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Western Illinois vs. North Dakota State
WIU Athletics
56
Winner North Dakota St. NDS 7-2 , 5-1
17
Western Ill. WIU 0-9 , 0-6
Winner
North Dakota St. NDS
7-2 , 5-1
56
Final
17
Western Ill. WIU
0-9 , 0-6
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
NDS North Dakota St. 14 14 21 7 56
WIU Western Ill. 0 10 0 7 17

Game Recap: Football | | WIU Athletic Communications

Western Illinois drops contest to NDSU

Leathernecks run for 133 in defeat to Bison

The Western Illinois football team fell to 0-9 overall this season and 0-6 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, losing to North Dakota State 56-17 at Hanson Field in Macomb on Saturday.
 
Despite the score, the Leathernecks were able to take away plenty of quality performances from the game, especially from the offensive line. The unit helped the Western Illinois ground game pound out 133 yards on 34 carries.
 
"The offensive line played great today, we ran for 133 yards on North Dakota State, but even more impressive, we did not give up a sack," WIU coach Myers Hendrickson said. "We knew they would pin their ears back, but we did throw it well, we ran well, did a good job on play-action.
"Our offensive line did an incredible job protecting and we ran the ball well."
 
NDSU took a 7-0 lead on their first offensive possession, then expanded the advantage to 14-0 after a quarter. But the Leathernecks would not go away, getting a 40-yard Mason Laramie field goal. After the Bison answered with a pair of touchdowns, WIU went into the break on a high as Clay Bruno connected with Jafar Armstrong on a 14-yard touchdown pass with :51 to go before half.
 
"I thought we really finished the first half well, we played a good second quarter after our backs were against the wall after the first quarter down 14-0," Hendrickson said. "We came back and scored 10 in the second, we got a long field goal at the beginning of the second quarter then executed a two-minute drive, going down the field.

"It was a great play, Clay and Jafar executed at the end, a fake spike and a fade, it's something we work on every week in the two minute so it was great to see the players put it into action and execute."
 
The scoring reception was the first of two for Armstrong on the day as he added a 58-yard catch and run from Bruno in the fourth quarter. For the game, Armstrong finished with three catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
 
"My performance, there were some good plays but I had a penalty the first drive that kind of killed us, I'm a sixth-year senior, I pride myself on not making those mistakes," Armstrong said. "I had a couple good catches, I try to make runs after the catches, I always want to make plays when the ball comes to me.

"We'll watch film, we did some good things against a great team, a great defense. There are some things to work on with two games left, we have to keep pounding the rock."
 
Bruno would go 21-36 for 188 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Bruno was WIU's leading rusher, finishing with 42 yards on nine carries. Ludovick Choquette added 38 yards on nine carries. True freshman Seth Glatz had a career-high in carries and yards, gaining 33 yards on five totes.
 
"We ran the ball well, we played great up front, our offensive line is playing well together," Hendrickson said. "We've played a lot of people there, it's been a next man up mentality but they have all the confidence in the world they'll get it done.

"North Dakota State has one of the best front sevens you'll see in college football and we were able to do it against them, we did a lot of good things against their defense."
 
Armstrong finished with 85 yards, two touchdowns on three receptions while Naseim Brantley had eight catches for 68 yards. Jaylin Jackson chipped in with 6 catches for 26 yards.
 
On the defensive side, Bradyn Smith had a career-high in tackles, finishing the day with eight. Sam Cook added seven, including a tackle for loss while Bryce Cross had six tackles. Tre Henry added five tackles, two being tackles for loss while Chase Graham had five tackles, two for loss and an interception.
 
The Leathernecks return to action next Saturday, hosting Indiana State in the regular season home finale. The game kicks off at 1 p.m.
 
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