Box Score Dickinson, N.D. -  The Mayville State football team traveled to Dickinson to open North Star play on a hot Saturday afternoon. The Comets got down early, and made a spirited comeback in the fourth quarter, but fell to the Blue Hawks 41-18.

"Dickinson is the best team in the league and has been for a long time. I have a lot of respect for that staff and how they do things," said head coach Rocky Larson. "We knew we would have to take a step up this week and I am proud of the way our kids fought today."

1st Half:
The Comets defense delivered the first blow on Dickinson's first possession. Anthony Johnson picked off a Blue Hawk pass and returned the interception 30 yards to the Dickinson 30-yard line. The Comets got the ball to the five-yard line where the defense stiffened, but Braeden Lacombe connected on a 22-yard field goal to give Mayville State a 3-0 lead.

The Blue Hawks then marched down the field and scored on an eight-yard run to take the lead 7-3. The score remained that way until the first play of the second quarter when the Blue Hawks punched in a short touchdown run to make the score 14-3. Both defenses dug in for the rest of the quarter until a Dickinson field goal just before halftime made the score 17-3.

2nd Half:
The Blue Hawks expanded their lead to 24-3 after a 33-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half. The Comets then ground out a 19 play drive which consumed over 10 minutes of the clock and included two fourth down conversions. Mayville State's Tim Salmon found Mason Ollman for a five-yard touchdown and Lacombe kicked an extra point making the score 24-10.

Dickinson responded immediately with a touchdown on their next drive, which included a 48 yard pitch and catch and two costly Comet penalties. The Comets entered the final quarter down 31-10. The Blue Hawks added a field goal early in the fourth, making the score 34-10.

Mayville State found some life on the next drive when Darrick Frederick streaked past the Dickinson secondary on a fourth and 4 play and hauled in a 55 yard touchdown from Salmon. Salmon then found Xyler Carlson for a two point conversion to cut the lead to 34-18.

Once again, the Blue Hawks answered a touchdown with one of their own, and turned an eight yard touchdown run into a 41-18 lead. Maalik Flowers ripped off a 47 yard pass play to get the Comets into the red zone on the next drive, but a fumble allowed the Blue Hawks to run down the clock to end the game.

"Offensively we were able to sustain drives and give our defense a blow," said Larson. "Defensively we had a few injuries that made us change a lot of stuff on the fly. We played a lot of guys today and they did a nice job keeping us in the game."

Salmon finished with 233 yards and two touchdowns. Javeion Davison hauled in seven receptions for 43 yards and Carlson finished with 94 all purpose yards. On defense, Richardson added five tackles to his interception, with Brady DeLaroque and Gunnar Jorgensen collecting five tackles and a sack each.

Larson also stated, "I thought we played a lot harder today than last Saturday. Our kids believe in what we are building here and they did a great job fighting until the end."

Our goal next week is to keep improving. We made  abig step from week one to week two and we have to be willing to take then next step next week," added Larson. The Comets record now stands at 0-2 and Mayville State looks to finish their three-game road trip with a victory in Lincoln, Nebraska next Saturday against the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves.

For full schedule information, live stream links and live state links visit https://msucomets.com/sports/football/schedule.