Mustang
FOOTBALL SATURDAY, OCT. 8
Morningside returns to Elwood Olsen Stadium for Homecoming 2022, welcoming alumni and friends back to campus as they play Hastings in Great Plains Athletic Conference football.
THE SERIES The Mustangs are unbeaten by Hastings over the last 18 meetings, with Morningside’s most recent loss coming 34-20 in 2003. Last year’s matchup saw the Mustangs triumph 62-7 in Hastings, with Anthony Sims running for six touchdowns. The last meeting in Sioux City resulted in a shutout, 57-0. It was one of three shutout wins for the Mustangs, dating back to 2002.
THE MATCH-UP Morningside, 4-0, comes off a game against then no. 17 Midland in which the Mustang offense struggled to get momentum early in the contest. Once rolling, though, Morningside put up 415 total yards and 37 second-half points. Joe Dolincheck has been a cannon for the Mustangs, with 1,419 passing yards so far this season. He sits atop the all-time leaderboard for career passing yards and holds the career total offense mark. On the ground, Ryan Cole is the Mustangs’ rush leader, with 357 yards in 75 attempts, averaging 89.3 yards per game. Austin Johnson and Zach Norton are nearly equal targets for Dolincheck, with Johnson holding the edge with 451 yards in 26 catches. Norton has 446 yards in 24 catches. Both receivers have five touchdowns on the season. Isaac Pingel leads a corps of four backs that have 20 or more total tackles this season. Pingel holds 29 tackles, with Joshua Miller, Lonell Boyd Jr., and Jalen Portis following with 28, 25, and 20 tackles respectively. Seven other Mustangs have double-digit tackles through four games. Hastings, trailing Morningside with its 4-1 record, collected a 21-8 win over Briar Cliff last week, recording 388 yards of total offense. John Zamora leads the offense, with 994 passing yards and 221 rushing yards this season. The highly mobile quarterback is second on the team in rushing yards, with Brett Simonsen leading the team out of the backfield with 401 yards. He averages 80. 2 yards per game, with three rushing touchdowns this season. Zamora has found Toryian Tubbs and Jaishawn Wright to be favorite targets, with 19 and 15 catches, respectively. Tubbs has 298 yards on the season, while Wright has 165. Defensively, Hastings is led by Caden Egr, who has 35 total tackles. Koby Brandenburg follows with 34 and a team-leading four interceptions.