St. Cloud Times from Saint Cloud, Minnesota • Page 39

College football St. Cloud Times 7D Sunday, Oct. 5, 2003 NCC roundup NCC standings Huskies in disBelief after loss Corrf.Owral W-L W-l PF PA 240 118 Nebraska-Omaha 2-0 5-1 North Dakota 2-0 4-1 167 85 North Dakota State 2-0 4-1 111 63 ByTomFenton tfentonstdoudtimesxom North Dakota 29, St. Cloud State 28 Coyotes rally for 31-27 win GRAND FORKS, N.D. No way.

Not a chance. Not even a thought St Cloud State 1-1 4-2 230 128 South Dakota 1-1 3-2 99 124 Augustana 0-2 2-3 128 101 South Dakota State 0-2 2-3 97 98 Minn. St-Mankato 0-2 0-6 68 171 Results Saturday North Dakota 29, St Cloud State 28 South Dakota 31, Augustana 27 North Dakota State 20, Minnesota State-Mankato 9 Nebraska-Omaha 34, South Dakota State 17 Games Saturday, Oct 11 Augustana at St Cloud State, 1 p.m. Minnesota State-Mankato at South Dakota Nebraska-Omaha at North Dakota State North Dakota at South Dakota State That what St. Cloud State senior quarterback Keith Heck- endorf thought the chances of his team squandering a 25-point halftime lead to North Dakota were Saturday.

Minutes after the 29-28 loss, Heckendorf still couldn't believe what he saw. "No," said Heckendorf when asked if he thought there was a chance the Huskies would leave terception 64 yards for a touchdown for the Mavericks (0-6, 0-2). Minnesota State tried for a two-point conversion but failed. Ryan Caperoon added a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to pull the Mavericks within eight, but Minnesota State did not score again in the game. Alerus Center without a win.

"We just need to finish. We have to Drive: 2 plays, 19 yards, :14. Key play: SCSU running back Williams' fumble was recovered the UND linebacker Zack Babington-Johnson. Stattelman appeared to have caught a TD on the drive's first play but was ruled out of bounds. He was left alone over the middle for theTD.

UND Stattelman 34 past from Wilson (run failed). Drive: 10 plays, 81 yards, 4:25. Key plays: Wilson completed a 14-yard pass to receiver Troy Ott to the UND 44. Two plays later, Wilson found receiver Caleb Johnson for a 19-yard pass over the middle to the SCSU 34. Stattelman beat SCSU defensive back Chad Kruckman on the right side for the Ta UNO -Glas 52 FG.

Drive: 9 plays, 49 yards, 1:12. Key plays: Wilson hit Stattelman for a 24-yard gain to the UND 31, but the play of the game came on fourth-and-4 when Wilson scrambled right and found Dan Grossman for a 12-yard gain to the SCSU 35. The winning field goal came two plays later. SCSU UND, First downs 17 22 Rushes-yards 32-135 21-43 Passing yards 268 369 Comp-Att-Int 22-30-0 32-50-1 Total yards 403 412 Punts-avg. Penalties-yards 7-62 8-59 Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0 Sacks-yards 2-19 2-6 Individual statistics Rushing: SCSU Williams 17-90, Matt Birkel 10-36, Heckendorf 5-15; UND Brandon Strouth 9-32, Adam Roland 5-14, Wilson 4-9, John Bowenkamp 3-(-10).

Passing: SCSU Heckendorf 21-29-0 249; UND Wilson 19-30-0 190, Bowenkamp 12-19-1118. Receiving: SCSU Tim Greene 6-100, Ryan Koch 4-58, Josh Williams 4-34, Birkel 3-19, Anders Johnson 2-38, Jason Koch 1-7, Daryn Ploeckelman 1-4; UND Stattelman 10-161, Strouth 8-63, Caleb Johnson 4-50, Travis Lueck 4-44, Dan Grossman 2-26, Jesse Ahlers 2-17, Will Kusler 1-9, Roland Ml). Tacklers: SCSU Nate Looughran 8, Nicholson 7, Mark Henderson 6, Kelly Gilcrist 5, Eric Mickelson 5, Shane Rohman 5, Charlie Cosgrove 3 (1 sack), Chad Kruckman 3, Cory Johnsen 3, Reed Hentges 2, Derek Jensen 2, Eric Prink 1 (sack); UND Digger Anderson 10, Tyler Dahlen 6, Ryan Manke 6, Danny Gagner 5, Jake Nordick 4, Josh Brandsted 3, Jeff Momerak 3, Dan Ullsperger 3, Eric Halstenson 2, Jason Hoffschneider 2, Tony Hermes 2, Adam Stratton 2, Troy Newhouse 2. St Ootid State 13 15 0 0 28 North Dakota 03719-29 SCSU Tim Greene 46 pass from Keith Heckendorf (Shawn Braunagel HdO. Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards, 228.

