Tyler Tonderum rushed for a school record 343 yards on 42 carries with three touchdowns and also caught one pass for 14 yards to lead SMSU to a come-from-behind 27-20 victory at MSU Moorhead. The game was played in a constant rain storm making the passing game nearly non-existent for both teams. Tonderum, making his second career start, scored on runs of 71, 10 and 13 yards. His final touchdown midway through the fourth quarter made the score 20-18 and moments later SMSU tied the score on a two-point conversion. On the game-winning drive in the final one minute and 11 seconds, Tonderum rushed four times for 49 yards to help set-up the game-winning touchdown.
Troy Guptill was the big play performer for U-Mary in the Marauders 34-27 win at Wayne State. He forced two fumbles, recovered one, and made three tackles for loss, including a sack. Overall he registered six tackles, including two solo stops. In the second half, the Marauders defense limited the Wildcats to three points, four first downs and 77 yards.
Elby Pope returned a punt 35 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the Marauders 34-27 victory at Wayne State. With the score tied 24-24, the junior wide receiver found the end zone at 7:14 of the third quarter. For the game he returned three punts for 60 yards. It was the Marauders first downfield punt return for a touchdown since beginning NCAA play in 2006. The all-conference receiver also had six catches for 82 yards. For the year Pope is averaging 18.7 yards per punt return on six attempts.
#47 Brandon Mohr (LB, So., 6-0, 230, Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington/South Dakota State) led Augustana in tackles for the second straight week, finishing with a career-high 12 against Minot State on Saturday. Included in his 12 tackles, Mohr made three solo stops and 2.0 tackles for a loss. He also added a career-high 1.5 sacks as the Viking defense forced five turnovers. Through two games, Mohr leads Augustana’s defense with 23 total tackles and shares the team-lead with 3.0 tackles for loss.
#2 Trey Heid (QB, RFr., 6-2, 188, Lakeville, Minn./North) threw for a touchdown and rushed for one himself in Augustana’s triple overtime loss to Minot State on Saturday. Heid finished the game with 46 rushing yards on 19 attempts while completing 19 of 30 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown.
#21 Thomas Vanasek (DB, Sr., 6-1, 203, Lakeville, Minn./North/Winona State) recorded his fourth career interception at Minot State on Saturday while picking up 10 tackles. Vanasek racked up seven solo tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and an interception in the game.
Bemidji State
#4 Avery Walker (RB, 5-10, 202, Sr-1L, Milwaukee, Wis. / Mesabi Range CC) recorded 87 yards and a touchdown in the 17-14 home opener loss to Concordia-St. Paul. He totaled 22 attempts to average 4.0 yards per carry and posted a long rush of 13 yards.
#17 Scott Christensen (DB, 6-0, 191, Jr-2L, Stockbridge, Ga. / Dutchtown HS) recorded a career-high and 2013 NSIC-best 17 tackles (six solo) in the 17-14 home opener loss to Concordia-St. Paul. The safety recorded a tackle for loss (-4 yards) and added his first-career fumble recovery.
#37 Zach Pulkinen (P/K, 5-11, 200, Sr-3L, Minot, N.D. / College of Idaho) recorded a career-long 70-yard punt, which ranks second in the NSIC in 2013, in the 17-14 home opener loss to Concordia-St. Paul. He totaled 284 yards on six punts (47.3 yards per punt) with two touchbacks and kick within the 20-yard line. Pulkinen’s three kicks off the tee went for 189 yards (63.0 yards per kick) with one touchback. He was 2-for-2 on extra point attempts and missed his only field goal attempt, a 48-yarder that would have been a career-best.
BSU (1-1, 1-1 NSIC) is coming off a 17-14 home opener loss to Concordia-St. Paul, falling in the final minute of regulation, as CU converted a fourth-and-six from the BSU 19-yard line for the game-winning touchdown with just 46 ticks remaining. The Beavers owned a 14-7 halftime lead after a senior linebacker Buckley Wright interception and 47-yard return to the CU 10-yard line set-up an eight-yard connection between Ryan Shields (QB, R-Fr) and Jordan Noskowiak (TE, So.) with 16 seconds left in the second quarter. Ten Golden Bear points in the final 9:18 enabled the road team to come away with the 17-14 win.
