Gameday Notebook: Bison DE Roques ready to scratch and claw for chance to hoist Dakota marker – InForum

FARGO – North Dakota State defensive end Loshiaka Roques has been with the Bison program since 2020 and has not had the opportunity to lift a 75-pound rock this Saturday night at the Fargodome.

“I have never touched the marker in my time at NDSU,” said Roques, of Maple Grove, Minnesota. “This game means a lot to me. “I'll do everything I can, I'll give everything to win and I'm sure all the boys will do the same.”

South Dakota State has won the last four Dakota Marker Trophy games, equaling 10-10 in Marker games since teams began playing for the traveling trophy in 2004. The long-running series began in 1903.

The No. 2-ranked Bison host No. 1-ranked SDSU at Gate City Bank Field on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a Missouri Valley Football Conference game that will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

The 1.90 meter tall, 110 kilogram Roques could play a larger role in the Bison defense after starting as a senior defensive end Dylan Hendricks injured his knee last weekend in Southern Illinois. Hendricks may be done for the season.

“I just have to be more of a vocal leader,” said Roques, who has started all seven games this season. “I have to continue to educate other players, continue to push young players to develop and grow.”

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Hendricks had 14 tackles, including two sacks, in seven games before his knee injury. Roques also has 14 tackles with two sacks.

“It’s definitely hard,” Roques said. “Honestly, that's my brother.” It definitely hurt a lot. I know he wants us to keep going and keep doing better.”

Bison in their second year Toby Anene should start in place of Hendricks against the Jackrabbits. The 1.80 meter tall, 110 kilogram Anene has one sack in seven games.

“He has to improve and he knows it,” Roques said. “He needs to play a bigger role. He played extremely well, but we need him to play much better.”

Second semester Kole Menz and Junior Hunter Zenzen are also in the defensive end rotation.

Bison head coach Tim Polasek He believes it will take a concerted effort to replace a veteran like Hendricks.

“We need everyone to get one or two percent better,” Polasek said. “There is no going back.”

David Samson/The Forum

Bison quarterback Cam Miller had completed 77% of his passes for 1,504 yards and 12 touchdowns with no interceptions prior to the Dakota Marker game.

SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers is impressed by the Bison senior's game.

“Cam Miller has improved a lot in a lot of ways and is very efficient right now,” Rogers said.

Rogers said the Jackrabbits need to find ways to put pressure on Miller.

“We have to put pressure on the quarterback, we have to build him up from a four-man rush and we have to change our look,” Rogers said. “He has top-notch processing skills.”

In his last five games against SDSU, Miller averaged 15 of 24 passes for 204 yards with 1.6 touchdowns and 1.2 interceptions per game.

NDSU has a record of 63-47-5 in the all-time series heading into the 116th meeting between the two teams. However, the Jackrabbits won the previous two games at the Fargodome as part of their five-game winning streak against the Bison. “We have a lot of players who haven't lost to this team yet, but they could very well beat us if we don't come out and play our best football,” Rogers said. “Our team knows that, they know how good.” That’s them against NDSU in Brookings. … NDSU's last win against the Jackrabbits was a 23-16 road win at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during middle linebacker season Luke Weerts and kicker Griffin Crosa are the only two current Bison players to have played in this game. Crosa hit a 22-yard field goal in that game and was 2-2 on extra points. … SDSU enters the Dakota Marker game on a 19-game conference winning streak, tied with NDSU for the most consecutive wins in MVFC play. NDSU won 19 straight league games from 2017 to 2020-2021. The Bison also had 18 straight conference wins from 2012-14. … This is the Bison's first Saturday night home game since the 2016 FCS Kickoff against Charleston Southern on ESPN. … NDSU (9) and SDSU (2) have combined for 11 of the last 13 FCS national championships.

Peterson covers college athletics for The Forum, including Concordia College and Minnesota State Moorhead. He also covers the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks independent baseball team and helps with North Dakota State football coverage. Peterson has worked for the newspaper since 1996.