Box Score

CROOKSTON, Minn. -  Northern State University junior Chad Morrison ran for three touchdowns despite seeing limited action, while freshman Matt Anderson racked up a career-high 89 yards on the ground to spark the Wolves to a 38-0 blanking of the University of Minnesota, Crookston Golden Eagles Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football action.

The win marks the first of the season for the Wolves, who also gave head coach Tom Dosch his first win at the helm of the NSU program.  NSU, which used a myriad of different offensive looks to compensate for a bevy of injuries, particularly at the running back position, is now 1-6 overall and 1-5 in NSIC play.  UMC fell to 1-6 on the year and remains winless at 0-6 in conference action.

The Wolves set the tone in the first quarter, as they controlled the ball for 12 minutes and 30 seconds of the period. After the Wolves drove for a touchdown on their opening possession, the Golden Eagles took possession of the football for exactly one play.  NSU senior Adam Carvajal picked off UMC quarterback Tim Ennis, gathering up a deflected pass and returning it 13 yards to set up the Wolves deep inside UMC territory.

NSU capitalized on the opportunity, scoring on the first of three Morrison scores.  The Wolves then forced the Golden Eagles into a 4-and-out possession before regaining control of the ball at the 3:22 mark.

Senior Thomas Parrott drilled a 43-yard field goal while Morrison added a second 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter to put the Wolves up 24-0 at the break.

The Golden Eagles came out firing to start the second half, riding eight straight Keith McBride carries for three first downs and their best scoring opportunity of the day.  The Wolves, however, had different ideas, as they came up with a key defensive stand to stop UMC just short of a first down on fourth-and-four.  Redshirt freshman Logan Dosch up-ended Antoni Williams following a 3-yard reception from Ennis, giving the Wolves the ball back.

After trading punts on the next two possessions, the Wolves struck again on their second possession of the half, as junior Nick Wanner capped a 7-play, 56-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run to make it a 31-0 affair.

Morrison added his third TD run of the day late in the fourth quarter to round out the day's scoring.

The Wolves used five different players at the running back slot, including senior wide receiver John Michael Migdal and junior quarterback Wanner.  The five-man corps racked up 290 yards on the ground, while the Wolves' defensive unit held the Golden Eagles to just 135 yards of total offense on the day.  Fifteen of those yards came through the air, while 102 came on the legs of the senior tailback McBride.

NSU returns home next weekend to host the University of Minnesota-Duluth.  The Bulldogs are ranked second in the latest AFCA Top 25 poll and hold down the top spot in the d2football.com rankings.  Game time for Saturday's contest is set for 2:30 p.m.