college football – Dustin Monke

From Dickinson to Frisco: Area Bison fans confident about chances for fifth national title

Sarah and Jared Twogood, of Dickinson, stand on the fi eld at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, following North Dakota State University’s victory over Illinois State in their fourth consecutive FCS championship game on Jan. 10, 2015.

Dave and Kay Moody aren’t exactly superstitious, but they aren’t taking any chances either.

The Moodys made their fifth annual trip to Frisco, Texas, this week the same way they did when they followed the North Dakota State University football team — and their son, senior Bison receiver Nate Moody — there in 2012.

The Moodys left Dickinson on Wednesday to drive to the Denver area and then flew to Dallas on Thursday morning and are staying at the same hotel they did during the first title season, Dave said, when Nate was a freshman who saw playing time in NDSU’s first title win.

“It’s kind of full circle,” Dave said. “That’s what we did the first year and we figured, let’s do it.”

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Life is better with good football

It doesn’t matter how how few pro athletes we produce, North Dakota sports have always been great. From Class B basketball to 9-man football and American Legion baseball, we take pride in our schools and their teams because — for many of us — it’s an outstanding source of community pride.

When it comes to fall, the world feels so much better when the football you care about is good too. And life is good lately for southwest North Dakotans who pay attention the local guys on the gridiron.

Dickinson High is the No. 2-ranked team in North Dakota Class 3A football. Dickinson State and Dickinson Trinity both have winning records, and North Dakota State and the University of North Dakota once again played on the same fi eld.
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UnFOURgettable: Champions showed up when it mattered most to lead NDSU to fourth straight title

Was there ever really a doubt?

Trailing by four points with about 1½ minutes remaining and with a fourth consecutive FCS championship on the line, did anyone expect the North Dakota State football team to falter Saturday afternoon?

The Bison made history by defeating Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Illinois State 29-27 for the title in dramatic and downright astounding fashion.

They were nowhere near perfect. But when it mattered most, NDSU displayed every bit of that championship swagger it had accumulated over the past four seasons. Continue reading “UnFOURgettable: Champions showed up when it mattered most to lead NDSU to fourth straight title”

North Dakotans should be proud of the Bison

0105 NDSU Football 1_0 — North Dakota State seniors celebrate their win over Towson during the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision title game Saturday at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. *Photo by Carrie Snyder / Forum News Service)

About 10 years ago, North Dakota State decided to move its athletic programs to the NCAA Division I level.

No one knew what to expect at the time. Coming off a few years of Division II mediocrity in most sports, including football, fan sentiment was tempered. Some people predicted it would be a disaster. More were upset that long-time rivalries were ending so NDSU could play teams like Southern Utah and Cal Poly.

A decade later, there is no debate. The decision has been nothing short of brilliant.

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Former players reflect on ‘legendary’ Biesiot

1122 Hank 3 — Press Photo by Royal McGregor In this Sept. 1, 2012 photo, Dickinson State head football coach Hank Biesiot, left, speaks with players during a Frontier Conference game against Rocky Mountain. After 38 years as the head coach of the Blue Hawks, Biesiot resigned on Thursday.

To them, he’s a “legendary” coach, a man who helped teach the meaning of humility and camaraderie, or someone who simply gave them a chance when no one else would.

To all of them, however, he’s coach Hank Biesiot.
“They just don’t make ‘em like him anymore,” said Randy Gordon, a longtime head football coach for Dickinson Trinity and a member of the first Dickinson State team Biesiot coached in 1976.

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10-loss season means change

We’re a generation or more removed from the last time the Dickinson State football team had a season this bad.

Before Saturday, the Blue Hawks had never lost 10 games in a season.

It marked only the second time since World War II that a DSU football team has finished a season with one win. When the Blue Hawks were still the Savages in 1966 under head coach Orlo Sundree, they went 1-7. Sundree would only last one more season and DSU would go through two other coaches before promoting Hank Biesiot to the head position in 1976.

More than three decades of success followed. Few team records still stand that weren’t set in the Biesiot coaching era.

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Moody living in the moment: DHS graduate relishing title game experiences

Nate Moody believes that sometime in his future, he will look back and realize how special today actually is.

This morning, Moody will snap on his helmet for the biggest game of his career and try to help No. 1-ranked North Dakota State win its second consecutive Division I Football Championship Subdivision title when it meets No. 5 Sam Houston State at 11 a.m. today at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

The 2011 Dickinson High School graduate said being back in Frisco and playing for another title is a surreal accomplishment he never expected when he joined NDSU as a preferred walk-on.

“I don’t really have words to put to it,” Moody said. “It was a great experience last year, it’s going to be another great experience. Hopefully I just realize, someday, what this actually is. Even last year isn’t all that realistic to me and even to a lot of other people. We’re still playing football.”
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