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Northern State racked-up 455 yards of total offense and the defense intercepted four passes on the way to a 45-23 victory Saturday afternoon over St. Cloud State at Swisher Field. The Wolves improve to 5-3 overall on the season and 3-1 in the North.

Joe Parsley and Paul Woodward each picked off two passes in the win, two of which came in the end zone to help cushion Northern's lead. Woodward's one-handed interception in the end zone was probably the biggest defensive play of the day for the Wolves as it came with 12:20 left on first and goal with the Wolves up 35-23. Parsley's pick in the end zone happened with 1:06 left to play in the contest.

St. Cloud (3-5) got on the board first in the game in just one play as Nate Meyer hit Matt Hentges for a 53-yard touchdown pass and NSU found itself trailing 7-0 just over a minute into the game. However, the Wolves would respond just 58 seconds later on a Conner Doherty 50-yard touchdown catch from Jared Jacobson to tie the game. Doherty recorded career-highs with 10 catches for 175 yards in the win and also tied a career-best with two touchdowns.

St. Cloud would retake the lead with 3:44 left to play in the first quarter on a 17-yard run from Meyer. The Wolves however, responded again, going on an 11-play, 67-yard drive that was capped-off with a Cameron Pudwill three-yard touchdown run. After Woodward's first pick of the game, NSU scored to take the lead for good on a 53-yard touchdown catch from Zachery Barber to go up 21-14. The Huskies would hit a 46-yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-17, but Taylor Houchin responded for the Wolves with his first touchdown on the day from six yards out and Northern carried a 28-17 lead into halftime.

Doherty's second TD of the day opened the scoring in the second half, this time on a 48-yard beauty from Jacobson to put NSU up 35-17. After another St. Cloud score cut it to 35-23, the Huskies looked to have taken momentum but Woodward's interception changed that. Nathan Shaw hit from 42 yards out with 8:32 left to play to put Northern up 38-23. Houchin would later run it in from 45 yards out to seal the victory for the Wolves with 2:49 left.

Jacobson finished the day going 24-of-36 for 295 yards and four touchdowns. Cody Kraft caught four passes for 40 yards and Barber had three grabs for 52 yards and the one score. Jacobson led the Wolves ground attack with 61 yards on 11 carries while Nicholas Truen carried the ball 10 times for 40 yards. Houchin ended the day with 46 yards rushing.

Devin Olson led the Wolves defense with 10 total tackles while Woodward added nine and had six pass breakups. Alex Bernstein and Parsley each had seven stops in the win. Bernstein and Matt Thorson also had one tackle-for-loss each to lead the team.

NSU will hit the road next week for a 1 p.m. contest with U-Mary in Bismarck, N.D. The Marauders defeated the Wolves 28-14 last season in Aberdeen.