Sawyer Seidl’s career game highlights UND’s three-headed attack – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS — UND starter Sawyer Seidl was in the game late in the first half as the Fighting Hawks fell behind San Diego 14-3 at the Alerus Center.

“Coach called me, so I knew I had to do something,” he said, “we just came out slower than we wanted.”

Seidl had a 70-yard touchdown run to energize UND (3-1) after a slow first half and lift the Hawks to a 41-24 victory over San Diego.

“Coach had been telling me all week to chase the target point,” he said. “That’s what I did, and then all I saw was grass.”

Seidl finished with a career-high 123 yards rushing and returned two kickoffs for 61 yards. His 9.5 yards per carry was Seidl’s highest average in his short UND career.

“You can’t really get him off balance,” UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. “I’m just telling you. Come and see him in practice. He’s having a great time. I love him, the way he plays. He’ll play recklessly, he’ll play hard. You can coach him hard and he’ll respond. He’s really fun to coach. He’s got a lot of good qualities.”

Seidl’s 123-yard game is the third-most rushing yards for UND since senior Isaiah Smith had 153 at Murray State last November. Junior Gaven Ziebarth ran for 156 yards against North Dakota State last October.

The three make up UND’s three-headed running attack this season, a trio that alternates touches throughout the game, which changes depending on what offensive coordinator Isaac Fruechte and running backs coach Donnell Kirkwood see at halftime.

But the offense was perfectly balanced Saturday. All three defenders had 13 carries and scored. Smith finished with 77 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run.

Ziebarth ran for 57 yards and scored from the 1-yard line in the third quarter on a 38-yard pass from Simon Romfo to Nate DeMontagnac.

“We’re making more tackles — running through the smoke, as we call it,” Schweigert said, “and that really helped us in this football game, moving the chains at the end of the game.”

UND’s 46 carries for 267 yards are the Hawks’ most since their last game against a Pioneer League opponent: the 2023 season opener against Drake, when the Hawks racked up 288 yards.

Schweigert likes UND’s running game — but he admitted the coaching staff still wants to see more of that aspect of the game as the Hawks play Murray State in the Missouri Valley Football Conference next week.

“If you have fresh legs, that’s huge in the fourth quarter,” Schweigert said. “I really believe that when the defense starts to get tired and your running backs are fresh, that really makes a huge difference.”