Photo courtesy of Beth Belquist

Photo courtesy of Beth Belquist

The No. 7 North Dakota football team got back in the win column on Saturday, and received another worthy showing from its former Lake Region players. The Fighting Hawks, now 5-2 on the season, won 31-7 over Northern Iowa in Grand Forks.

Jack Kuntz, a fifth-year offensive lineman from Devils Lake, was named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Monday. He helped Simon Romfo and the offense total 386 yards (267 rushing, 119 passing). UND also had more plays with the ball than Northern Iowa, 75 to 44.

UND’s press release noted that Kuntz had a 92% grade with four knockdowns and no pressures or sacks allowed.

Kuntz debuted for UND back in 2020. This is the second straight season in which he’s been a consistent fixture on the offensive line. His 6-foot-4, 320-pound frame makes him a massive presence for opposing teams to contend with.

While Four Winds was playing its first ever home playoff football game on Saturday, former Indian Deng Deng was making some history of his own. The true freshman appeared in a game for just the second time this season. It went a little differently this time, though, as Deng recorded his first two career receptions.

His first came in the second quarter, on a short pass from Romfo for a gain of two yards. The game was still close at that time, with the Hawks leading 7-0. Northern Iowa went on to tie it at 7-7.

But with UND leading 31-7 in the fourth quarter, Deng got back in there and made a 12-yard reception on a pass from backup quarterback Jerry Kaminski. Deng was taken down just a yard short of a first down in a second-and-13 situation. UND picked up the first down on the next play.

Romfo’s twin brother, Grant, had a pair of rushes for six total yards on that final drive before time expired.

Simon went 14-for-24 overall in passing for 107 yards. The Romfos were, of course, stars for Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich in the late 2010s and 2020. Each of them is now in his junior season for UND.

New Rockford native Bo Belquist, meanwhile, had six receptions for 72 yards. Belquist is averaging 82.79 receiving yards per game this season. Like Kuntz, he’s in his fifth year with the team.

The Hawks now have back-to-back road games before returning to Grand Forks on Nov. 9. They have five total games left in the regular season.

As a reminder, Deng can still redshirt this season as long as he doesn’t appear in more than three games. As of now, he’s appeared in two.