Key plays: On the first play from scrimmage, wide receiver Ryan Koch hooked up with Greene for a 19-yard pass after Koch took the nandoff on a reverse. One play after being called for holding, the Huskies were aided by a roughing the passer penalty on North Dakota. SCSU Ryan Koch 36 pass from Heckendorf (kkk failed). Drive: 2 plays, 56 yards, 1:08. Key play: Running back Matt Birkel ran for 14 yards on the opening play, putting the Huskies in Sioux territory.

SCSU had good field position after its defense forced a three-and-out on UND's first possession. SCSU -Braunagel 24 Fa Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 4:53. Key plays: One play after Birkel left temporarily after taking a hard hit backup running back Josh Williams carried for 11 yards to the UND 40. Three plays later, Williams ran for 39 yards to the Sioux 15. Birkel was stopped on fourth-and-2 from the 7.

UND -Jeff Glas 39 F0. Drive: 6 plays, 43 yards, 2:29. Key plays: Quarterback John Bowenkamp connected with Travis Lueck, who beat cornerback Eric Mickelson and made a diving catch at the SCSU 28. SCSU Matt Nicholson 53 Interception return (kick blocked). Key play: With the Sioux at midfield, Nicholson stepped in front of a Bowenkamp pass and went in for the touchdown untouched.

SCSU Josh Williams pass from Heckendorf (run failed). Drive: 13 plays, 58 yards, 6:08. Key plays: Heckendorf found Birkel and Anders Johnson for separate 8-yard passes, and Heckendorf kept the drive going with a 9-yard rush on third-and-3 to the Sioux 14. UND Willis Stattelman 61 pass from Brandon Strouth (Glas kick). Drive: 1 play.

61 yards, :09. Key play: Strouth, a redshirt freshman tailback from Alexandria, took a pitch from backup quarterback Joe Wilson before running right and finding a wide open Stattelman for the touchdown. UND Glas 33 FG. Drive: 11 plays, 44 yards, 4:20. Key plays: Wilson completed 7 of 9 passes on the drive, including an 11-yarder to Stattelman and a 12-yarder to Strouth.

The drive stalled when SCSU cornerback Mickelson broke up a pass on third-and-1. UND Stattelman 19 pass from Wilson (Glas kick). The Bison defense sacked Ben King four times and intercepted him once. King finished with 253 yards passing on 23 completions. something was going to happen." Birkel hurting Sophomore running back Matt Birkel could only watch helplessly in street clothes, ice pack strapped to his ailing left ankle, as the Sioux rallied.

Birkel first went to the Alerus Center turf with 4:03 left in the first quarter when he was hit hard after an 8-yard catch. He returned one play later, but had to leave for good after wrenching his ankle with 4:16 remaining in the first half. The injury appeared to be a sprain. Birkel finished with 36 yards on 10 carries after surpassing the 100-yard mark in the Huskies' previous two games both of which were victories. Redshirt freshman tight end Anders Johnson, a St Cloud Tech graduate, also limped on a bum ankle after the game.

He caught two passes for 38 yards, including a key 31-yarder on 3rd-and-6 from the SCSU. It was the Huskies first first-down in five possessions and helped get the offense out of a hole. The drive stalled, however, three plays later to set up North Dakota's game-winning drive. Koch steps up Several reserves played key roles in helping the Huskies build a 28-3 halftime lead. Sophomore receiver Ryan Koch took advantage of his chance to play, catching four passes for 58 yards.

He also took a double-reverse on the first play from scrimmage and passed to Tim Greene for a 19-yard gain. Koch was in the lineup because starter Ed DeShazer was held out with a shoulder injury. DeShazer was in uniform, however. come back from this and we will" Heckendorf was silky smooth in the first half, completing 12 of 13 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns. He had time to Nebraska-Omaha 34, South Dakota State 17 OMAHA, Neb.

Brian Masek threw for two touchdowns Keith Heckendorf SCSU quarterback was shocked The Associated Press SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Tim Dacy ran an 87-yard fumble recovery in the fourth quarter to give South Dakota a 31-27 victory over Augustana on Saturday afternoon. Augustana (2-3, 0-2) was first on the scoreboard in the first quarter with a 22-yard field goal kick by Adam Brinkman. South Dakota scored a field goal kick of its own in the same quarter. Then in the second quarter, Wes Beschorner ran two yards to score a touchdown for South Dakota (3-2, 1-1).

By the end of the first half, South Dakota had a 10-6 lead. But Augustana scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and another in the fourth, giving the team a 27-171ead over South Dakota. Chris Mikkelsen then caught a 24-yard pass from Beschorner in the fourth to put South Dakota three points behind Augustana before Dacy fumble return. North Dakota State 20, Minn. State-Mankato 9 MANKATO North Dakota State jumped out to a 17-point lead through two quarters and held on to beat Minnesota State-Mankato.

Rod Malone and Allen Burrell each scored touchdowns for the No. 14 ranked Bison, who are now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the North Central Conference. Jordan Malone returned an in- and ran for a third to lead Nebraska-Omaha over South Dako ta State. Masek connected with Ryan Krause on a 5-yard scoring pass and later hit Thadd Recek with a 3-yard TD pass. Masek scored on a 1-yard run for the Mavericks (5- 1, 2-0 North Central Conference) who are ranked No.

