The Wolves exploded for a school-record 65 points - including 55 straight from the end of the first quarter to the first play of the fourth - en-route to a 65-17 road win over the University of Mary on Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football action.
The 65 points eclipsed the previous record of 64 points, set twice and most recently in a 2005 win over Minnesota-Crookston. The win pushes NSU to 5-4 overall and 4-1 in the NSIC North Division.
NSU fell behind early after two first quarter touchdown passes by Mary quarterback Craig Bagnell sandwiched around Felipe Alfaia's first of three made field goals made it 14-3 in favor of the Marauders.
"We handled adversity pretty well being down 14-3 on the road," Northern State coach Tom Dosch said.
Two straight touchdown passes from NSU sophomore Jared Jacobson to senior wideout Chris Morton on NSU's next two possessions gave the Wolves the lead for good. Mike Tuch picked off Bagnell moments later and returned it for an 18-yard touchdown.
"Mike Tuch's interception was a huge play in the game," Dosch said. "We had some momentum and we had the pick-six there and we got rolling after that."
Alfaia drilled two more field goals and junior tailback John Hughes ran the ball in from 13 yards out as part of a 24-point NSU second quarter that gave the Wolves a 34-14 lead at halftime.
"We talked about at halftime about handling success," Dosch said. "We handled adversity and handled success pretty well today."
Morton caught his third touchdown pass of the day while Hughes tallied his second rushing TD in the third quarter. Redshirt freshman Cameron Pudwill scored from one yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter and the Wolves were up 58-14.
The Wolves tacked on one more score on a 79-yard Terrelle Walker run that pushed it to a 65-17 final. Jacobson led a potent NSU offensive attack with a career-high 26 completions for 422 yards and three touchdowns, all to Morton, who finished with six catches for 148 yards. Mark Hanley caught ten passes for 140 yards, both new career highs for the senior. Jordan Piatz also had a career day with eight catches for an even 100 yards.
"Those guys made some big catches," Dosch said. "Jared zipped it in and that is a good trio of guys to throw it to."
Walker's 79-yard ramble at the end of the game gave him 86 total yards on the day to lead the Wolves' rushing attack. Hughes finished with 63 yards and two touchdowns, while Pudwill had eight carries for 42 yards. All told, the Wolves put up 635 yards of total offense, nearly double their season average.
"It was good to see us respond the way we did," Dosch said. "Good thing to see your kids respond in a positive way."
Defensively, the Wolves picked off Bagnell four times, all of which led to NSU scoring opportunities, including Tuch's pick-six in the second quarter. Sophomore Paul Woodward had two interceptions, giving him three on the season. Logan Dosch also snagged his fourth of the season.
Freshman Dakota Odermann and redshirt freshman Blaine Schmidt had seven tackles apiece to lead the NSU defense, which held the Marauders to just 84 yards on the ground.
The win gives NSU five wins on the season, matching the team's win total from 2011 with two games left on the 2012 schedule. The Wolves will host Minnesota-Crookston at 1 p.m. at Swisher Field on Saturday. It will also be the final home game for the NSU seniors.
"We want to send them out the right way," coach Dosch said.
Northern State (5-4, 4-1 NSIC) 10 27 14 14-65
Mary (4-5, 1-4) 14 0 0 3-17
First Quarter
M - Elby Pope 71 pass from Craig Bagnell (Tyler Ryan kick), 10:04.
NSU - Felipe Alfaia 30 field goal, 6:14
M - Tyler Steffan 4 pass from Bagnell (Ryan kick), 5:12.
NSU - Chris Morton 17 pass from Jared Jacobson (Alfaia kick), :18.
Second Quarter
NSU - Morton 66 pass from Jacobson (Alfaia kick), 13:19.
NSU - Mike Tuch 18 interception return (Alfaia kick), 13:03.
NSU - Alfaia 42 field goal, 8:32.
NSU - John Hughes 13 run (Alfaia kick), 4:55.
NSU - Alfaia 25 field goal, :00.
Third Quarter
NSU - Morton 11 pass from Jacobson (Alfaia kick), 8:14.
NSU - Hughes 11 run (Alfaia kick), 6:51.
Fourth Quarter
NSU - Cameron Pudwill 1 run (Alfaia kick), 14:57.
M - Ryan 35 field goal, 2:42.
NSU - Terrelle Walker 79 run (Alfaia kick), 1:36.
UM NSU
First downs 16 28
Rushes-yards 23-84 39-213
Passing-yards 270 422
Comp-Att-Int 22-38-4 26-40-1
Total Net Yards 354 635
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 8-51 6-90
Punts-yards 6-32.5 3-42.7
Kickoffs-Ret Yds 7-141 2-55
Punt-Ret Yds 0-0 0-0
Third downs 4-13 6-15
Fourth downs 0-1 3-3
Red zone 2-2 7-8
PATs 2-2 8-8
Field goals 1-1 3-3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Northern State, Walker 6-88, Hughes 12-63, Pudwill 8-44, Jacobson 13-43; Mary, Adam Woroniecki 4-36, Evan Gross 8-37, Dariouse Gravely 9-19, Bagnell 2-4.
PASSING - Northern State, Jacobson 26-40-1-422; Mary, Bagnell 15-30-4-201, Zach Roberson 7-8-0-69.
RECEIVING - Northern State, Mark Hanley 10-140, Jordan Piatz 8-100, Morton 6-148, Tanner White 1-19, Ben Jastram 1-15; Mary, Pope 7-109, Bryan Sandy 4-44, Steffan 4-36, Jeremy Mayfield 3-33, Nick Jolliffe 2-16, Gravely 1-25, D.J. Young 1-7.
DEFENSE - Northern State, Dakota Odermann 7 tackles, Blaine Schmidt 7 tackles, Matt Anderson 6 tackles, Jordan Cole 6 tackles, Logan Fahnhorst 5 tackles 1 sack, Paul Woodward 3 tackles 2 interceptions, Logan Dosch 3 tackles 1 interception, Mike Tuch 1 interception; Mary, Andrew Richter 8 tackles, John Oyloe 8 tackles, Nicholas Giannosa 8 tackles.