Southwest Minnesota State 31 2OT
MANKATO, Minn. -- Minnesota State, Mankato kicker Sam Brockhsus booted a 20-yard field goal in the second overtime to propel the 10th-ranked Mavericks to a 34-31 double-overtime victory over Southwest Minnesota State in front of 3,162 fans in Blakeslee Stadium.
The game marked the first overtime game for Minnesota State since it fell to Hillsdale, 27-24, in the NCAA tournament on Nov. 14, 2009. Trailing 24-10 with seven minutes and 36 seconds left in the game Minnesota State quarterback Jon Wolf engineered two scoring drives to force overtime.
Southwest won the toss to start the extra session and elected to play defense. The Mavericks needed just one play as running back Andy Pfeiffer scampered 25 yards to give the Mavericks a brief lead of 31-24 after Brockshus PAT. The Mustangs answered with a touchdown pass from Tyler Peschong to Cody Condon forcing a second overtime. Southwest failed to score in the second overtime having a fourth-down pass dropped setting up Brockshus heroics.
Thielen finished the game for Minnesota State with 11 catches for a career-high 167 yards and a touchdown while Wolf went 16-of-25 for 239 yards and a score. Pfeiffer accounted for 12 carries and 70 yards of rushing punching in two touchdowns.
Sioux Falls 31
Concordia-St. Paul 23
SIOUX FALLS -- Concordia-St. Paul dropped a 31-23 loss at the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday night.
Trailing 31-16 late in the game, Concordia quarterback James Peterson delivered a strike to Cordell Smith in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown with just under three minutes to play. Golden Bear kicker/punter Tom Obarski executed an on-side kick as the Golden Bears recovered at their own 49-yard line with 2:53 remaining. After a pair of passes totaling 19 yards to the USF 32-yard line, Peterson was intercepted for the third time at the 6-yard line with 2:10 to play.
Concordia's defense held strong, giving the offense a chance with 27 seconds to play at their own 37-yard line. USF's prevent defense forced four straight incomplete passes to end the game including a Hail Mary as time expired.
USF quarterback Taylor Perkins completed 21-of-39 for 305 yards and four touchdowns. Carrington Hanna was his top target with eight catches for 113 yards and a touchdown while Jeremiah Oates had four catches for 107 yards and two scores.
Minnesota-Duluth 44
Minot State 6
MINOT, N.D. -- No. 13 Minnesota-Duluth overwhelmed Minot State 44-6 in the initial confrontation between the two clubs.
After being forced to punt on their opening possession, the Bulldogs proceeded to score a touchdown, including two by Brian Lucas, in each of their ensuing four series to go up 27-0 at the end of the first quarter. Logan Lauters raced 17 yards for his second touchdown of the game with 3:33 to go before half and senior free safety Cameron Harper returned an interception 75 yards for the first pick six of his career a little less than three minutes later to make it 41-0.
The four-time defending NSIC champions extended their lead to 44-0 on freshman Andrew Brees' third-quarter field goal from 26 yards out and came within 35 seconds of posting their first shutout in two years before the Beavers struck with a six-yard Zac Cunha to Kirk Mason scoring pass.
The Bulldogs finished with 288 yards on the ground, over a third of which was generated by Austin Sikorski. The sophomore running back eclipsed the 100-yard rushing barrier for the fourth time as a collegian, running nine times for 106 yards and one touchdown. Senior quarterback Chase Vogler completed in 10 of 19 passes for 202 yards in the triumph, UMD's 30th in its last 33 games away from home.
Augustana College 59
Upper Iowa 14
FAYETTE, Iowa -- Augustana scored 49 unanswered points in the first half on its way to a 59-14 victory over Upper Iowa.
The Vikings finished the game with a season-high 650 yards of total offense, the most since 618 yards against SMSU on Sept. 25, 2010. The Vikings passed for 335 yards and rushed for 315 yards, led by Dajon Newell who rushed 18 times for 117 yards and three touchdowns, matching his career-high for rushing touchdowns in a game. Newell rushed for three touchdowns against Minnesota State on Oct. 27, 2011. CJ Ham rushed for a career-high 105 yards and scored his first career touchdown.
Josh Hanson finished the game 14 of 17 passing for 289 and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 32 yards two scores, marking a career-high. Grant Gebhardt caught four passes for 144 yards, including a 57-yarder. Matt Gerry caught two passes for 48 yards and a touchdown in the game.
Winona State 17
Wayne State 13
WAYNE, Neb. -- Rayon Simmons rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown to become the NSIC's all-time leading rusher as Winona State posted a 17-13 victory over Wayne State.
Simmons, who entered the game needing 94 yards to become the conference's career rushing leader, set the record midway through the fourth quarter. The Warrior senior passed former Concordia-St. Paul standout Chris Washington (2000-03) to become the most accomplished runner in league history. Simmons now has 4,255 yards during conference games in his career.
