St. Cloud, Minn. – St. Cloud State University junior running back Michael Walker (Walworth, Wis.) caught the game winning pass as time ran out to give the Huskies a 51-49 upset win over #2-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday evening in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) match-up at Husky Stadium.
St. Cloud State improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC North. The Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season and dropped to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC North.
Junior quarterback Phillip Klaphake (Princeton) threw for a school record 466 passing yards, tied a single game record for touchdown passes with five, the most important an eight yard strike to Walker, and rushed for another touchdown.
He broke the old passing mark of 377 yards set by Jon Quesnel on Oct. 14, 2006 against Augustana College. He is the fourth Husky to throw five touchdown passes in a game and the first since Dan Kaczor threw five in 2004 against Western Washington.
Klaphake’s touchdown passes were to five different players as the Huskies rolled up 642 yards of total offense, third most in school history.
Walker scored two touchdowns and for the third time this season Walker rushed for over 100 yards. He finished the game with 12 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown and caught that game-winning pass for his only reception of the game.
“We tried to run the ball but it came down to having to throw it,” said St. Cloud State head coach Scott Underwood. “We found some holes and our offensive line executed very well and our receivers made some big plays.”
Junior receiver Chad Peterson (Winona) had a personal high seven receptions for 109 yards and one touchdowns. Junior receivers Eli Shoemaker (Graham, Wash.), Damon Treat (Fairfield, Calif.) and Renard Robinson (Bloomington) all had five catches each and Shoemaker and Robinson pulled in a touchdown pass.
Minnesota Duluth scored on their first two possessions of the game to take a 14-0 lead. A Taylor Berger (Ramsey) 23-yard touchdown reception and a 23-yard Tyler Aldridge (Woodbury) field goal with 5:42 left in the first half cut the UMD lead to 14-10. On the ensuing kick-off, UMD’s Justin Fawlkes returned it 80-yards for a touchdown. A Chris Blake interception gave the Bulldogs the ball with under two minutes to go in the first half. Four plays later UMD quarterback Chase Vogler scored on a one yard run to give UMD a 28-10 lead at the half.
St. Cloud State outscored UMD 20-7 in the third quarter on a Klaphake run, a 36-yard pass to Shoemaker and a 38-yard Walker touchdown run and the Huskies trailed 35-30 going into the fourth quarter.
Vogler scored on an 11-yard run early in the fourth but the Huskies answered with two touchdown passes to Robinson and Peterson. A two-point conversion gave the Huskies their first lead of the game, 45-42 with 2:09 left.
Three plays later, Vogler scored on a 35-yard run with 1:16 on the clock. The Huskies took over on their own 25-yard line following the kick-off.
Klaphake completed six of eight pass attempts in the final drive. He gained five yards on a third and one play to put the Huskies on the UMD 33. Back to back completions to Peterson put the Huskies on the UMD eight yard line. With :03 seconds left, SCSU called a time out and scored on the final play of the game.
Minnesota Duluth collected 367 yards of total offense and returned eight kickoffs for 205 yards and one touchdown. Vogler finished the game 11 of 25 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 120 yards and four touchdowns. Cameron Harper had a game high 11 tackles and the Bulldogs tallied four quarterback sacks and seven tackles for loss.
Junior defensive backs Jack Moro (Brookfield, Wis.) and sophomore back Kyle Risinger (Minnetonka) led the Husky defense with six tackles each. Risinger collected his first interception of the season.