Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State University hosted the nation's top-ranked running back and sixth-ranked rushing offense in the University of Minnesota, Crookston and turned the Golden Eagles' own game against them, racking up 322 yards on the ground, 474 overall, and rolling to a 45-21 victory over UMC in NSU's 56^th Annual Shrine Game on Saturday afternoon.
 
Junior tailback Kristin James posted 246 of those yards, fifth most on the NSU record books.  The effort marked the first 200-yard effort by an NSU player since Rudy Jones ran for 212 yards on Oct. 23, 2004.  James also found the end zone four times and hauled in one pass for seven yards.
 
The win snapped a five-game skid for the Wolves, who moved to 2-5 overall and 1-5 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.  UMC dropped its sixth straight and now stands at 1-6 on the season and 0-6 in the loop.
 
The Golden Eagles and top-ranked running back Richard Haley ran for 258 yards as a team.  Haley, who was averaging 170.8 yards per game, tallied 138 yards and three touchdowns.  Quarterback A.J. Barge added 117 more, while passing for another 62, but the NSU onslaught was too much for the Golden Eagles to overcome.
 
The Wolves took a 21-7 lead into halftime break, taking momentum from a 32-yard strike from Nick Wanner to Chris Morton with 1:28 left in the half.  UMC cut it to 21-14 on their first possession of the third quarter, but three straight James TD runs put the Wolves in the drivers' seat for good.
 
James scored the first of those on a 74-yard TD sprint on the first play from scrimmage following the UMC touchdown drive.  He scored again on two plays following a blocked Barge punt that set the Wolves up near midfield, then capitalized on a surprise on-side kick-off that gave the Wolves the ball back again near midfield for the short-field drive.
 
Redshirt freshman Evan Nolte chipped in a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to cap the NSU scoring.
 
Aside from handing the ball off to James, NSU's Nick Wanner was 12-for-17 passing for 143 yards and one score, spreading the ball to six different players.  Morton and redshirt freshman Jordan Piatz hauled in four catches apiece for a combined total of 105 yards.
 
Defensively, the Wolves were led by senior linebacker Mike Bogdanovich, who had eight tackles.  Logan Dosch had six stops and a forced fumble, while Marquis Mulkey added five to go along with his second interception of the season.
 
UMC's Cecil Brown had 13 tackles, while Free McCullough added 11 and a forced fumble for the Golden Eagles.
 
The Wolves return to the road next weekend to face defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth in an NSIC North Division match-up.  Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. in Duluth.