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Kittell slings JC a win

By MICHAEL LINNELL, Sports Editor mlinnell@minotdailynews.com

JAMESTOWN — Jamestown College junior Josh Kittell deflected much of the credit, instead sighting good play calling. Whatever the reason, solid plays or solid performance, Kittell's play at quarterback inspired the Jimmies' offense.

Kittell threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns, including one on his first pass on the first play in the second quarter, and rushed for another score as No. 11 Jamestown College defeated Minot State University 28-16 in non conference Dakota Athletic Conference football Saturday at Rollie Greeno Field.

“I don't know, I guess it was just good play calling from the coaches. I was put in a good spot to make a play,” Kittell said of his 38-yard strike to Zach Bolger on the first snap he had after replacing starter Tanner Kelting in the second quarter. “I didn't have to do much. They (MSU's defense) bit on the play action and all I had to do was lay it up.”

While Kittell was humble in his role in the win, MSU head coach Paul Rudolph was convinced who beat his Beavers.

“He made some great plays. Hats off to the Kittell kid,” Rudolph said. “He came in and made some plays, sometimes singlehandedly.”

Kittell's best individual effort turned the overall complexity of the game. Minot State took its first lead of 2007 on a Kory Anderson 15-yard fumble recovery late in the second half and had the Jimmie offense out of balance. Kittell, however, marched JC to the MSU 12 with less than a minute to play. On third-and-goal from the 12, Kittell looked to be sacked by MSU defensive back Tommy Weidler, but slipped the tackle and found a wide open Brandon Judy to give the Jimmies back the lead.

“It was an ugly drive and an ugly play,” JC head coach Tom Dosch said. “But Josh made a play when we needed it. I guess the bottom line is that you need to find the end zone.”

It was a little bit of deja-vu for the Beavers for both the third straight week and really, the second straight game in Jamestown. MSU moved the ball for much of the game, but had trouble in the red zone. MSU missed two field goals in the game and scored just one offensive touchdown.

“We have to convert opportunity into production,” Rudolph said.

The Beavers finished with a 343-274 total yards advantage and held the Jimmies to (minus-4) yards rushing in the game. But the intermediate passing from Kittell to a bevy of receivers hurt MSU all day.

“I thought we did a great job of controlling their running game — almost as good as you could ask,” Rudolph said. “But we couldn't stop the medium, crossing route. How many times are you going to get beat on the same play? My, goodness.”

The Beavers defense was sparked by junior defense end Chris Bowden, who finished with three sacks, two pass deflections, two tackles for a loss and was in on nearly a dozen tackles.

“He had a great game. He is a high energy guy and it is fun to let those guys loose,” Rudolph said of Bowden.

While MSU sputtered in the red zone, they also set up JC with costly turnovers. MSU quarterback Jon Meier had two of his three interceptions returned to inside the Beavers' 25 by Jon Rethemeier, the second setting up the final score, a Kittell 1-yard run.

“Jon is our most experienced linebacker. He has been playing for three years, but only is starter this year,” Dosch said. “He puts himself in good position and plays smart.”

MSU was also hurt by a solid return game by JC senior Jake Stoltz. Stoltz set up numerous drives with punt and kickoff returns. He also played a key roll on defense with an interception and on offense as he caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kittell in the third quarter. Stoltz went up and took the ball away from an MSU defender in the back of the end zone to grab the TD.

“No disrespect to Jake Stoltz, he is a heck of a player, but (JC) just flat out blocked us,” Rudolph said of the Jimmies' return game. “You can't give a player like him green to work with.

“We had a lot of little problems, actually. Some of defense, some on offense and some of special teams. We are going to have to grow up and make plays.”

Meier finished with 276 yards passing and a touchdown, a 13-yard strike to Julius Ceasar to pull MSU to within 21-16 with 7:23 remaining in the game. Ceasar and senior Josh Kringen caught five passes each as Kringen had 57 yards and Ceasar 54. Chauncey Hendershot caught three passes for 89 yards. Nick Banks carried the bulk of the load on the ground, finishing with 68 yards on 23 carries.

Kittell's favorite target was Bolger, who finished with eight catches for 102 yards. Marcus McCrary added 68 yards on seven catches for the Jimmies, who moved to 3-0 overall.

“We feel pretty good so far,” Kittell said. “We've played some good football and are confident on both sides of the ball.”

MSU (0-3 overall) finally has a home game as they play host to Black Hills State Saturday. The game will be the conference opener for both teams and is MSU's homecoming. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Herb Parker Stadium.

Notes: Both MSU kick Nik Levnaich and JC's kicker Bryan Loweree missed two field goals apiece. All for misses we on the north end of the field, with the wind at their backs. ... MSU's defensive back Nick Marshall just missed two interceptions, after picking off three in his first two games. ... MSU held two of JC rushers to negative yards, two with positive and one had one attempt with no yards. ... The two teams had 18 players combined to catch at least one pass.