BOX SCORE

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University football team found a wildcat Saturday in their matchup against Southwest Minnesota State, as the visitors used the formation to their advantage in churning out 259 rushing yards in route to a 34-10 victory over the Wolves at Clark Swisher Field.

With the loss the Wolves fall to 2-8 overall on the year and 2-7 in the Northern Sun.

The Mustangs were the first to score as NSIC second-leading yardage passer Ryan Ratekin found Warren Matthews on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 6:57 remaining in the first quarter.

The Wolves would follow with a 12-play drive but could not get the ball into the end zone, and were forced to try a 43-yard field goal by Thomas Parrott.  Parrot knocked it over the crossbar to get the Wolves on the board for the first time in the game 7-3.

Southwest would score next on a Zach Wysong 33-yard run from the Wildcat formation.  The point after would be true to give the visitors a 13-3 lead at the 14:10 mark of the 2nd quarter. 

Ratekin would find Lester Lewis for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 1:17 remaining in the first half to put the Mustangs up 20-3 after the extra point.

Senior wide receiver Brian Jark would scoop up the ensuing kickoff and burn down the right sideline for a 55-yard gain down to the SMSU 23-yard line.  Two plays later junior quarterback Joei Fiegler found John Michael Migdal open along the left sideline for a 23-yard touchdown.  Parrott's extra point would be good bringing the score to 20-10, and it would remain until halftime.

The Wolves offense would stall in the second half, and SMSU would put together a 14-play drive and a 12-play drive that ate up nearly 13:00 of time in the second half to account for 14 more points.  Both drives, covering 91 yards and 87 yards, respectively, would be capped off by a touchdown run by Gannon Moore.   The final score would be SMSU 34, NSU 10.

Northern State was led by Joei Fiegler, who finished 21-33 for 219 yards and a touchdown.  He also had a costly red-zone interception in the first half.

Chad Morrison carried 13 times for 59 yards to lead the ground attack, while junior speedster Montrel Richardson was kept under wraps for most of the day, and totaled just 84 all-purpose yards, well below his season average.

Senior wide out Brian Jark finished with 168 all-purpose yards, 80 of it coming off eight receptions.  John Michael Migdal finished with 78 yards and a touchdown on four receptions in the game.

Defensively, senior Andrew Wanner led the way with 5.5 tackles.  Greg Henderson finished with five tackles and a fumble recovery in the losing effort.

The Wolves will close out their season next Saturday, November 7, when they travel south down I-29 to Sioux Falls, S.D. to tangle with the in-state rival Augustana Vikings.  Kickoff for that game is 1:00 p.m.

Northern State University is an NCAA Division II affiliated school participating in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and is located in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

**GO WOLVES**