The fans and the Dixie State University football team left Hansen Stadium Saturday night with nothing but school spirit as the Storm defeated Humboldt State University for Homecoming Weekend.
The Storm started strong Saturday night with a quick touchdown in the first two minutes by senior quarterback Griff Robles to lead 7-0.
Maintaining that momentum in the first quarter, freshman defensive back DeShawn Perkins intercepted the ball on HSU’s 40-yard line with 5:41 left on the clock. Humboldt didn’t let that move slide as it quickly answered back with a touchdown with nine seconds left in the first quarter. A field goal for the Jacks was quickly followed in the next set of drives, giving HSU the lead of 10-7.
The back-and-forth battle continued as Robles ran for a Dixie touchdown just before the second quarter ended, leaving the score 14-10 in the half.
“When we were down, I think it kind of lit a fire in everybody,” said defensive tackle Sean Gibson, a senior communication major from Herriman. “It fueled us to come back, and I know for a fact that made it personal for the defense, and we weren’t going to allow any more points.”
Dixie scored two more touchdowns to win the game 28-19. Robles accounted for 484 yards of total offense and became the first Dixie player since 2007 to rush for more than 200 yards in a single game.
“It was a great battle, and our defense held strong,” Gibson said. “Everybody was doing what needed to be [done]. [The] offense came out and showed what we could do early and kept fighting through the game non-stop.”
He said it was an overall great team effort and a great battle for Dixie altogether.
DSU will now take this win and start preparing for Simon Fraser University.
“[We are preparing for SFU] by doing what we are doing every day and staying focused in practice,” said Perkins, an integrated studies major from West Jordan. “We are going to focus on the little things like paying attention to detail, film sessions [and] doing extra work.”
Perkins said he thinks that is what is going to make the biggest difference next week.
The Storm will play Saturday against SFU at 3 p.m. in Burnaby, British Columbia.