The loss moved BSU’s record in home openers under head coach Jeff Tesch to 11-7. In addition to the interception, BSU also recovered a fumble and now have five takeaways in 2013 that have set-up 21 points. The Beavers now turn their attention to a 1 p.m. road contest Sept. 21 at Augustana College (1-1, 1-1 NSIC). BSU is 2-5 all-time against the Vikings and own the last victory between the squads. The Beavers traveled to Sioux Falls, S.D. Sept. 10, 2011 and stole a 30-27 overtime victory against the then-No. 16 Augustana. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Vikings. Bemidji State is 1-3 at Augie.
Concordia-St. Paul
Tre Spears (RB, Jr.,, Chicago) posted his second straight 100-yard game to start the 2013 season by rushing a career-high 36 times for 162 yards to lift the Golden Bears over Bemidji State, 17-14 on the road. Spears is currently ranked third in the NSIC with 280 rushing yards and now has five 100-yard rushing games as a second-year starting running back. It’s the second straight year Spears has opened the season with back-to-back 100-yard efforts.
Concordia’s defense produced a complete team effort in shutting down Bemidji State’s offense in the Beavers’ home opener on Saturday night. Concordia held BSU to nine total first downs and fewer yards of total offense (157) than Concordia’s rushing total (183). Additionally, the Golden Bears forced two fourth quarter turnovers, one leading to a field goal and the other stopping BSU’s final drive with under a minute to play to seal the win. Concordia held BSU to just 75 passing yards.
Concordia evens the all-time series with BSU at 7-7 and wins their first road game at Chet Anderson Stadium since the 2001 season to snap a four game losing streak at “The Chet” … the Golden Bears have now taken two of the last three meetings against BSU …
Next Saturday, Concordia returns home against St. Cloud State as two of the four remaining 2-0 teams will square off head-to-head at Sea Foam Stadium with a 6 p.m. kickoff for Day of Heroes, Concordia’s fifth annual and NCAA Game Environment award-winning event …
The Golden Bears are 0-2 against the Huskies in a series that opened in 2010 as the Huskies won the only ever meeting at Sea Foam Stadium 35-10 in that first meeting. The teams haven’t met since SCSU won a 41-13 contest in St. Cloud, Minn. in 2011 in Jared Russo’s first extended collegiate action. Russo passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns on 17-27 completions.
with five interceptions, coming in for the injured James Peterson early in the second quarter … Peterson was Concordia’s second string QB that season to Spencer Ohm, who was injured during fall camp.
This is the first 2-0 start in head coach Ryan Williams’ three seasons at the helm of the program … it is Concordia’s first 2-0 start since the 2004 campaign and it’s just the seventh overall 2-0 start in the history of the program dating back to 1969.
University of Mary
Nick Jollife (WR, 6-2, 190, Jr., Bismarck, N.D./Bismarck) caught three touchdown passes and posted 92 yards receiving to set career marks for a second straight week in the Marauders 34-27 at Wayne State College. His eight catches tied his career high from a week ago. The junior team captain caught scoring strikes of 14, 30 and five yards, the last one tying the game at 24-24. Jolliffe now has 16 catches for 179 yards and five touchdowns in two games this season. Craig Bagnell (QB, 5-10, 185, Sr., Polson, Mont.) completed 33-of-53 passes (both career highs) for 303 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The senior team captain also tied for the team rushing lead with 23 yards.
Troy Guptill (LB, 6-2, 225, Jr., Quinn, S.D./Philip) was the big play performer for U-Mary in the Marauders 34-27 win at Wayne State. He forced two fumbles, recovered one, and made three tackles for loss, including a sack. Overall he registered six tackles, including two solo stops. In the second half, the Marauders defense limited the Wildcats to three points, four first downs and 77 yards. Grant Singer (LB, 6-1, 215, Jr., Turtle Lake, N.D. / Turtle Lake-Mercer) led all players with 10 stops, including seven solo tackles. The junior all-conference player had 1.5 tackles for loss and recovered a fumble.
