DULUTH, Minn. -- It went down to the wire between No. 2 Minnesota State and No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth Saturday evening in Malosky Stadium, but it would be the Mavericks that would hold their ground as they came away with the 21-17 win.
In front of the fourth largest home crowd in Minnesota-Duluth's history (5,723), the Mavericks won their third straight game behind some solid defense down the stretch, including a crucial red zone stand during the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
With 6:04 left in the game, the Bulldogs took over on their own 48-yard line trailing the Mavericks 21-17. Duluth moved down the field and eventually got to a first and goal on the Mankato five-yard line.
A series of runs and a false start pushed the Bulldogs back to the Mankato 16-yard line. Duluth then threw a pass that appeared to give the Bulldogs the go-ahead touchdown, but a holding penalty negated the touchdown and pushed the Bulldogs back to the Mankato 26-yard line. The Mavericks then took over possession after a pair of incomplete passes to close out the game with a 21-17 win.
Trailing 10-0 early in the second frame, Mankato rallied with an eight-play, 73-yard drive that was capped off by a seven yard touchdown pass to Kyle Riggot to pull Mankato within three at 10-7.
The Mavericks kept their momentum rolling late in the second as it put together another long drive, this time with Jon Wolf running it in for the score to give the Mavericks a 14-10 lead heading into the locker room.
Duluth retook the lead with 8:51 left in the third quarter as Bauer connected with Zach Zweifel with a 23 yard touchdown pass to take a 17-14 lead. The Mavericks responded with 1:59 left in the third as Wolf connected with Carter on a 34-yard touchdown pass to put the Mavericks ahead for good at 21-17.
The Mavericks return home Saturday for homecoming as they host Northern State.
St. Cloud State 34
Concordia-St. Paul 3
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Cloud State is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2007 season after defeating Concordia-St. Paul 34-3 Saturday night.
The Huskies rolled up 437 yards of total offense, including 243 in the air and held the Golden Bears to 206 yards of offense and 85 on the ground. St. Cloud State scored on five of six first half drives and led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and took a 31-0 shutout into halftime.
St. Cloud State quarterback Phillip Klaphake threw for two touchdowns, completing 20-of-31 passes for 243 yards. He finished with 40 rushing yards.
Concordia-St. Paul running back Tre Spears rushed 20 times for 60 yards and Jared Russo completed 11-of-22 passes for 121 yards.
University of Mary 17
Sioux Falls 10
BISMARCK, N.D. -- Vince Ferrante scored the winning touchdown with 4:41 left in the game as the University of Mary defeated the University of Sioux Falls.
The Marauders and Cougars last played each other in 2002 with Sioux Falls claiming a playoff victory in the second round of the NAIA playoffs. It was the fifth time Mary had played USF in the national tournament.
Now with both teams facing each other as Northern Sun foes and members of the NCAA for the first time, the Marauders snapped a four game losing streak against the Cougars.
Craig Bagnell passed for 323 yards and the Marauders held the ball for over 35 minutes. Defensively Mary, limited Sioux Falls to 313 total yards and forced three turnovers in the game.
Winona State 65
Minnesota State-Moorhead 21
WINONA, Minn. -- Quarterback Jack Nelson threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns as Winona State rolled up 639 total yards in a 65-21 victory over Minnesota State-Moorhead Saturday in Verizon Wireless Stadium.
The Warriors broke open a close game in the third quarter, scoring the final 41 points of the contest to cruise to the victory.
Nelson was strong in his second career start, completing 19-of-27 passes for 322 yards and four scores. His 322 yards on the game are good for the 21st-best total in school history.
Winona State also had success on the ground, rushing for 292 yards as a team. Chichi Ojika posted his first career 100-yard game, gaining 125 yards on just 16 carries while scoring a touchdown. Paul Preston added 83 yards on 12 attempts while Jordan Kos scored four times while gaining 35 yards on the ground.
Augustana College 24
Bemidji State 0
SIOUX FALLS -- Augustana bounced back from a week two loss in a big way shutting out Bemidji State 24-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings held the Beavers to just 94 yards of total offense in the first half and 208 for the game.
The shutout for Augustana is the first since the Vikings defeated Minnesota-Crookston 61-0 last season. The Vikings have shutout Bemidji State twice in the last three meetings, the last coming in a 10-0 win on Sept. 11, 2010 in Bemidji, Minn.
Augustana accounted for 265 yards of total offense in the game, including 106 rushing yards and 159 passing yards. Dajon Newell led the Vikings on the ground with 50 rushing yards on 12 attempts. CJ Ham rushed for 33 yards while Trey Heid accounted for 25 yards on the ground.
Heid finished the game 15-of-28 through the air with two touchdowns, despite being sacked five times in the game.
Wayne State College 41
Minnesota-Crookston 25
CROOKSTON, Minn. -- Zach Osborn accounted for four touchdowns as Wayne State racked up 459 yards of total offense in a 41-25 NSIC victory over Minnesota-Crookston.
Wayne State finished the game with 459 yards compared to 374 for UMC. The Wildcats had 207 yards on the ground and 252 through the air. Wayne had four turnovers in the game, while Crookston had three.
