Football Report: November 11, 2006
NCC Games
Western Washington 35, Minnesota State 21
Mankato, Minn. -- After playing to a 21-21 tie through three quarters, Western Washington's offense erupted for 180 yards and a pair of touchdowns to pull away from Minnesota State, 35-21.
Western Washington's Adam Perry, making his first start, completed 14-of-25 passes for 215 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and also was a threat running, picking up 49 yards on 10 carries. He had runs of 11 and 19 yards on the go-ahead drive, setting up a 6-yard scramble that gave the Vikings a 28-21 lead with 13:20 to play.Running back Craig Garner added an insurance score with a 5-yard run on the following possession. Garner rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, his fourth consecutive 100-yard game since becoming a starter.
Ben King led MSU in passing, connecting on 36-of-64 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns. The three-touchdown performance was the seventh of his career, and 64 passing attempts established a new school record.
Tyrell Smith hauled in a career-high 11 passes for 91 yards, while junior wideout Bryan Dalton added eight catches for 74 yards. Dalton finished the season with 73 receptions, a mark that is tied for the second-highest single-season reception tally in school history, tying him with Tywan Mitchell.
Defensively, MSU was led by junior Chad Breeden who had eight stops, while senior Allen King added seven.
Nebraska-Omaha 48, Central Washington 14
Omaha, Neb. -- Zach Miller ran for three touchdowns and a trio of Mavericks rushed for more than 100 yards Saturday, leading the Nebraska-Omaha to a 48-14 win over Central Washington and a share of the North Central Conference title.
Tailback Kyle Kasperbauer ran for 128 yards, Nate Wurth for 123 and Miller for 117, giving UNO three 100-yard rushers for the first time in nine years.
While the offense finished with 412 yards rushing and 482 yards total, it was the defense that got the Mavericks on the board first. Linebacker Kenny Onatolu blocked a punt and Trent Lyons nabbed the loose ball in the end zone just two minutes into the game for a 7-0 lead. It was the third straight game that UNO has scored on a blocked punt and the second straight game for the Onatolu-Lyons combination.
The Wildcats answered with an 80-play, 15-yard drive to tie the game on a three-yard pass from Mike Reilly to Will Bennett.
UNO regained the lead as Miller skirted the left side and went down the sideline 39 yards late in the fourth quarter for his first touchdown. UNO took a 20-7 halftime lead, missing the extra point kick, on a 13-yard reverse by Pagel Williams midway through the second quarter.
Miller scored his second on a five-yard run four minutes into the third quarter after a 67-yard drive and Kasperbauer made it 34-7 when he went 63 yards for a score a little over eight minutes later.
CWU again marched 80 yards to score early in the fourth as Reilly passed 21 yards to Chris Jameson.
But Miller capped a 66-yard drive with a five-yard run and Williams caught a 14-yard pass from Greg Wunderlich midway through the fourth quarter for the final points.
North Dakota 33, South Dakota 26
Grand Forks, N.D. -- North Dakota denied South Dakota's quest for back-to-back North Central Conference championships with a 33-26 victory in the regular season finale for both clubs in front of 9,078 spectators in the Alerus Center. UND captures the league crown in a tie with Nebraska-Omaha.
The Coyotes outgained North Dakota by a 347-to-340 margin, including 165-to-71 on the ground. USD also owned a healthy 33:04-to-26:56 advantage in time-of-possession, and made 20 first downs compared to 15 for the host squad. Both teams fared well on third-down as South Dakota was 7-of-16, while UND was 7-of-14. On fourth-down, the Coyotes made two-of-three conversion attempts.
Stefan Logan had a game-high 73 rushing yards on the day, and totaled 170 all-purpose yards.
Noah Shepard completed 15-of-27 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. Shepard also rushed 15 times for 50 yards and a touchdown. Brooks Little had a USD-high six receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown, and became the fourth Coyote in school history to reach 100-career receptions as he is now at 105.
Defensively, Christopher Reid and T.J. Simmons tied for the team lead with seven tackles apiece.
UND quarterback Reed Manke passed for 269 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-31 passing. Running back Ryan Chappell carried 11 times for a team-high 57 yards and one touchdown. Receivers Lee Groeschl and Brady Trenbeath each had six receptions to tie for the North Dakota-high, with Groeschl's going for 84 yards and Trenbeath for 57.
Fellow wideout Weston Dressler caught five passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, back Donovan Alexander led all players with 10 tackles, all solo, and also had an interception included in his two pass break-ups. Linebacker Dan Ullsperger added eight tackles, including 1.0 sack.
Minnesota Duluth 29, St. Cloud State 24
Duluth, Minn. -- Marek Seta's one-yard scoring plunge with 1:19 remaining in regulation helped Minnesota Duluth avert a potentional fourth-quarter meltdown and sent the Bulldogs to a 29-24 victory over St. Cloud State.
St. Cloud State opened the fourth quarter by scoring on their first three possesions. That included a 32-yard field goal by Jon Gutierrez and two Dan Kamin rushing touchdowns, the last coming with 6:32 left to play. On the ensuing kickoff, UMD marched 75 yards on 12 plays in little over five minutes, capped off by Seta's fourth touchdown of the season. A key play during that drive came on a fourth-and-one situation when Ted Schlafke hit Baylor Radtke with a seven-yard sideline pass.
On the day, Schlafke completed 31 of 51 passes for 301 yards and added another 77 yards on the ground (a game-high) in 19 attempts. Keith Bizzle paced the Bulldogs with a personal-best 10 receptions for 96 yards. That included a 24-yard catch during the UMD's game-winning scoring drive. The Bulldogs as a team racked up 154 yards of rushing offense - thier highest output of the season - while holding SCSU to just 44 yards on the ground.
St. Cloud State was led by Mike Hammerseng who was called into action after starting QB Jon Quesnel injured his knee on the Huskies third play from scrimmage. Hammerseng completed 14 of 26 passes for 302 yards and one touchdowns. Zach Stover caught three passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. Anders Johnson had five catches for 62 yards. SCSU finished the game with 346 yards of offense.
Non-Conference - Central Arkansas 27, Augustana 13
NOTE- NCAA playoff berths will be annouced between noon-1 p.m. CT Sunday on ESPNEWS. Standings NCC Over.
Nebraska-Omaha 7-1 8-2
North Dakota 7-1 9-1
South Dakota 6-2 8-3
Minnesota Duluth 4-4 6-4
Augustana 3-5 5-6
Central Washington 3-5 6-5
Western Washington 3-5 4-7 - CORRECTED
Minnesota State 2-6 4-7 - CORRECTED
St. Cloud State 1-7 3-8