The Comets returned home to Jerome Berg Field on Saturday to take on Waldorf University for their annual Homecoming game. It was another contest for them in the North Star Athletic Association and the Comets were facing a tough opponent in the Warriors.
The Warriors were the first to get on the scoreboard with a TD toss of 13 yards by Hilton Joseph to Ryan Martinez, jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead on their second possession of the game. The Comets tried to fire back but punted the ball to the Warriors' 10-yard line. The Warriors were able to advance to the 21-yard line on a 3rd and 10 play, then Bo Evans broke loose for a 79-yard run for a touchdown with 2:48 to go in the first quarter, making it 14-0.
The Comets tried to get a string of their own together, getting a short drive of 54 yards to Waldorf's 27-yard line. The Warriors were able to get a punt return to the 25-yard line and get three first downs on their way to another TD, this time on an 18-yard pass to Ryan Martinez once again to add 7 more to their lead.
Creighton Pfau and company were able to produce a 70-yard drive in under 4 minutes of play, a drive that included 4 first downs and a big play on the reverse run that
Trent Momon ran for 23 yards to the Waldorf 21. Pfau was able to sneak it in from the 4 to get the Comets on the board with 2:35 to play, getting the deficit down to 14. Waldorf was able to answer it back on a 63-yard drive that ended with 19 yard pass to Ryan Martinez with 1:46 to go, for his third TD on the day. The Comets tried to make a big play happen towards the end, getting three quick first downs, but a last second deep toss was unsuccessful to end the half.
Things wouldn't get any better for the Comets in the second half. The Warriors were able to tack on four more touchdowns on the board, adding one of them quickly in the third quarter, plus a fumble recovery by Marcel Linder, which he ran 48 yards in for a score early in the fourth quarter. The Comets were able to get a late drive together in the waning minutes of the game, with
Austin Urlaub scooting into the end zone from the 4 yard line, a nice finishing touch to a 49-yard Comet drive. A big part of that drive was a 25-yard connection from Urlaub to
Trent Momon to help set up Urlaub's TD score. It was too much for the Comets to handle as the Warriors gained another NSAA victory with a 55 to 14 win over the Comets.
The Warriors had 491 yards total on the day, with 307 in passing and 184 on the ground. Don Jones led in total yards in receptions with 123 and 2 touchdowns, followed by Ryan Martinez with 115 and 3 TD's in all. Hilton Joseph was 10 for 16 for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns, along with Edward Dominguez who went 9 for 16 and 148 yards.
The Comets collected 318 yards total, getting about two thirds on the ground with 211, and 107 in the air.
Creighton Pfau was 9 of 23 for 82 yards in passing, and had 91 yards in rushing on the day for a lone TD.
Preston Hamlette ran for 67 yards on 15 carries for the Comets.
Trent Momon led in receiving for MSU with 2 catches for 42 yards.
Jacob Hanson led in all-purpose yards with 141, 115 of those on kickoff returns. On defense for the Comets,
Josiah Walker had 6 tackles while
Daniel Simpson had 5, each of them recording a sack. Daequan Nelson for the Warriors had 9 total tackles on the day, followed up by teammate Marcel Linder with 7. Dakota Jahnke and Alex Bushman each had a sack for Waldorf.
Waldorf moves to a 2-0 NSAA record and is 2-3 overall on their season, now tied with Dickinson State at the top of the conference. The Comets move to 1-4 overall and are 0-3 in the NSAA, sitting at fifth place. Next up for the Comets will be Presentation College on the road at Aberdeen, SD on October 6th at 1pm in another NSAA conference matchup.