Elby Pope (WR, 6-0, 193, Jr., Grand Forks, N.D. / Red River) returned a punt 35 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the Marauders 34-27 victory at Wayne State. With the score tied 24-24, the junior wide receiver found the end zone at 7:14 of the third quarter. For the game he returned three punts for 60 yards. It was the Marauders first downfield punt return for a touchdown since beginning NCAA play in 2006. The all-conference receiver also had six catches for 82 yards. For the year Pope is averaging 18.7 yards per punt return on six attempts…
Tyler Ryan (P/K, 5-10, 180, Sr., Mesa, Ariz./Mesa) had another tremendous weekend as the Marauders double duty performer. The senior was 2-of-3 on field goals, hitting from 31 and 39 yards, and made all four extra point attempts. Four of his seven kickoffs went for touchbacks and the three that were returned went for only 45 yards. The all-conference punter averaged 40.6 yards on five punts, and downed two inside the 20. Only one punt was returned by Wayne State for just one yard.
Minnesota Crookston
Minnesota Crookston showed some improvement Saturday night against Minnesota State as the Golden Eagles had nearly 300 yards of offense and put up 26 points on the No. 2 rated Mavericks. The Golden Eagles had put up a combined three points in the previous two meetings with Minnesota State. The Golden Eagles were led by Kyle Larson who went 11-of-19 for 169 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Nicholas Exposito was Larson’s favorite target with five catches for 56 yards while Ricky Jacobs led the defense with 11 tackles. The UMC defense gave up over 500 yards for the second weekend in a row. The Golden Eagles will return home to Ed Widseth Field to face Wayne State College at 1 p.m. Saturday.
#11 Minnesota Duluth
Kenny Chowa (DB, 5-9, 185, Sr., Menomonie, WI) was credited with a game-high 13 total tackles (five more than his previous career best), including 11 solos, in UMD’s 37-19 win at Upper Iowa Saturday. Chowa, who is in his third full season of starting duty, also had two tackles for a loss and knocked down one pass.
UMD returns to James S. Malosky Stadium this Saturday evening for a key Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference clash with Minnesota State University-Mankato. Both the Bulldogs and Mavericks are nationally ranked and both are off to 2-0 starts.
The Bulldog passed their first road assignment of 2013 by upending Upper Iowa 37-19 Saturday. Two different Bulldogs returned interceptions for touchdowns (48 yards by sophomore linebacker Nathan Zibolski and 60 yards by junior nose tackle Buma Foncham) while redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Bauer threw for one touchdown and passed for another.
UMD will come into its annual Hall of Fame Game Saturday sporting a 41-game NSIC home winning streak. The Bulldogs haven’t dropped an NSIC game at Malosky Stadium since falling 37-27 to Concordia-St. Paul on Oct. 7, 2007. They are also 46-0 during that stretch against visitingNSIC schools (non-conference and NCAA II playoff games). Curt Wiese is the first of six full-time head coaches UMD has employed in its 81-year football history to start out his career at 2-0 . Sophomore Andre Brees a 2012 All-NSIC North Division first team placekicker, received his first punting activity as a Bulldog Saturday night. He punted three times for a 35.0 yard average and ran for 42 yards and third-quarter first down out of punt formation. The Bulldogs have now picked off at least one pass in eight straight games going back to last year. Saturday marked only the second time since 1988 that UMD brought back two interceptions for touchdowns.
UMD has scored a touchdown on the game’s opening series in each of the past two weeks.
#2 Minnesota State
Connor Thomas (So., RB, 5-10, 198, Chicago, Ill.) tallied 75 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Minnesota State’s 68-26 win over Minnesota Crookston. He averaged 12.5 rushing yards per carry against the Golden Eagles in six attempts.
