With a challenging finish to the season looming, there was no margin for error Saturday for the Jimmies.
And they delivered.
Jamestown College took pretty good care of the ball and running back Lance Johansen ran wild again as the Jimmies beat Mayville State for a 28-12 homecoming victory at Rollie Greeno Field.
"We needed a win, so it's good when all the hard work we put in ends up with us winning," said Johansen, who gouged the Comets for 184 yards on just 12 carries. "We've had some games where we hurt ourselves with mistakes, but today we didn't do that and we played pretty well."
It wasn't all good news though for as JC senior quarterback Brad Lint was knocked out of the game with a broken collarbone and will be lost for the season.
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Still, it was much-needed win for the Jimmies, who snapped a 2-game losing streak ahead of a tough 3-game stretch with 18th-ranked Valley City State here on Saturday and road games at Dickinson State and No. 1 St. Xavier to wrap the season up.
"We've been in a little slump, so this was big," said senior outside linebacker Drew Baier, who notched two of the Jimmies' four sacks. "We've had a lot of games where a bounce here or a bounce there seems to go against us.
"We didn't play perfect today, but it was pretty good, and it was a win - that's what matters."
Lint was on his way to his best game of the season before being sacked in the third quarter and driven into the turf with his left shoulder taking the brunt of the blow.
In the first half, Lint and star receiver Max Boe hooked up for two touchdowns to stake the Jimmies (2-2 DAC, 3-4 overall) a 21-6 halftime lead.
"You feel terrible for Brad. He's worked hard and overcome a lot of stuff to get back on the field for us, but that's football," JC coach Bud Etzold. "We talk all the time about, 'next guy up.' It's happened a lot to us so we adjust and move forward with Tyler Notch, who is a great kid and a team-leader and we'll have him ready to play."
Jamestown College 28, Mayville State 12
Mayville State 0 6 0 6 - 12
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Jamestown College 7 14 7 0 - 28
Scoring summary
First quarter
JC-Max Boe 27 yard pass from Brad Lint (Ryan Benke kick), 8:19.
Second quarter
JC-Boe 62 pass from Lint (Benke kick), 8:59.
MSU-Dominique Bradley 21 run (kick failed), 4:53.
JC-Lance Johansen 6 run (Benke kick), 1:11.
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Third quarter
JC-Johansen 95 run (Benke kick), 1:06.
Fourth quarter
MSU-Rashad Flanders 54 fumble return (run failed), 1:29.