The Wildcats took a 13-7 lead in the third quarter on a seven-yard rushing touchdown by Charlie Davidson. Winona State's offense took over from there, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown by Simmons to regain a 14-13 advantage. Winona State added a 39-yard field goal by Jake Vercher midway through the fourth quarter to reach the final 17-13 score.
St. Cloud State 55
University of Mary 13
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- St. Cloud State running back Michael Walker ran for three touchdowns en route to the Huskies fourth straight win with a 55-13 over the University of Mary.
Walker scored on runs of 25, 80 and five yards for a career high 166 yards as the Huskies rolled up 532 yards of total offense. The Husky defense held Mary to 286 yards of offense.
Wide receiver Renard Robinson caught two touchdown passes and finished the game with a team high three catches for 85 yards. He caught a five-yard and 68-yard touchdown pass. Quarterback Phillip Klaphake completed 12 of 14 pass attempts for 187 yards and four touchdowns for St. Cloud State, which plays at Northern State on Saturday.
Minnesota State-Moorhead 35
Minnesota-Crookston 13
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team broke into the win column with a 35-13 win over Minnesota-Crookston in the inaugural game of the Red River Valley Showdown Series Saturday at Alex Nemzek Stadium.
The Dragons hoisted the State Farm Insurance Traveling Trophy in celebration following Saturday's win. The trophy will be housed at MSUM until the two teams meet again in 2013.
The Dragon offense was led by freshman running back Zayne Medhaug, who rushed for a career-high 124 yards and a touchdown. Freshman quarterback Jake Hodge threw for 161 yards and a score and also scrambled 19 yards for a touchdown. Crookston running back Richard Haley had 112 rushing yards on 22 carries and one rushing TD.
South Dakota State 31
Western Illinois 10
BROOKINGS -- Tyrel Kool returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and Zach Zenner ran for 171 yards and two scores, leading South Dakota State to a 31-10 victory over Western Illinois on Saturday.
South Dakota State (5-1, 3-0 Missouri Valley) gave up the tying TD in the first quarter when Martinez Davis returned an interception 28 yards for a TD.
Zenner got his first score, on a 46-yard run, just 10 seconds into the second quarter. His second score, from 60 yards out, came in the fourth quarter and gave South Dakota State a 24-10 lead.
Charles Chestnut had a strong effort for Western Illinois (3-3, 1-2) with 9 catches for 123 yards.
Indiana State 17
North Dakota State 14
FARGO, N.D. -- Johnny Towalid returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Indiana State beat North Dakota State, 17-14, ending the Bison's 10-game winning streak.
Towalid picked off a pass by Brock Jensen and went 27 yards for a score in the second quarter to give Indiana State a 10-3 lead. He did it again early in the fourth quarter, scoring from 31 yards to make it 17-6 Sycamores.
Jensen scored on a 1-yard run with 9:56 to play and also made the 2-point conversion to get NDSU within three points. Jensen's third interception, by Larry King, ended the Bison's best shot after that.
Shakir Bell ran for 111 yards for the Sycamores (5-2, 3-1 Missouri Valley), who have won three straight conference road games for the first time in their 27 years in the MVC.
The defending FCS champion Bison (5-1, 2-1) were coming off a 48-7 win over Youngstown State last week.
Missouri State 27
South Dakota 24
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Austin Witmer capped a furious fourth-quarter rally by Missouri State with a 33-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Bears a 27-24 victory on Saturday.
Missouri State (1-6, 1-3 Missouri Valley) scored 17 points in the final 5:27 of the game. Kierra Harris hit Julian Burton with a 60-yard touchdown pass with 5:27 left and Harris found Eri Christophel for a 25-yard scoring strike with 1:45 remaining.
Quarterback Josh Vander Maten rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns for South Dakota (1-5, 0-3) and Marcus Sims gained 116 yards on the ground with a TD.
Vander Maten completed 13 of 22 passes for 164 yards, but was sacked five times.
Northern Arizona 45
North Dakota 38
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Northern Arizona quarterback Cary Grossart threw four touchdown passes and led an offense that amassed nearly 600 total yards in handing a North Dakota 45-38 Homecoming loss this afternoon.
Grossart's aerial attack was augmented by the ground game of junior running back, Zach Bauman, who racked up 176 rushing yards on 28 carries despite missing most of the second quarter with an injury.
UND trailed 14-0 in the first quarter but was able to climb out of the hole and take a pair of third-quarter leads on long touchdown catches by Greg Hardin and Jameer Jackson. The latter was a 43-yard effort that put UND up 31-24 midway through the quarter.
UND senior quarterback Braden Hanson went 19-for-29 for 233 yards and three touchdowns before leaving late in the fourth quarter with an injury. He was relieved by senior Marcus Hendrickson, who immediately found Hardin for a 17-yard touchdown on his first pass of the game.
