Blomendaal, Raiders rout Dakota State

The Raider football team badly needed a win after consecutive losses to tough opponents. They delivered in a big way on Saturday, going on the road and decimating Dakota State 63-27.
Northwestern scored on their first play from scrimmage on a 57-yard pass from sophomore Davis Bloemendaal to junior Tyler Walker, and the Raider offense continued to click throughout. They posted the second highest point total in school history. Bloemendaal, starting for the first time this year, threw for 272 yards and four touchdowns and Walker led all receivers with 107 yards on four catches.
“We spread the ball around really well,” Walker said. “We haven’t had a passing game like that for several years. We ran a lot of pass plays on first down, a lot of aggressive stuff, so it was a nice change.”
Meanwhile, junior Brandon Smith rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, as he got himself back on track after a disappointing game against Doane.
“It’s nice to be able to run the ball effectively and limit Brandon’s carries,” said Coach Kyle Achterhoff. “Instead of getting the ball in his hands 30 times a game, we kept him healthy and fresh, which was huge for us.”
The consensus surrounding the team was that this game felt like a breakthrough, both in attitude and performance.
“Basically, we knew we needed to win,” Bloemendaal said, “Practice was more intense all week, and everybody stepped up and made big plays when they needed to.”
NW’s next challenge will be building on this momentum. Next up: Nebraska Wesleyan at home on Saturday.
“The biggest question with Nebraska Wesleyan is ‘which team is going to show up?’” Achterhoff said. “Going to Sioux City and beating Morningside was a huge accomplishment for them. Last week Doane took it to them. Everybody in our conference is so good, we just have to play our best game, and understand that we need to execute well.”
If there was any question who would be starting under center, Achterhoff put it to rest quickly.
“The beauty of our system is that we have two quarterbacks we have trust in. [But] Davis will be starting,” Achterhoff said.
It’s hard to argue the decision. Bloemendaal’s performance was, in fact, so strong that he earned Offensive Player of the Week in the GPAC.
“It was very unexpected, to say the least,” Bloemendaal said. “I just wanted to play well and help my team win.”
Bloemendaal and the rest of the Raiders will kick-off at 1:30 on Saturday.