Northern State pulled away from Minot State 31-17 to win its annual Gypsy Day game at Swisher Field. The Wolves are now 63-27-3 in Gypsy Day Games.
"It has been while since we had a win on Gypsy Days," NSU defensive end Ikee Sirleaf said. "It feels great and everybody put in a whole lot of effort. We just came out here and did our game plan and played real hard."
How long had it been?
The Wolves' last Gypsy Day win was in 2008 against Minnesota-Crookston. NSU's three-game Gypsy Day losing streak tied its longest streak in school history. The Wolves also lost three straight Gypsy Day games from 1927-29.
"I'm happy to get a win on Gypsy Day," Northern State coach Tom Dosch said.
And there were plenty of players that contributed to this Gypsy Day win. NSU quarterback Jared Jacobson completed 25-for-44 for a career-high 330 yards and threw four TDs. He completed passes to nine different receivers and also rushed for 67 yards.
"Week-by-week, we are finding better timing with our receivers," Jacobson said. "Things are starting to fall into place a little better. They had a good game plan coming out for our run game, so we had to do different things. Coming out throwing the ball was the way we that we got involved and got the ball moving for us today."
Jacobson threw two touchdown strikes in less than a two minute span in the first quarter as the Wolves jumped out to a 14-0 lead. On the Wolves' second drive, Jacobson threw a 23-yard TD reception to Jordan Piatz. The Wolves defense then forced a three and out. On the first play of their next drive, Jacobson threw a 67-yard TD bomb to Chris Morton - just one minute, 12 seconds after the first TD.
"Mentally when the ball is in the air like that, you just have to be confident," Morton said. "You just have to tell yourself 'I've got this' and catch it and take off as fast as you can."
It was Morton's first TD reception of the season. He finished with three catches for 80 yards, his best receiving game of the season for the Wolves.
"Honestly, it feels amazing," Morton said. "When you are kind of in a rut there as a player, once you have a game where you feel like you finally got out of it, it feels really good."
NSU wide receiver Mark Hanley had another good game for the Wolves as well. He finished with nine receptions for 121 yards and two receiving touchdowns in the third quarter. Hanley's first receiving TD of the game put NSU up 21-7 in the third. His second one gave NSU a 28-10 lead with 40 seconds before the fourth quarter.
However, the Beavers needed just two plays after the score to get a TD of their own. Minot QB Zac Cunha threw a 63-yard pass to Porter Sturm all the way down to Northern's two-yard line after the Wolves' TD. Blake Eggl then punched it in from two yards out , pulling the Beavers up to 28-17. It was the second-longest pass play that Minot State had, as Cunha threw a 57-yard TD pass to Sturm in the first quarter.
"Other than that, they really didn't do much for any kind of sustained drives or yardage," Dosch said. "That is one thing we talked about defensively is we have to make them earn it and giving up big plays isn't doing that, but the kids responded and came and did some good things."
After NSU cornerback Paul Woodward also hauled in his first interception of the season, Felipe Alfaia booted a 42-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to account for the only scoring of the final 15 minutes.
"We didn't score as many points as we would have wanted to," Dosch said, "but we really controlled the ball and really controlled the field position the whole fourth quarter and I thought that was real critical."
Sirleaf set up the first Jacobson-to-Hanley TD as he sacked Cunha and knocked the ball loose from him. Logan Dosch recovered the fumble and two plays later, Hanley was in the end zone.
"I just came off the edge and just kept fighting and fighting," Sirleaf said about the forced fumble. "Everybody stayed in their gaps. The whole D-line was pressuring. The backers were pressuring. It ended up happening and I was in the right place at the right time."
NSU's leading rusher John Hughes left the game with an undisclosed injury and did not play the second half. However, running backs Chris Nguyen and Terrelle Walker and fullback Cameron Pudwill carried the load after Hughes left. NSU freshman wide receiver Tanner White also hauled in three catches, including two outstanding catches along the sidelines to pick up first downs in the fourth quarter for the Wolves.
"It is a team game and you want to have as many guys contributing as you can," coach Dosch said. "I thought we did that on the offensive and the defensive side, too."
Northern State improves to 3-3 overall and 3-3 in NSIC play. The Wolves will play at Bemidji State next Saturday in another NSIC contest. Bemidji State beat Mary 29-21 on Saturday.
"We have got a little groove going here and we just have to keep it going," Morton said. "We have to stay positive and confident in ourselves."
Minot State (1-5, 1-5 NSIC)
| 7 0 10 0-17
Northern State (3-3, 3-3)
| 14 0 14 3-31
|First Quarter|
NSU - Jordan Piatz 23 pass from Jared Jacobson (Felipe Alfaia kick), 5:50.
NSU - Chris Morton 67 pass from Jacobson (Alfaia kick), 4:38.
MSU - Porter Sturm 57 pass from Zac Cunha (Aaron LaDeaux), 1:48.
|Third Quarter|
NSU - Mark Hanley 14 pass from Jacobson (Alfaia kick), 9:53.
MSU - LaDeaux 35 field goal, 6:25.
NSU - Hanley 23 pass from Jacobson (Alfaia kick), 00:40.
MSU - Blake Eggl 2 run (LaDeaux kick), 00:00.
|Fourth Quarter|
NSU - Alfaia 42 field goal, 3:00.
|MSU NSU
First downs 9 24
Rushes-yards 23-41 43-119
Passing-yards 229 330
Comp-Att-Int 12-30-1 25-45-2
Total Net Yards 270 449
Total plays 53 88
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-33 5-50
Punts-yards 5-208 3-99
Kickoffs-Ret Yds 4-57 4-74
Punt-Ret Yds 1-30 0-0
Third downs 3-12 11-21
Fourth downs 0-2 1-3
Red zone 2-2 2-3
PATs 2-2 4-4
Field goals 1-2 1-2
|INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS|
RUSHING - Minot, Eggl 15-50, Randel Barber 6-14, Cunha 5-(minus 23); Northern, Jacobson 15-67, Chris Nguyen 7-34, John Hughes 3-9, Cameron Pudwill 6-7, Terrelle Walker 8-4, Jordan Piatz 1-(minus 1).
PASSING - Minot, Cunha 12-30-1 for 229; Northern, Jacobson 25-44-2 for 330, Zac Emde 0-1-0 for 0.
RECEIVING - Minot, Sturm 5-143, Wayne Peters 4-70, Glyn Borel 3-16; Northern, Hanley 9-121, Morton 3-80, Tanner White 3-41, Piatz 3-38, Hughes 3-22, Jordan Freeman 1-10, Ben Jastram 1-9, Nguyen 1-5, Walker 1-4.
DEFENSE - Minot, Chad Marshall 7 tackles, Luke Artz 6 tackles, Levi Freidt 6 tackles 1 interception; Northern, Jayson Geditz 4 tackles, Ikee Sirleaf 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 sack, Logan Dosch 4 tackles, 1 fumble recovery.