NSIC Players of the Week

#34 Steven Miller (LB, 6-0, 218, So., Sioux Falls, S.D./Harrisburg HS) had a big day on both special teams and the defensive side of the ball for Augustana. Miller swung the momentum in the Vikings’ favor on Bemidji State’s second possession of the game when he disrupted a pitch and recovered a fumble. The recovery set up Augustana’s first score of the game, a 30-yard field goal. Later in the first half, Miller broke through the line and blocked a Bemidji State punt that was recovered by Teagan Brown and returned 18 yards for a touchdown. Miller finished the game with five tackles, including three solo stops.
#3 Noah Huisman (WR, 6-3, 203, Sr., Mason City, Iowa/Mason City HS) caught six passes for 60 yards in Augustana’s win over Bemidji State on Saturday. Included in his six catches, Huisman caught a 20-yard pass and a 13-yard touchdown pass which gave Augustana a 24-0 lead late in the third quarter.
#1 Lucas Wainman (K/P, 6-0, 234, So., Oviedo, Fla./Paul J. Hagerty HS/St. Olaf College) was called upon nine times to punt for Augustana on Saturday. The sophomore accounted for 353 punting yards, averaging 39.2 yards per punt, while booting a 52-yard punt and landing two touchbacks. Wainman was also 3-for-3 on extra point attempts and hit a 30-yard field goal to open the scoring in the game for Augustana.

Bemidji State
The Bemidji State suffered a 24-0 loss at Augustana Saturday. The Beavers trailed 17-0 at the half and allowed a touchdown in the third quarter to fall 24-0. BSU was only out-gained 265-208, but could only muster nine first downs. BSU failed to rush for more than 100 yards for the third consecutive game. Redshirt-freshman Ryan Shields started at quarterback for the Beavers, but was only in for one possession before senior Alex Hass replaced him behind center. Hass went 7-for-17 for 102 yards. Defensively, the Beavers were led by their top tackler, sophomore linebacker Connor Quinn. He totaled eight tackles (four solo) with one tackle for loss (-1 yard). His 29 tackles this season ranks second in the NSIC. BSU (1-2, 1-2 NSIC) now hopes a homecoming contest against Southwest Minnesota State University (2-1, 2-1 NSIC) Sept. 28 can end a two-game losing streak. SMSU is on a two-game win streak after defeating Minot State University at home 37-21, Sept. 20. The Beavers are 21-20-1 all-time against the Mustangs and own a 12-game winning streak in the series, dating back to 1998. Jeff Tesch is 13-2 in his career as the Beaver head coach. The last meeting between the team occurred in 2011, when the Beavers downed the Mustangs 41-10 in Bemidji, Minn.

Concordia-St. Paul
Concordia-St. Paul fell 34-3 to No. 23 St. Cloud State on Saturday evening as part of Day of Heroes, Concordia’s fifth annual Military Appreciation Day at Sea Foam Stadium. Concordia has captured two NCAA Game Environment Awards for past Military Appreciation Day games … The Golden Bears fall to 0-3 against SCSU … Concordia was off to the program’s first 2-0 start since 2004 and seventh overall 2-0 start since 1969 when the program began … this Saturday, Concordia hits the road for the final week of non-divisional games and will take on MSU Moorhead at 2 p.m. … the Golden Bears are 8-1 all-time against the Dragons with three straight wins … the last time Concordia lost to MSU Moorhead was in 2006, a 20-18 defeat in Moorhead, Minn. … Concordia is 4-1 all-time on the road at MSUM … the last time the two programs met was in 2009 in Moorhead, a 45-35 win for Concordia.

University of Mary
Craig Bagnell (QB, 5-10, 185, Sr., Polson, Mont. / Polson) threw for over 300 yards for the second straight week and 11th time in his career to lead the U-Mary to a 17-10 win over Sioux Falls. Bagnell completed 26-of-49 passes for 323 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He completed passes to ten different receivers and also ran for 10 yards. On the Marauders winning 79 yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, Bagnell was 4-of-4 for 46 yards and also scrambled for nine more. In his career the Polson, Mont., native has thrown for 7,271 and 59 touchdowns, both second all-time at U-Mary... Nick Jolliffe (WR, 6-2, 190, Jr., Bismarck, N.D. / Bismarck) caught a game-high six passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. His six touchdown receptions in three games this season leads the NSIC. He is second in the league in catches with 22. Vince Ferrante (RB, 6-0, 220, Jr., Martinez, Calif.,) scored the game-winning touchdown with a one yard plunge late in the fourth quarter. In his first season at U-Mary, the junior from Martinez, Calif., and Diablo Valley Community College, ran for 56 yards on 16 carries. He ran for 24 yards on five carries during the Marauders winning touchdown drive.
Grant Singer (LB, 6-1, 215, Jr., Turtle Lake, N.D. / Turtle Lake-Mercer) thwarted one potential touchdown drive with a big hit and led the Marauders in tackles. With USF on the Marauders seven yard line in the second quarter and poised to take the lead, Singer blitzed from the blind side and separated the Cougars quarterback from the ball. Tylar Kist recovered the ensuing fumble. Singer finished the game with nine tackles (three solo), two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. The all-conference linebacker is third in the NSIC in tackles for loss and fourth in total tackles...
The victory over USF was the 99th career win for Marauders head coach Myron Schulz in his 15th season leading the U-Mary football program.
Preston Tescher (DB, 6-0, 195, So., Bismarck, N.D. / St. Mary’s) had eight tackles, including four solo stops and one for loss, intercepted a pass and broke up another as the Marauders gave up just 95 yards passing to USF.

