Sept. 15, 2000

VERMILLION, S.D. - While they share the same last name and both exhibit extraordinary explosiveness from their respective spots on the field, Josh Stamer and Dusty Stamer, standouts on The University of South Dakota Coyote football team, make their impact felt in different ways. How the Stamers influence football games is as different as the two players are individually. They are not related. One is a freshman and the other a senior. Josh is a 6'3, 230 pounds linebacker while Dusty is barely 5'9 and 170 pounds and plays running back.

"Both Josh and Dusty have great speed from their respective positions," said Austin. "They both have the capacity to make big plays. Both have outgoing personalities and are neat people," said South Dakota head football coach John Austin.

After six games in the 2000 season, the Stamers have been difference makers as the Coyotes have opened 4-2, 2-2 in the North Central Conference, arguably the best NCAA Division II conference in the country.

Josh Stamer, an all-American candidate at linebacker from Sutherland, Iowa, has five quarterback sacks which is third in the North Central Conference. His five unassisted sacks lead the conference. He is also third in the NCC with 12 tackles for loss from his Sam linebacker position. He leads the Coyotes in tackles with 43. For his career, Stamer has 124 tackles, 27 tackles for loss (-115), 14.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions. His pressure from the outside is among the reasons that the Coyotes lead the NCC in turnover margin at 2.17 per game and are ranked second in the NCAA for all Division II schools. The Coyotes have an incredible +13 margin including 13 interceptions (only eight in all of 1999).

Stamer has been a dominating force on defense in the early parts of this 2000 season. The USD Defensive MVP in 1999 has already earned a pair of USD Defensive Player of the Week honors with several more likely to come. Very simply Stamer creates problems for the opposing teams. Time and time again, he has used his speed and strength to zoom past offensive tackles and he either sacks the quarterback or forces quick decisions. He has also run down several running backs, defended the pass and simply created havoc for offenses.

"Josh is a very talented athlete who has great explosiveness and he excels in the classroom,' said Austin of Stamer, a second team all-North Central Conference selection and academic all-NCC selection in 1999. "He is a big play maker on defense and one of our key contributors."

While Josh Stamer impacts the game on defense, true freshman Dusty Stamer has affected the Coyotes' offense.

A true freshman, Stamer, who played at Grand Island High School (Neb.), has broken several big plays for the Coyotes during the first half of the season. After his 123 yard rushing performance in South Dakota's 37-0 win over St. Cloud, Stamer has 403 yards on the season, which leaves him just 85 yards behind former Coyote standout Emmit Huston, who rushed for 488 yards as a freshman in 1978. Against St. Cloud, Stamer scored his fourth touchdown of the season, a 19-yard first quarter run and he had a 50-yard burst called back because of penalty. Stamer's season high is 139 yards on 14 carries vs. Truman State in the DakotaDome Sept. 16. In that game, he had an electrifying 79-yard touchdown run. Stamer is fifth in the NCC in rushing and seventh in all-purpose yards with 119.8 per game (599 total yards). He also has touchdown runs of 43 and six yards. Stamer, named a team offensive MVP against Truman State, also has a 52-yard pass reception, which very nearly went for a touchdown against the Bulldogs. It is the second longest pass reception for the Coyotes to date in the 2000 season. Not bad for a player who didn't expect to see much action this year. But, the younger Stamer, who like Josh Stamer has a positive, upbeat persona, knows his speed is the attribute that makes the difference for him being a contributor rather than just another running back that works hard.

"When I make longs runs it motivates me," he said. And it motivates his team even those on the defensive side. "Those runs can turn the momentum of a game and have this season," said Josh.

Still given the immediate success, Dusty Stamer knows that he must not take anything for granted. That he has learned from players like Josh Stamer. "This being my first year, I didn't know what to expect. I just try to do my best, learning from the experienced players on this team," said Stamer, the MVP of the Nebraska Shrine game and the 100 and 200-meter champ in the state of Nebraska last year.

"Dusty has given us a spark as a running back no doubt about it," said Austin. "He is learning day by day and getting better," said Austin.

For Josh, a basketball walk-on four years ago, experience has taught him that getting better day to day and week to week is the key for teams who taste success at the season's end. It is why he and his teammates committed to an offseason workout program that coach Austin knows has made a difference. Austin admires the work ethic that the elder Stamer exhibits. It is the type of example that encourages others on the squad to do likewise. "I don't talk a lot as I try to lead by example," said Stamer. "But when I do say something, like the other day in practice, my teammates listen." Obviously Stamer has become one of the best linebackers in the conference and in NCAA Division II because of experience and intelligence on the playing field. His initiative in the weight room is matched by his commitment to academics. It makes him a well-rounded individual. A recipient of numerous business scholarships and member of the Dean's List since he stepped onto the USD campus, Stamer has a 3.75 grade point average in accounting. He will graduate with a master's degree in public accounting in May 2001.

"Josh is well-respected and he has earned that respect," said Austin. "He is a complete student athlete in all facets."

Dusty Stamer acknowledges that he is learning and growing on and off the field. He takes nothing for granted. "I have to work hard and learn," said the younger Stamer. And part of his growth as a player and a person is to follow the example on and off the field set by his elder teammate with the same last name.

As proven by Josh and understood by Dusty, hard work has its just reward. It is a lesson anyone striving for success can learn from, no matter the name, the physical or mental makeup.