28-POINT 3RD QUARTER LEADS ST. CLOUD STATE PAST UMC FOOTBALL

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Football team trailed just 10-0 at halftime before St. Cloud State scored 28 points in the third quarter to pull away in a 38-0 win in an NSIC game played at Husky Stadium.

St. Cloud State started its opening drive at their 31-yard line gaining a first down before the Huskies stalled at their 43-yard line after a sack by Austin Steele (R-Soph., La Crosse, WI). Following the SCSU punt, Minnesota Crookston’s offense took the field on their 19-yard line. The Golden Eagles’ offense went three-and-out with the Huskies’ James Smith (Sr. Oak Creek, WI) returning the punt 21-yards to the UMC 41-yard line. Dwayne Lawhorn (Sr., Germantown, WI) hit Tanner Teige (Jr., Big Lake) in stride along the sideline as the receiver ran 31-yards downfield to the UMC 8-yard line. Three plays later, Dwayne Lawhorn kept the football on a read-option scampering untouched into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown run giving St. Cloud State a 7-0 lead after the extra-point by Adam Stage (Jr., Appleton, WI).

Minnesota Crookston looked poised to answer the Huskies’ opening score with Tristan Robbins (Soph., Muskegon, MI) taking over at quarterback. Robbins started his first drive at quarterback with a 5-yard quick pass to Nathan Coy (R-Soph., Sun Prairie, WI) to the UMC 37-yard line. After a personal foul for illegal hands to the face moved Minnesota Crookston forward to their 48-yard line, Tristan Robbins ran with the football for 13 yards to the SCSU 39-yard line. Facing a second down and eight, Tristan Robbins completed a swing pass to Wyatt Shedrick III (R-Fr., Scottsdale, AZ) who ran for 12-yards to the SCSU 25-yard line. The Golden Eagles drive stalled after a sack as UMC was forced to settle for a 44-yard field goal that Jared McLemore (Soph., Lucas, TX) missed wide left keeping Minnesota Crookston scoreless after one-quarter of play.

Early in the second quarter Minnesota Crookston fumbled at their 28-yard line as St. Cloud State took possession of the ball deep in UMC territory after the recovery by Louis Williams (Jr., Milwaukee, WI). After a ten-yard completion moved the ball to the UMC 18-yard line, a penalty, incompletion, and 5-yard run forced St. Cloud State to settle for a 30-yard field goal that Adam Stage put through the uprights giving the Huskies a 10-0 lead with 11:54 to play in the first half. 

Just before halftime, St. Cloud State started their drive at the Minnesota Crookston 27-yard  line followed by a 26-yard punt out the Golden Eagles’ end zone. Dwayne Lawhorn hit John Solberg (Sr., Cambridge) for a 2-yard completion before Trevor Long Jr. (R-Sr., Brooklyn Park) dropped Lawhorn for a sack forcing the Huskies to settle for a 46-yard field that was missed wide right keeping St. Cloud State’s lead at 10-0 at halftime. “I was pleased with our first-half,” noted Minnesota Crookston head coach Mark Dufner. “I told the guys we didn’t come here for a moral victory, though. The guys worked hard and were extremely focused at the beginning of the game, and I could see that. There was good energy going into the game, and that’s how we played in the first half.”

Minnesota Crookston’s third-quarter started ominously. A kick-off out of bounds set St. Cloud State up at their own 35-yard line. Joe Blando (Soph., Oak Creek, WI) started the drive with a 14-yard rush to the 49-yard line. Facing 3rd down and eleven, Lawhorn was flushed out of the pocket and ran to his right finding open room and carrying the ball for eleven yards and a first down to the UMC 41-yard line. Later in the drive, facing 4th down and 2 at the UMC 22, Lawhorn lobbed a pass to Tanner Teige who hauled it in at the UMC 2-yard line. On the next play, Joe Blando punched it in with a run behind his offensive line giving St. Cloud State a 17-0 lead after the PAT by Stage. 

After a Minnesota Crookston three-and-out, SCSU took over at their own 48-yard line. Three plays later John Solberg hauled in a 45-yard diving catch down the Golden Eagles’ two-yard line. Curtwan Evans (Sr., Bloomingdale, IL) finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run putting SCSU ahead 24-0 following an extra-point. 

Minnesota Crookston’s next drive furthered the damage with a dropped snap on the punt following another three-and-out allowing the Huskies to force a turnover on downs at the UMC 4-yard line. Paris Howell (Soph., Brookfield, WI) capitalized on the good field position running in from the four-yard line boosting the hosts’ advantage to 31-0 following the extra-point. “It was more us not being cued in,” noted Dufner after his team’s struggles in the third quarter. “We just shot ourselves in the foot.”

Howell scored the game’s final touchdown on St. Cloud State’s next possession with a 15-yard run on third down and two putting the Huskies up 38-0. St. Cloud State finished the third quarter with nine first downs and 202 yards on 25 plays. Minnesota Crookston failed to pick up a first down during the 15 minutes of play with -9 yards of total offense on 13 plays. “The wheels kind of fell off there,” explained Dufner. “We had some critical errors. Especially the special teams, you know (St. Cloud State) is a good solid team and they’re going to take advantage of it, so hats off to St. Cloud State. We’ve talked about handling adversity, being composed and refocusing and we’ve got to keep working on that. We’ve got to just flush the previous play and move on to the next play. Don’t worry about the scoreboard, just win the rep every play.”

With St. Cloud State’s back-ups in the entire fourth quarter, the Huskies were more than content to let the clock run out on their 38-0 win. “The guys battled here until the end,” summarized Dufner. “I know they had some of their younger guys in the end, but they didn’t get in the end zone late. There will be some positives. It’s just part of the learning process.”

Minnesota Crookston falls to 0-2. The Golden Eagles will host Bemidji State on Saturday at Noon with the Riverview Health Pregame Show starting at 11:20 A.M. on KROX. St. Cloud State improves to 2-0.

1st Quarter-
8:06 – SCSU – Dwayne Lawhorn 2 yard run (Adam Stage kick)

2nd Quarter-
11:54 – SCSU – Adam Sage 30 yard field goal

3rd Quarter –
10:49 – SCSU – Joe Blando 2 yard run (Adam Stage kick)
6:58 – SCSU – Curtwan Evans 2 yard run (Adam Stage kick)
5:32 – SCSU – Paris Howell 4 yard run (Adam Stage kick)
2:46 – SCSU – Paris Howell 15 yard run (Adam Stage kick)

4th Quarter –
None