MARSHALL, Minn. – It was the tale of two separate teams when the Northern State Wolves football team faced off against Southwest Minnesota State, but not in the sense that one would normally think. A strong second-half showing by the Wolves was enough to overcome a 21-point halftime defecit, but a late touchdown by the Mustangs snagged a victory for the home team, as the Mustangs prevailed 39-31 in front of 1,323 fans at the Regional Event Center.
BOX SCORE
Southwest Minnesota State started the scoring on their first drive of the first quarter, as they capped off a nine-play 55-yard drive with a 9-yard TD run by Zach Wysong with 10:23 showing on the clock.
An ensuing three-and-out by the Wolves gave the Mustangs the ball on their own 28-yard line, and moved the ball to the Northern State endzone with a 72-yard drive that took 4:16 off the clock via a 8-yard TD pass by Josh Shudlick to Blake Wilson to put the home team in control with a 14-0 lead that stood until the end of the first quarter.
The offensive woes continued for the Wolves as a tipped-ball ended up in the hands of SWMSU's John Kersbergen, but the Northern defense held its own and forced a punt.
The Mustangs received the ball again after a Northern punt, and took the ball 61 yards for their third touchdown of the first half on a Bred Ballantine 24-yard pass from Josh Shudlick.
The home team got one more touchdown in the first half on a Derek Townsend 6-yard touchdown reception from Josh Shudlick with 4:17 remaining in the first half.
The Wolves were once again forced to punt, and on the first Southwest play of the ensuing drive, Northern freshman Jim Green tipped a Shudlick pass and then intercepted it to give the Wolves new life, and the ball at the Southwest 39-yard line.
The Green interception proved to be the spark the Wolves needed as they took only two plays to put a six up on the scoreboard after Trent DesLauriers caught a 29-yard touchdown from Eric Ellingson. Thomas Parrott added the extra point to put the score at 28-7 with :27 left on the clock, and the score would hold until halftime.
The Wolves came out with a fire in their eyes to start the second half, and the first installment of the newly-found moxy was a 37-yard kick return by Marty Ponzo to set the Wolves up at the Southwest 46-yard line. A facemask penalty on the play would place the ball at the Mustang 31-yard line. An 11-yard run by Tavis Ve'e and a 12-yard run by Eric Ellingson set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Ve'e to push the score to 28-14.
Southwest then went 56 yards on nine plays to go up 31-14 on a 28-yard field goal by Scott Talcott.
The Wolves answered quickly as a 15-yard pass to Brian Jark was followed by a bubble-screen to Jark that went for a 55-yard gain to the Southwest 5-yard line. Eric Ellingson then scampered the remaining five yards for a NSU touchdown to make the score 31-20 with 5:11 showing on the clock. The Thomas Parrott PAT attempt was blocked by Bryce Haessly, and the fourth quarter would start with the score at 31-20 in favor of SWMSU.
The Wolves would force a Mustang punt on their next possession, and then proceeded to march 80 yards on 14 plays that was capped off on an Eric Ellingson 2-yard TD run to bring the score to 31-26 with 12:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. The two-point attempt would be no good.
The Wolves defense once again stepped up in the second half to force a three-and-out, and after eight plays and 44 yards, the Wolves found themselves in need of seven yards on a fourth down. Quarterback Eric Ellingson faked to halfback Tavis Ve'e and found John Michael Migdal for a 17-yard touchdown to put the Wolves up 32-31 with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion would be no good.
The Wolves held the Mustang offense on fourth-and-five on the NSU 25-yard line when Bryar Johnson knocked down the Josh Shudlick pass to turn the ball over to the Wolves with 3:14 remaining in the fourth.
After three runs, the Wolves were forced to punt and the Mustangs took over on their own 29-yard line with 2:09 remaining in the game.
In what has been the luck of the Northern State team for the better part of the season, Mustang quarterback Josh Shudlick found Derek Townsend for a 60-yard touchdown to put the Mustangs up 37-32. The home team would then get the two-point conversion to put the score at 39-32 with 1:38 remaining in the game.
After the Mustang kicker booted the kickoff out-of-bounds, the Wolves took over at their own 40-yard line. After Eric Ellingson completed two consecutive passes to Brian Jark four 12 and 14 yards, respectively, the Wolves had a first down at the Southwest 34 yard line. After two incomplete passes and a 1-yard rush by Eric Ellingson, the Wolves faced a fourth down and were not able to convert.
The final score ended as 39-32 in favor of Southwest Minnesota State. The Wolves were led on offense by sophomore quarterback Eric Ellingson who completed 21 of 34 passes for 265 yards and four touchdowns (2 rush, 2 pass).
Tavis Ve'e led the Northern State rushing effort with 49 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown, and Brian Jark led all Wolves receivers with 107 yards on six catches. Trent DesLauriers and John Michael Migdal each had a touchdown reception.
Defensively, the Wolves were led by David Alvarez who recorded 8 total tackles including a 15-yard sack. Chris Hurd and Bryar Johnson each also recorded a sack, and Johnson also recorded 2 pass breakups on the afternoon.
With the loss the Wolves fall to 1-9 overall and 1-8 in the NSIC. They will be hosting the innagural Ethanol Bowl against Augustana College, which is also slated to be Senior Day for the 14 Northern State senior football players. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
