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A tale of two halves
 Media Credit: charles martin SCSU sophomore wide receiver Jason Koch is brought down by USD junior linebacker Josh Gassen after a five-yard reception. It was Koch�s only catch of the day, but many other Husky receivers enjoyed fruitful days against the South Dakota defense, namely Ben Nelson.
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By watching how the South Dakota Coyotes defended the SCSU passing attack on Saturday, one might think they had never heard of Ben Nelson.
After what he did to them, they won't likely forget. Nelson caught seven passes for 123 yards and four more touchdowns from quarterback Keith Heckendorf, three in the first half, on the way to a 36-15 blasting of the Coyotes. The Huskies moved to 3-0 for the first time under Randy Hedberg, and for the first time since 1995.
Heckendorf threw for 260 yards and five TD's in total, the other one being to tight end Matt Huebner, and became SCSU's all-time leader in touchdown passes in only his junior season. He had the luxury of seeing Nelson single-covered most of the day, an oddity considering Nelson's production of late. The Huskies lined Nelson up all over the field and capitalized when they had the one-on-one advantage.
"We were thinking we were going to get a lot of three-deep, three-under coverage," Heckendorf said. "When you play that coverage, out on the corners, it's almost isolated. They just don't want to get beat deep. They've got safety help, but the safety didn't get over and help out on that. We weren't surprised at what they did, we just made plays when we had to."
The Huskies defense had some problems in the first half, which led to all three South Dakota scores. Coyote wide receiver Chris Mikkelsen caught a short pass on a crossing route and was able to get by the SCSU secondary for a 50-yard touchdown, just three plays after the Huskies first score. Nine minutes later, SCSU cornerback Eric Mickelson was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, which was followed by a two-yard touchdown scamper by USD running back Davon Hudspeth. The Huskies were able to battle back however, and blocked both point-after attempts. The Huskies were later victimized by a 55-yard completion from Justice to wideout Matt Taylor, which led to a field goal.
"It was d�j� vu from last weekend," said Husky linebacker Shane Rohman, who keyed the defense with nine tackles and two interceptions. "We came out flat for some reason, but the important thing is that we didn't stay flat. We came out in the second half, picked it up and won it."
The second half was about defense as much as the first featured offense. The Huskies pitched a latter-half shutout, intercepting Justice three times, and showed South Dakota coach John Austin that it may have been better to start freshman Sean McLaughlin, as the Huskies had expected.
SCSU's focus shifted to ball control in the third quarter, and despite some running troubles they compiled an impressive statistic: four rushers with 40 yards each. Josh Williams and Brian Olson ran well, gaining 97 yards between them and redshirt freshman Matt Birkel got 10 touches in the half. Heckendorf also had a good day on the ground, picking up 45 yards.
"They made some good plays in the second half," said Huskies' junior center Andy Kaczor, "they got us down using slanting and blitzing and things like that, but I think we did okay."
The Coyotes were forced to all but abandon the run after they fell behind 29-15 early in the third quarter. They passed 25 times and rushed only five after halftime. Defensive backs Anthony McCoo and Chad Kruckman each picked off a pass in the fourth quarter, and Rohman got his second with 3:39 left to seal the game for SCSU.
Nelson's four touchdowns give him nine on the season and 27 for his career, one short of the SCSU record. Heckendorf's career record for passing TD's now stands at 48, and will grow every time he throws one. The dynamic duo cares not for stats, though, as Heckendorf maintained.
"As long as this team keeps getting W's," he said. "To be honest, Ben and I really haven't thought about it. There's no better feeling than winning. We've got a special team this year. And if we take it one game at a time, good things will happen."
That has become something of a mantra for this Husky football team: improvement can only come through dedication and hard work. The more they win, the more they buy into the Hedberg system, and he has the Huskies feeling like there is improvement coming every day.
"We definitely want to be a team that can run and throw the ball," Kaczor said. "So far this season, we've been able to do a little bit of both in every game. We're happy with that and we're going to continue to work on getting better."
Following every Husky victory, the team huddles in its locker room or appointed gathering area, and belts out their victory song. Those who have been listening can tell that like their play, the team's singing has been getting better with practice.
"We've sung it more times this year pretty much more than we did the past two years," Rohman said. "We're starting to know the words, it's getting better."
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