Spartans Defense Stops Boxers
Sep 20, 2014
Dubuque, Iowa - The University of Dubuque held on for a tough, knock down win over the Pacific University Boxers on Saturday night on Chalmers Field 16-10. Under near ideal conditions Saturday evening the Spartans (1-2 overall) looked to their defense every time the visiting Boxers (0-2 overall) moved the ball within striking distance. The defense displayed what they are capable of after collecting four interceptions in the victory.
A spectacular one handed theft as time was running out of the game by Oscar White in the UD endzone stopped what could have been the Spartans third loss of the 2014 season. White tucked the ball in after it bounced off a Boxer receiver and he back handed the ball and brought it down with two hands before he hit the ground for the game saving interception, his second of the night. Zach Marotta and Durrell Mitchell each collected an interception of their own. Blaine Snitker sacked the boxers once for a loss of seven yards. Darren Myles and Everett Schwer led UD with 12 tackles each. Schwer came in and replaced Chad Sadowski who left the game early with an injury. Trevor Stauner added 11 tackles as teammate Snitker finished with 10.
Pacific owned the possession time 36:09 to UD's 23:51. The speed of the Boxers helped them to convert on 8-16 third down conversions and 2-4 fourth down conversions. The Boxers left some scoring on the field as they were only able to score on 2-4 red zone chances. The Spartans successfully put points on the board in all three of their red zone chances.
The Spartans special teams excelled as Curtis Prull successfully made all three field goal attempts. He made his first, a 22 yard kick with 1:57 left in the second quarter. He kicked his next one, a 33 yarder down the middle of the up rights with 3:07 left of the third quarter. He scored his third field goal from 22 yards out with 10:02 left in the game. Brayden Neuendorf kicked off five times for 283 yards for a 56.6 average on kickoffs. Senior Mitch Michaelis punted four times for 140 yards, including once inside the 20 yard line.
Zach Fry kept the offense moving after completing 18-30 attempts for 213 yards. His favorite target was Tyler Rutenbeck who grabbed nine catches for 137 yards. He longest was a 64 yard touchdown grab in the opening quarter of play. Alec Arvanitakis led the ground game with 85 yards. He lost just one yard in 13 carries.
Pacific led in total offense with 360 yards while their defense held UD to 321 total yards and just 108 yards rushing.
The Spartans enjoy an off week before beginning Iowa Conference play on the road at Decorah on Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m. UD's next home game is homecoming on Oct. 11 vs. Simpson College at 4:00 p.m
