victory in their final game in Comet blue. 

The players recognized today before kickoff were:  Mitchell Ford, Jake McLain, Michael Brown, Tony Evanstad, James McKinney, Nick Rogers, Justin Popovich, Elliot Alefaio, Ben Rayfield, Caleb Loy, Tim Seeley, Frank Sanzolone, Cory Grover, and Ryan Tucker.  These men will be missed by everyone involved with the Comet football team and we thank each of them for their hard work on and off the field.

The football game itself did not see a whole lot of action by either offense.  The wind was blowing throughout the game affecting both teams ability to throw the ball.  Both teams combined for just 84 yards through the air. 

Dakota State did test the Comets defensive backs in this one as they took some shots through the air.  The Comets won that battle with three interceptions with Jacob Grosz getting the first one in the second quarter when Dakota State was starting to move the ball. 

There were no scoring plays until the second quarter when Dominique Bradley turned the corner on a run to the left side and scored from five yards out.  The extra point was no good and the Comets took the lead 6-0. 

The rest of the half was a field position battle as neither team could get anything going offensively.  The Comets went into halftime ahead of the Trojans 6-0.

To open up the second half Mayville State took a risk that paid off as Seeley placed a perfect onside kick that was recovered by Steven Lopez.  The Comets were unable to capitalize on the field position and had to punt on the drive. 

Late in the fourth quarter Dakota State had the ball in Comet territory with some chances to spoil the afternoon for the Comet fans.  The Comet defensive backs came up with huge plays to make sure that didn't happen.  Dylan Midstokke made the first big play as he knocked the ball out of Stacey Berg's hands in the end zone to save a touchdown.  Midstokke made another great play on the ball near the goal line as the Trojans went back to Berg.

 Josh Jefferies made intercepted a pass with about two minutes left deep in Mayville State territory.  After a three-and-out by the offense the defense needed to come up big again to seal the win for Mayville State.  That's exactly what Rashad Flanders did when he picked off Brandon Large's pass around the 1 yard line.  Flanders made a great play on the ball and rose up to take the ball and the game away from Dakota State.  The Comets were able to go to the victory formation from there to secure the win. 

These two teams battled for 60 minutes and couldn't have been much closer in every statistical category.  Dakota State outgained Mayville State 236-201, collected 13 first downs to Mayville States 11, and had 39 yards passing compared to the Comets 45.  The big stat that was the difference in this game was the three turnovers by the Trojans.   Mayville State collecting three interceptions and not turning the ball over was the difference in this game. 

The 2011 Comets football season comes to an end with Coach Schlieve finishing with five victories and a lot of optimism for the future.  It was a great year for everyone involved and it will be exciting to see the direction of this team going forward.