St. Cloud, Minn. – After two tough losses at home, the Northern State University football team bounced back Saturday afternoon, defeating St. Cloud State 21-16. The Wolves improve to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the NSIC North following the win.
The Wolves scored first on the second drive of the afternoon which started on their own 28 yard line. With NSU on the Huskies 34,
Hunter Trautman connect with
Cameron Eisenhauer for a 34 yard touchdown. The score was the second of the season for Eisenhauer.
Northern quickly added to their lead on the next drive off the efforts of
Noah MacPherson. The junior sacked Lawhorn, the SCSU quarterback, stripping the ball and recovering it for a 53 yard touchdown. The score marks the second defensive touchdown of the season for MacPherson.
NSU tacked on their final touchdown of the afternoon in the final minutes of the first quarter. Trautman connected for his second passing touchdown, but this time to senior
Cody Kraft. The 47 yard score was Kraft's first of the 2017 season. The St. Cloud defense held the Wolves at bay in the final three quarters, as the offense answered back with 16 points of their own.
Northern tallied 19 first downs in the win, including 13 passing. They notched a game leading 395 yards of total offense, including 280 yards passing. The Wolves cleaned things up from a weekend ago, suffering just three penalties in the game. Offensively they converted on 6-of-18 third downs, and 2-of-2 fourth downs. Defensively, NSU led the game with three sacks fo a total loss of 26 yards.
Trautman threw for a career high 280 yards with two touchdowns. He averaged 10.4 yards per pass with a 47 yard long to Kraft.
Nicholas Truen nearly tallied his third 100-yard game of the season, rushing for 93 total yards. The senior averaged 5.8 yards per carry. Kraft led the receivers with 68 total yards on four receptions.
Noah MacPherson was an absolute animal on defense, doing it for the Wolves. He led the team with 11 total tackles, including two tackles for a total loss of 11 yards. The junior notched one sack for a loss of nine yards, as well as a forced fumble and fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Cody Braeger was second on the team with nine tackles.
Logan Shockman and
Zach Mohs each forced a fumble, while
Josh Coyle and
Landon Hoellein each recorded a sack.
On special teams,
Jacob Wiedrich punted for 149 total yards, averaging 29.8 yards per punt.
Nathan Shaw added 253 yards on kickoffs, averaging 63.0 yards per kick. The senior recorded both made PAT's and attempted in a 28-yard field goal in the third but missed.
Zech Culbreath led the returners with 41 yards on kickoffs.
NSU returns to action this Thursday in their final home game of the 2017 season. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. between the Wolves and the visiting Marauders of U-Mary in the MidcoSN Game of the Week.