10 in NCAA Division II. throw and appeared poised to lead SCSU to its second North Central Conference win in as many tries. But it didn't happen. The loss of standout running back Matt Birkel did not help the Huskies' offense, but their lack of production was still surprising. St.

Cloud State gained only 126 yards in the second half after scoring on its first three first-half possessions. "It's tough when you can't get anything rolling out there," Heckendorf said. "They're a good defense and you have to give them credit. Hopefully, as a team, we can learn from this." South Dakota State's Brad Nel son completed 21 of 31 passes for 224 yards and two interceptions. Nelson connected with Brian team and that they had never been beaten at home by the same team twice in a row," sophomore defensive back Chad Kruckman said.

"They fought hard. After they scored that first TD (in the second half), it was like we knew The Huskies' pass defense was shredded by North Dakota backup quarterback Joe Wilson, who threw for two second-half touchdowns and engineered the game-winning drive. "We knew they had a good Janecek for a 30-yard scoring play before the Jackrabbits (2-3, 0-2) headed into the half down 10-7. Masek completed 17 of 22 passes for 158 yards. FromPagelD Huskies quarterback Joe Wilson replaced starter John Bowenkamp.

The momentum switch that several players mentioned as the deciding factor came on the second play of the second half when North Dakota redshirt freshman tailback Brandon Strouth of Alexandria took a pitch from Wilson and connected with a wide open Willis Stattelman for a 61-yard touchdown. It was still an 18-point deficit for the 20th-ranked Sioux, but it gave them a glimmer of hope. Stattelman also caught TDs of 19 and 34 yards, the latter cutting the Huskies' lead to 28-26 (the two-point conversion was stopped) with 6:47 remaining. "They're obviously a good team, and we knew we couldn't have a letdown in the second half? said SCSU senior defensive back Matt Nicholson, whose second-quarter 53-yard interception return for a TD put the Huskies ahead 28-3. "I don't think we had a letdown emotionally.

We just simply made too many mistakes. This one is pretty tough to take. We had such high hopes going into the season with the playoff picture. Now, that's pretty dismal The only thing we can do now is win out and hope for the best" An SCSU offense that could do no wrong in the first half when senior quarterback Keith Heck-endorf threw for three touchdowns while completing 12 of 13 passes did little right in the second. The Huskies, who got first-half touchdown receptions of 46 yards to Tun Greene, 36 yards to reserve Ryan Koch and 4 yards to backup running back Josh Williams, went four straight possessions without a first down in the second half.

Included in the series of struggles was a Williams fumble, which gave the Sioux possession at the SCSU 19. Two plays later, Wilson connected with Stattel man for his second touchdown, Trim along dotted lint. 1 I I YCC I I'd like to order "Gagliardi Road to the Record." I understand the i book will be I shipped to me approximately 4 weeks after the final game of the 2003 Johnnie football A carter that spans five decodes. One coach. One university.

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cutting the lead to 28-20 with 12:26 remaining. Williams, a senior from Osakis, finished with 90 yards on 17 carries in relief of sophomore standout Matt Birkel, who left with 4:16 remaining in the second quarter with a left ankle sprain. The game-winning drive had plenty of drama for the remaining crowd, which looked to be about half as bier as it was at kickoff. Wil one game at a time to surpass uambimg itoie University coach Eddie Robinson's all-time collegiate wins record, repeat as fAlAC champions and earn their fourth national football championship. I ADDRESS.

I CITY PHONE J- I I I I $3 1.69 ea, (includes tax, shipping and handling) OTAL NUMBER OF CHECK ENCLOSED: $. PLEASE CHARGE MYOvisa MasterCard Discover American Express EXPIRES. Mv Account Number: flow, St Ooud Times sports reporter and author Frank Rq'kowski has authored "Gagliardi: Road to the Record," taking you on a journey though all five decades of John's amazing career, stopping along the way to talk with past players, coaches who have worked with him, and his family. The book will culminate with the stories of the 2003 season at St John's and will contain SO years worth of team rosters, color photos and Coach Gagliardi's march into history. This special book will be treasured by anyone with a passion for St John's football and fans of John Gagliardi.

A LIMITED NUMBER will be available. Order yours today for deliveryapproximately 4 weeks after the final game of the 2003 season. SIGNATURE. son completed four straight pass-" es but still needed a 12-yard com-1 pletion on 4th-and-4 at the SCSU 47 to give Glas a chance. The kick went through with about five yards to spare.

The challenge for SCSU coach Randy Hedberg, who was a North Dakota assistant coach for three years, is regrouping his troops after what he called the toughest loss since replacing Noel Martin five seasons ago. "This one leaves you speechless," Hedberg said. Send order form and payment to: ST. CLOUD TIMES MARKETING DEPT. PO BOX 768 Book reservations may also be made at the St Ooud Times office, 3000 Nor 7rh St, St Ooud $26.69 (includes tax) if you choose to pick your book up at the St Cloud Times office.

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