After a trip to Montana last weekend, the Comet Football team hit the road going south this weekend for an NAIA matchup against the Midland University Warriors. Things looked like it was going to be a good fight early on, but the Warriors were just too much to handle for the Comets in the end.
In first quarter action, the Warriors hit the scoreboard first with a 7-play, 75-yard effort that ended with an 8-yard rushing TD at 7:49 in the first. The Comets only took a few minutes to fire back with a drive of their own, finishing off a nearly similar effort of 8 plays over 77 yards, capped with a
Creighton Pfau pass to
Trent Momon for a 27-yard TD. Extra points by both teams made it a 7-7 tie with 5:07 to go in the quarter. Midland began a solid 32-yard drive that dipped into the beginning seconds of the second quarter, taking the lead with a 21-yard pass to take a 13-7 lead with a failed extra point kick.
The Comets answered it back with another TD from Pfau to Momon, this time for a short 3-yard grab. That drive was 75 yards over 8 plays and ate up 3:26 in time. The PAT attempt went sour for the Comets, as Ray Rush for the Warriors scooped it up and scored 2 points for MU. Midland continued to forge ahead and scored again on a 4-play, 52-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard TD to take a 22-13 lead. They would score once again on a two play drive that ended with a 56-yard pass and that extended their lead to 29-13 with 2:02 left to play in the half. The Comets kept working hard to close the gap and put together a nice 10-play, 75-yard drive with Pfau connecting to
Jacob Hanson on a 14-yard reception. Going into halftime, the Comets found themselves down by only 9.
Unfortunately, Midland had the momentum in the second half and rattled off four touchdowns, two in each quarter with all being rushing TD's. The Warriors captured the win with a 56-20 score, fueled largely by a strong and balanced attack from the air and ground. Midland collected 555 yards overall, with the Comets reaching a respectable 448 total yards. The Comets had the edge in the air with 332 passing yards to 317 for the Warriors. The rushing effort by Midland was 267 yards to the Comets 154.
Creighton Pfau had a solid 325 yards on 24 for 44 attempts and no interceptions.
Trent Momon received 183 yards on 11 catches, with twp for TD's.
Jacob Hanson hit over the century mark with 101 yards, 8 catches and a TD. In Rushing yards,
Preston Hamlette had 37 on the day and
Creighton Pfau had 33 total.
Next up for the Comets will be their first home game of the year, and a special historic one for Jerome Berg Field's new turf for the Comets to play on. It will be the annual Farmers Bowl on campus, with plenty of activities to take part in throughout the day, from a 5K, to a parade, a Farmers Market, and of course, the big Farmers Bowl game against St Scholastica.