Eric Clark (Jr., SF, 6-0, 195, St. Louis, Mo.) tallied Minnesota State’s second touchdown against Minnesota Crookston when he tallied MSU’s lone interception and returned it 58 yards for the touchdown with 10:28 left in the first quarter. He also posted one tackle.
Sam Brockshus (Sr., K, 5-11, 205, Spencer, Iowa) finished 9-of-9 in extra point attempts in MSU’s win over Minnesota Crookston and tallied a 32 yard field goal, to improve to 4-of-4 on the season in field goal attempts. He averaged 59.5 yards in 11 kickoffs and posted five touchbacks as well.
The 94 total points scored between Minnesota State and Minnesota Crookston were the fifth most points scored in a game in MSU history. The Mavericks saw nine players with at least one rushing attempt against Minnesota Crookston, including Connor Thomas who posted 75 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Chad Zastrow led MSU with 84 rushing yards. Five Mavericks caught at least one pass with Dennis Carter leading the way with three catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Jon Wolf finished the game with seven completions in as many attempts for 140 yards and two touchdowns. MSU finished with 532 yards of total offense against the Golden Eagles, including 327 yards on the ground and 205 yards in the air.
Samuel Thompson led the Mavericks with six tackles, while Josh Gordan tallied five tackles and 1.5 sacks
MSU Moorhead
Brandon Schell (RB, 5-11, 200, Jr., Lisbon, N.D. / Lisbon HS) had the best game of his MSUM rushing career during the Dragons’ 27-20 home loss to SMSU on Sept. 14. Schell rushed 30 times for 130 yards in the game, becoming the first Dragon to surpass 100 rushing yards since sophomore Zayne Medhaug did so against Minnesota-Crookston on Oct. 13, 2012. Schell leads MSUM in rushing this season.
Aaron Bohl (LB, 6-1, 230, RFr., Lincoln, Neb. / Lincoln East), making the second start of his collegiate career at linebacker, had an outstanding day for MSUM, leading the team with 15 tackles in the Dragons’ 27-20 loss to SMSU. He also had 1.5 tackles for loss in the game. He is tied for the team lead with 19 tackles on the season.
Wes Kramer (K/P, 6-3, 240, Sr., Northfield, Minn. / Northfield HS), punting in a driving rain, Kramer had a solid day for MSUM during its 27-20 loss to SMSU. Kramer averaged 31.4 yards per punt, with a long of 42, and placed two punts inside the 20.
Minot State
#40 Chad Marshall (LB, 6-2, 234, Sr., Hazen, N.D. / Hazen HSl) tied his second best tackle performance with 13 stops in leading the Beavers to a 23-17 triple overtime win Saturday. He had six solo tackles and seven assisted tackles in the game and a pass breakup. His biggest stop came in the third overtime when he combined to bring down the Augie runner on a 3rd-and-goal from the one as the Beavers defense held on two straight plays from their own one, setting up the game-winning drive. Marshall leads MISU with 17 tackles despite missing three quarter in the season opener with an injury.
Minot State earned its biggest win as a member of the NSIC in its first-ever triple overtime game, knocking off Augustana 23-17 Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium. #23 Wayne Peters (WR, 5-10, 187, Sr., Carson, Calif. / Carson High School / Pasadena City College)
caught a 22-yard pass after it was tipped by an Augie defender lying flat on his back in the end zone to cap a wild night. Peters led the Beavers with eight catches for 93 yards and two touchdown catches, both coming in the overtime periods. The Beavers defense helped secure the win as they held the Vikings on two straight plays from their own 1 on AC’s third overtime possession. #40 Chad Marshall (LB, 6-2, 234, Sr., Hazen, N.D. / Hazen High School) and #26 Logan Jones (DL, 6-2, 295, Sr., Lethbridge, Alberta / Lethbridge Collegiate Institute) stopped the Vikings short on 3rd-and-goal from the 1 and #21 Jeff Buchert (DB, 6-2, 229, Sr., Plainfield, Conn. / Plainfield High School) halted Augie on 4th-and-goal to set up the game winner. Marshall paced the Beaver with 13 tackles and a pass breakup. Quarterback #16 Zac Cunha (QB, 6-3, 233, So., Rocklin, Calif. / Roseville High School) had a solid night, throwing for 202 yards and 3 TDs.