Minnesota Crookston
Justin Tago Su’e (Fr., WR, Ewa Beach, Hawai’i) had a breakout performance in his third game in the Maroon and Gold as the freshman had eight receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown to help spark the UMC offense to nearly 400 yards. UMC was in the game late and attempted to make a late comeback versus Wayne State but fell 41-25. Tago Su’e had just one reception for one yard in the previous two games for the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Duluth
After being saddled with its first NSIC home defeat in 13 years and its first regular season setback at Malosky Stadium since the 2009 finale this past weekend, UMD will look to bounce back on Sept. 28 when it pays a visit to Wayne State. The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-17 loss to Minnesota State, a game which was played in front of the fourth largest crowd in Malosky Stadium history (5,723) and featured two Top 10 nationally-ranked clubs (No. 7 UMD and No. 2 MSU). Redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Bauers had the most productive day of his young collegiate career against the Mavericks, establishing personal bests for pass completions (he was 17 of 23), passing yards (173) and  touchdown passes (two). He also rushed for a game-high 79 (on 18) carries in the setback.Saturday night marked the first time in 12 games the Bulldogs failed to create a turnover. They lost two fumbles of their own and threw their first pick of 2013, however. Prior to Saturday night, the last visiting NSIC club to walk out of Malosky Stadium with a victory in tow was Concordia University-St. Paul, which bested the Bulldogs 37-27 on Oct. 7, 2000. UMD is now 21-2 in its last 23 overall home games.
UMD has picked up points on its opening possession in all three games two date (two touchdowns and a field goal) and is outscoring the opposition 34-0 in the first quarter thus far.  
In the Bulldogs’ last trip to Wayne State (Sept. 17, 2011), the host Wildcats pulled out a 7-0 victory over then No. 1 UMD. That put the clamps on a number of impressive Bulldog streaks:  128 straight NSIC games without being shut out (going back to a 7-0 loss at Southwest Minnesota State University on Oct. 28, 1989). 23 consecutive road wins,  41 straight road victories against NSIC competition, and 17 consecutive wins (since the start of the 2010 season).   

Minnesota State
Jon Wolf (Sr., QB, 6-4, 230, Oak Forest, Ill.) led the Maverick rushing attack against Minnesota Duluth with 72 yards, to go along with one rushing touchdown. He also completed 9-of-17 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Nathan Hancock (Jr., SF,6-1, 192, Independence, Mo.)was involved in all three UMD turnovers in MSU’s 21-17 win. Hancock recovered a UMD fumble with 2:05 left in the third quarter at the Bulldog 34. The Mavericks would score the game winning touchdown on the first play of the next drive.  He then tallied his second turnover of the game as he picked off a UMD pass at the MSU 10 yard line. He then forced a fumble during the Bulldogs opening drive that was recovered by Minnesota State. He also finished second on the team in tackles against the Bulldogs with 10.
MSU forced three UMD turnovers in its 21-17 win at Duluth, while committing zero turnovers themselves.
Tyler Henderson led the Maverick defense with 11 total tackles, including eight solo tackles.
Nathan Hancock recorded an interception and a fumble recovery, while forcing another UMD fumble that was recovered by the Mavericks.
Connor Thomas rushed for 65 yards against the Bulldogs.
MSU posted 269 total yards of offense and average 5.1 yards per play against the Bulldogs.

MSU Moorhead
Preston Prince (WR/RB, 5-5, 157, So., Compton, Calif. / Verbum Dei HS) had the best day of his Dragon career Saturday during MSUM’s loss at Winona State. Prince caught five passes for a career-high 118 yards and a touchdown against Winona. He hauled in a 44-yard touchdown from sophomore quarterback Jake Hodge in the third quarter to bring MSUM within 24-21. Prince also rushed for 35 yards on six carries, and also averaged 21.3 yards per kick return. Prince leads MSUM in catches (14), receiving yards (201) and receiving touchdowns (three).
Lomumba Ismail (LB, 6-3, 219, Jr., Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS) had seven solo tackles and one assist during the Dragons loss at Winona State on Saturday. He was second on the team in tackles in the game and also recovered a fumble which set up the Dragons’ first touchdown. Ismail is third on the team in tackles this season with 21.
Wes Kramer (P/K, 6-3, 240, Jr., Northfield, Minn./Northfield) averaged 37.4 yards per punt on eight attempt during the Dragons’ loss at Winona State. Kramer had a long of 52 yards and also placed one inside the 20-yard line. For the season he is averaging 34.8 yards per punt and has placed three punts inside the 20.