Wayne State running back Charlie Davidson ran for 172 yards on 26 carries and two scores. Osborn completed 10-of-19 passes for 249 yards and three scores while also rushing for a fourth touchdown. Crookston's QB Kyle Larson threw for a season-high 258 yards and receiver Justin Tago Su'e finished with eight catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Nebraska 59
South Dakota 20
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Tommy Armstrong Jr. and Ron Kellogg III combined to pass for 305 yards, Ameer Abdullah ran for a career-high 139 yards and Nebraska shook off South Dakota State in the second quarter in a 59-20 victory Saturday.
Armstrong got the start in place of the injured Taylor Martinez, but playing time was evenly split between the redshirt freshman and Kellogg.
Nebraska (3-1), which finished with 645 yards, scored 38 straight points after falling behind 17-14 in the first quarter against the Championship Subdivision Jackrabbits (3-1).
Martinez didn't practice this week because of a turf-toe injury on his left foot and was in shorts and a T-shirt on the sideline. He had started 32 straight games since 2010.
The victory will do little to quell concern over Nebraska's defense. SDSU's Zach Zenner ran for 202 yards, tied for 10th-most by a Nebraska opponent, and the Jackrabbits finished with 465 total yards.
North Dakota State 51
Delaware State 0
FARGO, N.D. -- Brock Jensen threw three touchdowns on 138 yards passing as North Dakota State rolled over Delaware State for a 51-0 win on Saturday.
The Bison (3-0) did not disappoint with the ESPN College GameDay crew in town, as the two-time defending FCS champions improved to 31-2 since the start of the 2011 season with the win over the Hornets (0-3). The victory made coach Craig Bohl the all-time leader in wins at North Dakota State, improving to 92-32 during his tenure.
All of Jensen's work came in the first half, as he was replaced after the Bison built a 41-0 second-quarter lead.
North Dakota State racked up 548 yards of total offense compared with 189 for Delaware State. The Bison rushed for 305 yards as a team, led by 85 yards rushing from John Crockett.
North Dakota State held Delaware State to 34 yards rushing and 4-15 on third-down conversions.
Northern Arizona 22
South Dakota 16
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Zach Bouman ran for 151 yards, Kyren Poe passed for 154 yards and No. 22 Northern Arizona held off a late South Dakota rally to earn a 22-16 win in the Lumberjacks' home opener at Walkup Skydome. It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
The Coyotes earned 226 of their 284 yards of offense on their final three possessions. Miles Bergner's 24-yard field goal with 14:14 left in the game made it 19-3. A 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Josh Vander Maten made it 22-9 with 8:35 to go. Vander Maten's 6-yard strike to Nick Meyer made it a six-point game with 2:54 left.
USD's onside kick attempt at the 2:54 mark sailed out of bounds and Bouman salted the game away with five consecutive carries for 31 yards.
Valley City State 66
Trinity Bible College 6
VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- Derek Elliott had a hand in five TDs to power Valley City State to a 66-6 win over Trinity Bible on Saturday.
Elliott finished with 196 rushing yards on 21 carries. Ian Keller, Jamarcus Burks and Jake Schauer all had rushing TDs for the Vikings, who finished with 330 rushing yards and 537 yards of offense.
Braden Phillips went 5-for-14 and finished with 51 passing yards for TBC. He scored Trinity Bible College's lone TD on an eight-yard run in the second quarter.
The Lions next game is Saturday at Presentation College at Swisher Field.
Colorado Mines 62
Black Hills State 22
SPEARFISH -- Led by a 521-yard passing attack and eight touchdowns through the air, Colorado School of Mines posted a school-record 749 yards of total offense en route to a 62-22 victory over Black Hills State on Saturday afternoon.
Colorado Mines quarterback Matt Brown finished 31-of-40 for 380 yards and six touchdowns through the air, while adding 85 yards on six carries for 465 yards of total offense for the second-straight week. Brown's six touchdown passes set a new career high and places him in a tie for the second-most touchdown passes in a single game in Mines' history.
The offense ran through 101 plays en route to its 749 yards of total offense, which breaks the mark of 727 set in Mines' season-opening 72-6 victory over South Dakota Mines just two weeks ago.
Northwestern College 49
Dakota Wesleyan 42
ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- Northwestern College denied Dakota Wesleyan's upset bid on Saturday.
The Tigers, trailing 49-28 heading into the fourth quarter, scored 14 unanswered points and drove more than 70 yards in 49 seconds to get to the Red Raider 1-yard line. The final rush of the game by Francois Barnaud fell just short of the goal line, however, allowing the No. 21 Red Raiders to escape for a 49-42 win.
The two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of total offense in the shootout, and Dakota Wesleyan senior wide receiver Anthony Muilenburg set a new Dakota Wesleyan single-game record with 251 receiving yards.
Mayville State 61
Cole College 0
MAYVILLE, N.D. -- Mayville State used a 28 point second quarter to roll past Cole College 46-0 in football action on Saturday.
Keith Osgood finished with 102 yards rushing on 10 carries with two scores and threw for 56 yards and one touchdown for Mayville. He also added the one reception for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Taylor Kunkel led all receivers with six catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Lance Jackson also added four receptions for 34 yards.
Running back Jerril Jenkins finished with 82 yards on 20 carries as he helped the Comets grind out many of their 24 first downs in the game. Bradley followed with 55 yards off three carries and one score.