The University of North Dakota football team’s first Missouri Valley Football Conference game was one to remember as the Fighting Hawks (1-0 overall, 1-0 MVFC) defeated No. 24-ranked Southern Illinois University 44-21 Saturday afternoon in the Alerus Center. Quarterback Tommy Schuster, in his first career start, threw three touchdown passes while completing 15 of his 25 passes for 118 yards. Brett Finke, Dalton Gee and Bo Belquist caught touchdown passes, while Otis Weah and Luke Skokna had rushing TDs. On  defense, Evan Holm and Sammy Fort had interceptions and linebacker Devon Krzanowski returned a fumble 36 yards for a touchdown. Kicker Adam Stage had a 27-yard field goal and six PATs. SIU’s Romeier Elliott and Javon Williams Jr. each had 1-yard TD runs, while Justin Strong caught an 8-yard TD pass from Kare Lyles. The game was also SIU’s first of the season. North Dakota returns to action Saturday when it hosts South Dakota State University. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)