Minot State
Minot State dug itself a 24-0 first-half hole and couldn’t recover as the Beavers dropped a 34-21 decision on the road at Southwest Minnesota State Friday in Marshall, Minn. The Beavers will look to regroup as they celebrate Homecoming 2013 with a 1:30 p.m. contest against Winona State, the first meeting between the two teams in football. Against Southwest Minnesota, MISU junior #9 Leon LaDeaux (WR, 6-3, 200, Jr., Port Orchard, Wash. / South Kitsap High School / Central Washington) as the transfer from Central Washington caught nine passes for a Beavers’ season-best 131 yards and a touchdown. He was joined by #23 Wayne Peters (WR, 5-10, 187, Sr., Carson, Calif. / Carson High School / Pasadena City College) as MISU wideouts with TD catches. Peters finished with seven receptions for 76 yards. #16 Zac Cunha (QB, 6-3, 233. So., Rocklin, Calif. / Roseville High School) had his highest pass total for the season, throwing for 280 yards and two scores, but had a season-worst three interceptions. On defense, the Beavers had three players in double figures tackling as SMSU finished with 90 offensive plays. Leading the way was #14 Uepati Fatilua (LB, 6-0, 208, Sr., Vallejo, Calif. / Bethel High School / Solano Junior College) finished with a season-high 15 total, including 12 solo tackles. #21 Jeff Buchert (DB, 6-2, 229, Sr., Plainfield, Conn. / Plainfield High School / Rochester Community College) and #40 Chad Marshall (LB, 6-2, 234, Sr., Hazen, N.D. / Hazen High School) had 11 each.

Northern State
Blaine Schmidt (5-10, So., DB, Gettysburg, S.D., Gettysburg HS) was all over the field defensively for the Wolves Saturday in their heart-breaking loss to Upper Iowa. Schmidt led Northern with a career-best 13 tackles in the game. Schmidt also recorded a tackle-for-loss and also forced and recovered a fumble at Northern’s own one yard line late in the third quarter Saturday.
Adrian Krupka (6-3, So., P/K, Land O’ Lakes, Fla., Sunlake HS) had a huge day in the kicking game for NSU Saturday. Krupka had four punts for a total of 182 yards (45.5 average per) against UIU, including a long of 59 yards. Two of Krupka’s punts went over 50 yards Saturday including one downed inside the 20. Krupka also hit Michael Alberts for a 25-yard pass on a fourth-down faked punt that kept a Wolves drive alive and led to a field goal that put NSU up 17-16.

Sioux Falls
The University of Sioux Falls football team fell to 1-2 on the season in a hard-fought road loss on Saturday, falling 17-10 to the University of Mary in front of a crowd of 2,739 at the MDU Resources Bowl. For the second consecutive game, running back Nephi Garcia and quarterback Luke Papillion gave strong rushing performances for the Cougars, but turnovers and penalties hurt USF, while the Marauders enjoyed a strong passing attack. Garcia rushed for 111 yards on 24 carries, his second straight 100-yard game, while Papillion rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown. The freshman signal-caller also completed 10-of-29 passes for 95 yards. Broughan Jantz led USF with 10 tackles, while Solomon St. Pierre and Clint Wilson each had eight. John Tidwell had six tackles and an interception, while true freshman Evan Gentry had six tackles and his first career sack. Thad Campbell and Jonathan Talbot each made seven stops for the Cougars. Austin Vanhove was USF’s leading receiver with four catches for 44 yards. Jace Bunkers averaged 35.4 yards on seven punts, including a career-long 71-yarder. He also had two punts downed inside the 20. The Cougars return home next week when they face the University of Minnesota Crookston at Bob Young Field. The Golden Eagles (0-3) are the last NSIC team that USF has not yet played since joining the conference.

Southwest Minnesota State
Junior running back Tyler Tonderum (5-10, 191, Armstrong, Iowa) - the nation’s leading rusher - ran for 135 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries and also caught three passes for 28 yards to lead SMSU to a 37-21 victory over Minot State on Friday night. Tonderum is the first SMSU running back to rush for over 100 yards in back-to-back games since 2008.
Senior linebacker Dashawn Miller (5-10, 237, Anaheim, Calif.) helped pace SMSU to its second straight victory with six tackles with five solo stops, while recording a career-high three sacks. Miller and the SMSU defense forced four turnovers in the victory over Minot State, helping SMSU to back-to-back victories for the first time since 2010. SMSU limited MISU to just seven points through three quarters and held the Beavers to just 336 total yards of offense, including just 56 rushing yards.

St. Cloud State
Damon Treat (Sr., WR, Fairfield, