Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. – Northern State redshirt freshman quarterback
Jared Jacobson threw for 160 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 159 yards and a third touchdown to lead the Wolves to a 42-21 victory over the host Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football action.
The win – the second straight for the Wolves – gave NSU their first four-win season since going 5-6 in 2007. With one game left on the 2011 slate, the Wolves stand at 4-6 overall and 3-6 in NSIC play. The Dragons slipped to 2-8 overall and 1-8 in the loop.
Jacobson and the Wolves needed just one offensive play to put points on the board, taking over at the Dragon 45-yard line after a three-and-out by the Dragons to open the game. Jacobson found junior Chris Morton for a 45-yard touchdown pass, giving the Wolves a lead they would not relinquish.
The Wolves would score again on a
Mike Bogdanovich one-yard plunge that capped a 16-play, 81-yard drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock and gave the Wolves a 14-0 advantage, but the Dragons were not content to go quietly.
The MSU Moorhead Dragons forced the Wolves into a three-and-out punt situation deep inside NSU territory and took advantage of a short NSU punt that set them up on the Wolves' 37 yard line. Quarterback Kevin Koch scrambled for 15 yards, then threw two completions to Kendall Hendon and Phil Herkenhoff, the second an 8-yard strike, to cut the NSU lead in half, 14-7.
The Wolves responded on their ensuing possession, riding the leg-work of junior tailback
Kristin James and Jacobson, who combined for 69 rushing yards culminating in a 4-yard James run to put the Wolves back up by two scores.
MSU Moorhead regained possession of the ball with two and a half minutes to play and was able to milk the clock before scoring with just 10 seconds remaining in the half, sending the teams into the locker room with the Wolves holding on to a 21-14 lead.
The second half saw NSU quickly put even more distance between the Wolves and their hosts as NSU scored on their first three possessions of the second half. The scores came via a 49-yard James run, an 8-yard Jacobson pass to Morton and a 1-yard Jacobson run.
MSU Moorhead managed just one score on seven possessions with the NSU defense forcing the Dragons into four punts and two turnovers on downs.
Jacobson's 100-yard efforts in both the rushing and passing game was the first such performance by an NSU quarterback in more than a decade, while James chipped in another 82 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The Wolves gave up just 86 yards to the Dragon rushing effort, counter-acting an 8-catch, 132 yard receiving performance by MSUM's Kendall Hendon. Koch was 25 of 50 through the air for 246 yards and two touchdowns for the Dragons.
NSU returns home next weekend, closing out the regular season against the University of Mary. The Wolves will also honor their senior corps prior to kickoff, which is set for 1 p.m.
