VALLEY CITY – Aaron White threw three touchdown passes and Riley Linder had two touchdown runs as the Dickinson State football team earned its first win of the season Saturday afternoon.
After struggling offensively in their first two games of the season and falling out of the NAIA Top 25, the Blue Hawks cruised to a 35-10 victory over Valley City State in a game between North Star Athletic Association rivals that did not count toward their conference standings.
Linder capped long first-half scoring drives with touchdown rushes of 2 and 8 yards, respectively. The first was a 12-play, 69-yard drive to open the first quarter and the second came on a 11-play, 70-yard drive early in the second quarter.
White added his first of two touchdown passes to Conor McCarvel on a 33-yard wide-open strike with 1:43 left in the second quarter to give DSU a 21-10 halftime lead.
McCarvel and White hooked up again early in the third quarter from 6 yards out to put DSU ahead 28-10.
The senior quarterback capped the day’s scoring with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Alec Lovegren in the third quarter.
White threw for 299 yards while completing 25 of 33 passes.
DSU’s defense limited the Vikings (0-3) to 231 total yards.
The home team’s only touchdown came toward the end of the first quarter on quarterback Noah Chambers’ 1-yard run to finish out a 14-play, 75-yard drive. Rodrigo Castaneda added a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter, cutting DSU’s lead to 14-10.
The Blue Hawks’ defense stood tall during the penalty-filled second half.
JaQuawhann Booth had two sacks and Jayden Heartwell had a team-high 7 tackles.
The Blue Hawks (1-2) are home next week with a second nonconference tilt against a NSAA opponent. Mayville State comes to the Biesiot Activities Center riding a three-game win streak.
Behind QB Tim Salmon and WR Javeion Davison, the streaking Comets are 3-1 are off to their best start since 2015, when they finished 5-5.
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