Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. - The Northern State University football team turned a pair of University of Minnesota, Crookston turnovers into touchdowns while racking up 413 yards of total offense to take an emphatic 35-0 win over the visiting Golden Eagles, capping the team's Gypsy Days celebration on a high note.
    The shutout victory is NSU's first in more than 13 years, as the Wolves last recorded a shutout on Sept. 23, 1995 when they took a 13-0 win over Southwest State in Marshall, Minn.
    The Wolves, who forced a trio of turnovers and held UMC to just 114 yards of total offense on the day, picked up their first win of the season and are now 1-5 overall and 1-4 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.  UMC fell to 2-4 overall and 1-4 in the league.
    NSU scored on three straight and four of its seven first half possessions en-route to a 28-0 cushion at the break.  Tavis Ve'e (Sr., Alameda, Calif.), returning to action for the first time in two games, scored the first of those, putting NSU on the board with 9:42 left in the first quarter on a 9-yard scamper.
    Sophomore running back Matt DeVine (Gettysburg, S.D.), who got the start at the tailback spot, followed with a 19-yard catch-and-run from sophomore quarterback Eric Ellingson (Riverside, Calif.).  That scoring drive was set up by a strong defensive play by senior defensive end Bryar Johnson (Litchfield, Minn.), who forced the ball out of the hands of UMC freshman quarterback Jake Poehler.  Senior Wes Uepi (Riverside, Calif.) recovered the ball and returned it 10 yards to set up the 39-second scoring drive for the Wolves.
    Ellingson, who completed 19 of 27 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns on the day, then gave the Wolves their third score of the game midway through the second quarter when he kept the ball for a 13-yard TD to the far sideline on a broken play scramble.  Sophomore kicker Thomas Parrott (Tampa, Fla.), who was a perfect 5-for-5 on PAT attempts, made it a 21-0 game on the ensuing extra point.
    The Wolves then welcomed junior receiver Brian Jark (Aberdeen, S.D.) back to the playing field as Ellingson delivered a 7-yard TD pass over the middle to make it a 28-0 game.
    NSU added its fifth score of the day late in the third quarter on Ellingson's third TD pass of the day, a 9-yard strike to sophomore John Michael Migdal (San Rafael, Calif.).
    Defensively, Johnson led the way for the Wolves, making seven tackles, including four solo stops and 2.5 tackles for a loss and forcing the first quarter fumble.  All told, the Wolves Blackshirts recorded 10 tackles for a loss and sacked UMC quarterback five times for 37 yards.
    The Golden Eagles rarely threatened offensively as they managed just one red-zone opportunity.  Sophomore linebacker Chris Hurd (Rapid City, S.D.) intercepted quarterback Tim Ennis to end the threat and keep the Goldean Eagles off the scoreboard.
    The road doesn't get any easier for the Wolves, who will travel to face 10th ranked Minnesota-Duluth next weekend in Duluth.  The Bulldogs were 52-10 winners over Minnesota State Moorhead earlier today.