Team Notes

Minnesota Duluth
UMD’s quest for third NCAA II national title in six years continues this Saturday with a second-round playoff bout at Northwest Missouri State University. The Bearcats are seeded first in Super Region 3 and received a first-round bye while the No. 4 seeded Bulldogs crushed Emporia State University 55-13 Saturday afternoon in their playoff opener.
In that 55-13 home victory, redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Bauer rushed for 173 yards and four touchdowns -- both career highs -- on just 14 carries in his collegiate postseason debut. Junior running back Austin Sikorski added another 122 yards on the ground -- for his fifth 100-yard rushing day of the year -- and one score while the UMD defense held Emporia State to just 171 total yards (including -2 yards via the rush), some 342 yards  below its per game average. They also sacked Hornet quarterbck Corben Jones seven times (one shy of the UMD single-game record) and intercepted five of his passes.
The Bulldogs are 12-5 all-time in the NCAA II playoffs and that includes a 2-1 mark against Northwest Missouri State. The Bulldogs downed the Bearcats 17-13 in the 2010 semifinals in Duluth on their way to the national title and 21-14 in the 2008 championship game in Florence, Ala. UMD’s first-ever NCAA II postseason appearance came in 2002 against Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo., where the Bulldogs fell in a shootout, 45-41.
Saturday’s game will feature the two most successful program in NCAA II football over the past six seasons. Since 2008, the Bulldogs have racked up the most victories (73) and the best winning percentage (.901 off a 73-8 record) while Northwest Missouri State is next with 72 and .867 (72-11).

Minnesota State
Minnesota State won its second straight NSIC Championship and has now won its last 22 NSIC games dating back to week one of the 2012 season.
MSU owns a 32-41-4 all-time record against St. Cloud State, including a 25-21 win in their previous meeting last season. This will be the first time the Mavericks and Huskies have faced each other in the NCAA Tournament.
Minnesota State owns a 4-6 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, including a 2-1 mark last season. The Mavericks are also 2-2 in postseason games at Blakeslee Stadium.

Southwest Minnesota State
Southwest Minnesota State will be making its first postseason appearance since 1990 – and just the third in program history – when the Mustangs take on Pittsburg State (Kan.) at the 48th Mineral Water Bowl on Dec. 7 in Excelsior Springs, Mo. SMSU appeared in the 1987 and 1990 NAIA playoffs, losing in the first round both years.
SMSU junior running back Tyler Tonderum (5-11, Armstrong, Iowa) has been selected as one of nine national finalists for the Harlon Hill Award, which is given annually to the top player in Division II football. The announcement was made on Nov. 25 by the Harlon Hill national committee. Two weeks agao, Tonderum became the first SMSU player in program history to be named a Harlon Hill regional finalist. Tonderum enters this week ranked second in Division II and fourth in all of NCAA football with 1,979 yards rushing on 315 attempts with 18 touchdowns. He has also caught 32 passes for 274 yards and one touchdown. In this week’s Division II statistics, Tonderum ranks second in rushing yards, third in all-purpose yards (209.3), 11th in rushing touchdowns and 14th in scoring (10.4). Tonderum has rushed for more than 100 yards in nine of 11 games and has rushed for more than 200 yards four times, including a school record 343 yards in a victory on Sept. 14. The 343-yard game is the highest among all Division II, FBS or FCS teams this season. He set the NSIC single-season rushing record and has also set seven school single-season records and two single-game school records.

St. Cloud State
#12 St. Cloud State upset #4 Henderson State, 40-28 in first round action of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Huskies, #6 in Super Region 3 will play at Minnesota State University, Mankato on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 12 noon. The Mavericks are ranked #1 in the nation and #2 in the region. Michael Walker (Walworth, Wis.) rushed for two touchdowns and threw for a third. He scored on runs of one and 40-yards and threw a 47-yard TD completion to Dan Brown (Sr., WR, Robbinsdale, Minn.) with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter to put the Huskies up 40-28. Walker finished the day with 14 carries for 76 yards.  Phillip Klaphake (Sr., QB, Princeton, Minn.) threw for one touchdown and ran for a second. He completed 21 of 36 passes for 263 yards. He scored on an eight yard run six minutes into the second half increasing the Husky lead to 34-21 after Henderson opened the half with a scoring drive. The Huskies outscored the Reddies 20-7 in the second quarter and held off Henderson State late in the game.  Chad Peterson (Sr., WR, Winona, Minn.) caught a personal career high eight passes for a season high 81-yards Brown finished the game with three catches for 92 yards and one touchdown. Matt Hentges (RFY, WR, Eagan, Minn.) caught a 14-yard touchdown pass and finished the day with two catches for 40 yards.

The Husky defense forced four fumbles, recovered two and intercepted two passes. Todd Bestgen (Sr., LB, Rochester, Minn.) had a career-high 11 tackles in the game including one sack and two quarterback hurries. Seniors Eric Poggenburg  (Sr., LB, Cedarburg, Wis.) and Marvin Matthews each had an interception in the game. Poggenburg , Miky Woods and Tate Christopherson each had nine tackles. St. Cloud State advances to the second round of the NCAA playoffs for the third time in school history. This will be the first NCAA postseason game between the Huskies and Minnesota State. The teams have a rivalry that dates back to the 1923 season.  The last match-up was in 2012 and resulted in a 25-21 MSU win at Husky Stadium.

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