DICKINSON, N.D. - Dickinson State left no doubt as to which football team is in control of the Dakota Athletic Conference on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Hawks' defense held No. 13 Black Hills State scoreless for 59 minutes and 47 seconds, got big performances out of its special teams units and used their offense to control the clock.

With everything seemingly going its way, DSU got ahead early and walked out of Whitney Stadium with a 16-6 win - its fourth in a row - and sole possession of the DAC lead.

"We had a heck of a game," said DSU senior safety Ryley McPeters, who had two interceptions in the second half.

Something had to give as both teams entered the game unbeaten in the DAC and the Blue Hawks didn't let the pressure get the best of them.

DSU (4-3 overall, 4-0 DAC) took control of the game early and used a 13-0 halftime lead to force BHSU to try and spread the ball around the field to no little benefit.

"It gives everybody confidence," DSU coach Hank Biesiot said. "It opens up the whole tamale for everybody. It makes for a fun conference in October."

DSU's offense was steady despite missing a handful opportunities to blow the game open. Meanwhile, the Blue Hawks' defense came up with perhaps their biggest performance in the past three years.

Along with limiting Yellow Jacket sophomore running back Tanner Ehrlich to just 37 yards rushing on 15 carries, the Blue Hawks intercepted three passes by BHSU sophomore quarterback Drew Hodgs, who finished with 214 yards on 21-of-34 passing.

McPeters' pick in the end zone early in the third quarter ended the Yellow Jackets' 12-play drive at the 13-yard line.

"That was crucial to us because we hadn't been playing poorly but we weren't out of it by any means," BHSU coach John Scott said. "To not come away with something at the end of that drive, we kind of realized, 'uh oh' the clock is going to be against us now. It took a lot of wind out of our sails."

"Uh oh" indeed.

McPeters stepped up again on BHSU's next possession and returned a Hodgs pass to the 16-yard line to set up one of DSU kicker Brett Robertson's three field goals.

Robertson made a 25-yarder to cap a 14-play, 89-yard drive that ate up 6:33 in the first quarter, made a 34-yarder with 2 seconds left in the second quarter to give DSU a 13-0 halftime lead. He added a 23-yarder with 12:28 remaining in the fourth quarter after McPeters' second interception. Robertson's only miss was a 40-yarder at the end of the first quarter that just missed to the left of the goalpost.

"I was just hitting it good the whole day," Robertson said. "Unfortunately I missed one but I'm pretty sure those three helped a lot."