Northern State
Jared Jacobson (Jr., QB, Rapid City, S.D., St. Thomas More HS) tied a career-high Saturday night with four passing TDs against Sioux Falls. Jacobson went 22-for-43 with 234 yards passing in the game. Jacobson also led the Wolves with 74 yards rushing on 20 carries and also scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge to put NSU on the board first.
Sioux Falls
#15 Luke Papilion (FR/QB/6-5/220/Cherry Creek, Colo.) rushed for 240 yards and five touchdowns in his first home start to lead the Cougars (1-1) to a rousing 45-37 win against Northern State (1-1) before a crowd of 3,356 at Bob Young Field. It is Sioux Falls’ first victory over its former South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference rival and new NSIC foe since 1934. In addition, USF improved to 43-1 overall at Bob Young Field. No one in a Cougar jersey, regardless of position, had rushed for three touchdowns since Lorenzo Brown ran all over Northwestern College on Halloween night in 2009. Papilion is the first Cougar to accumulate more than 200 yards on the ground since Mike Dvoracek (2005). Papilion also completed eight passes for 98 yards.
#4 Wes Smith (WR, 5-8, 170, Sr., Brunswick, Ga./Northern Iowa) returned the kickoff 58 yards to the NSU 39, which led to a one-yard touchdown run by Luke Papilion that gave USF a 3-point lead at the break. The Georgia native finished the game with 74 yards as he also returned two punts for a total of 16 yards.
#48 Carter Ahlers (LB, SO, 6-0, 209, Flandreau, S.D./Flandreau) was credited with a game-high 14 tackles (12 solo, 2 assists) in just his second career start. Two of those tackles were for a loss of 2.0 yards for the former Flandreau standout.
USF finished with 411 yards on the ground— the most for the Cougars since racking up 468 yards in a 59-7 pounding of Dakota Wesleyan in 2009.
The Cougars will travel to Bismarck, N.D. next weekend to take on the U-Mary Marauders (1-1, 1-1 NSIC) on Saturday September 21, with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m.
Southwest Minnesota State
Junior running back Tyler Tonderum (5-10, 191, Armstrong, Iowa) rushed for a school record 343 yards on 42 carries with three touchdowns and also caught one pass for 14 yards to lead
SMSU to a come-from-behind 27-20 victory at MSU Moorhead. The game was played in a constant rain storm making the passing game nearly non-existent for both teams. Tonderum, making his second career start, scored on runs of 71, 10 and 13 yards. His final touchdown midway through the fourth quarter made the score 20-18 and moments later SMSU tied the score on a two-point conversion. On the game-winning drive in the final one minute and 11 seconds, Tonderum rushed four times for 49 yards to help set-up the game-winning touchdown.
Sophomore cornerback Donovan Woods (5-11, 185, Belleville, Wis.) recorded eight tackles, including two solo, one key interception and one pass break-up in SMSU’s 27-20 victory. Woods helped an SMSU defense limit MSUM to just 264 yards and 16 first downs. Woods’ biggest play of the day came in the fourth quarter with SMSU trailing 20-12 with 11 minutes remaining as he intercepted a pass and returned it 16 yards setting up SMSU at its own 35-yard line. SMSU would take advantage of the interception and march 65 yards to score a touchdown and tie the game at 20.
St. Cloud State
Phillip Klaphake (Sr., QB, Princeton, Minn.) became the Huskies all-time leader in all-purpose yardage in the Huskies 29-26 win over Winona State. He has 10,250 all-purpose yards, eclipsing the record of 9.997 yards held by Keith Heckendorf. Klaphake scored the Huskies winning touchdown on a six-yard run with :45 seconds left in the game. He finished the game with 14 carries for 40 yards and one touchdown, and completed 20 of 42 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns, including a completion of 81 yards. It marked Klaphake’s sixth career game passing for over 300 yards.
