Coyotes continue success

The victory wasn’t the only highlight of the Dakota Days game Oct. 8. In the first quarter of the game, junior wide receiver Will Powell made a one-handed pass, a catch good enough to make it on ESPN’s SportsCenter’s top 10 plays that night.

Head coach Ed Meierkort said Powell’s catch was a huge play which gained a lot of momentum for the rest of the game.

“It was awesome,” Meierkort said. “It jump-started the whole that.”

The 24-19 victory over the University of Southern Utah had a great atmosphere, Meierkort said.

“I was just really proud of the entire university,” Meierkort said. “Everyone had fun and we had a big win.”

Now, the 4-2 Coyotes are going to try to extend their two-game winning streak as they travel to Normal, Ill., to take on the Illinois State University Redbirds on Oct. 15.

The Redbirds are coming off 38-13 win over Missouri State and are currently 3-3 on the season.

Meierkort said the game plan starts up front at the line of

scrimmage against Illinois State.

“We are going to have to slow down their running back and run the ball well on their defense,”

Meierkort said. “They are really big and physical, but we will continue to play our game.”

The Redbirds are led by their senior running back Ashton Leggett. Leggett, who two years ago transferred from Michigan State, is averaging 114 yards per game and has seven touchdowns on the year.

Coyote sophomore defensive end Tyler Starr, who leads the team in sacks, said the Coyote defense will have to play well in order to slow down the Redbird offense.

“We have to shut down the run game,” Starr said. “We have to try and make them one-dimensional.”

On offense, the Coyotes will count on Warren, who had three total touchdowns is last weeks win, to lead the team.

Warren said he expects the team to practice hard this week in order to prepare for the Redbird defense.

“We’re going to practice to win,” Warren said.

Warren also said the Coyote offense needs to keep building off their successful running game.

“The running game came into its own last week, and it is starting to shine,” Warren said. “They

(Illinois State) run a base defense so definitely expect us to run hard but keep them honest with the passing game.”

Reach reporter Grant Bosiacki at [email protected]