Jack Moro (Sr., DB, Brookfield, Wis.) collected his first interception of the season and 15th of his career in St. Cloud State’s win over Winona State. Moro finished the game with a team high ten tackles. His 15 career interception is four shy of tying the school record of 19.
Damon Treat (Sr., WR, Fairfield, Calif.) returned five kick-offs for 100 yards in the Huskies 29-26 win over Winona State. He had a long of 24 yards. He also had three punt returns for 21 yards. It marked the second straight game that Treat has gone over the 100-yard mark in kick returns. In addition, he caught four passes for 172 yards and one touchdown, including the games longest reception for 81 yards. In two games this season Treat has 256 receiving yards which surpasses his season total for all of last year and is only second to his 377 receiving yards during the 2011 season. He has 972 career receiving yards and would become the 17th receiver in school history to reach the 1,000 yard mark. The Huskies are off to a 2-0 start for only the second time under head coach Scott Underwood.
Upper Iowa
#7 Minnesota Duluth jumped out to a 28-0 lead at Upper Iowa on Saturday night en route to a 37-19 NSIC cross division victory. The Peacocks outgained the nationally-ranked team in total offense (453 - 407), but turnovers proved costly as UIU coughed up two interceptions and a fumble. The two interceptions were converted instantly as defensive scores.
Peacock standouts in the game included Lucas Hefty (8 for 150 yards and 2 TD’s), Cole Jaeschke (28-54 for 360 yards and 2 TD’s/2 INT’s), Chris Smith (22 carries for 86 yards and 1 TD), Keaton Hosch (7 for 100) and Shay Gutman (7 for 89 yards), Keaton Martin (9 tackles, 1 for loss), Jeff Arends (9 tackles, 1.5 for loss), Jordan Anderax (8 tackles) and Ethan Douglas (8 tackles).
Upper Iowa will head to South Dakota this coming Saturday, Sept. 21, for their final NSIC cross division game on the road this season. The Peacocks will line up against the Wolves of Northern State University for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Aberdeen.
Wayne State
Senior running back Charlie Davidson continues to be a workhorse for the Wayne State offense as he rushed for 142 yards on 31 carries and one score in Saturday’s 34-27 setback to the University of Mary. Davidson has now recorded 72 carries in two games and has 332 yards, averaging 166 yards per game to rank second in the NSIC. Redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Osborn completed 13 of 24 passes for 234 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Senior defensive tackle Jeff Van Den Top again led the Wildcats on defense with nine tackles and two quarterback hurries.
Winona State
Jack Nelson (QB, Fr., 6-4, 195, Byron, Minn.), making his first career start, threw for 228 yards and a touchdown for the Warriors against St. Cloud State. Nelson was 16-of-29 in the game, seeing the first action of his Warrior career. Nelson threw a 54-yard touchdown to Josh Mikes and added a one-yard scoring strike of his own. Nelson completed passes to seven different receivers on the game.
Morgan Weaver (LB, Jr., 6-1, 215, Country Club Hills, Ill.) led a stout Winona State defense that allowed just 95 yards rushing to St. Cloud State. Weaver had 11 total tackles while also recovering one of two fumbles on the day for the WSU defense. The junior linebacker also had a tackle for loss while breaking up a pass.
Jeremy Neuman (P, Sr., 5-11, 185, Park Ridge, Ill.) had a strong day punting the football, averaging 39.4 yards on seven kicks against St. Cloud State. Neuman booted a long of 43 yards in the game while also placing a pair of punts inside the SCSU 20 yardline.
Past NSIC Players of the Week
9/9/13
OFF: Cole Jaeschke - UIU
DEF: Connor Quinn - BSU
SPT: Lucas Wainman - Augie
9/16/13
OFF: Tyler Tonderum - SMSU
DEF: Troy Guptill - U-Mary
SPT: Elby Pope - U-Mary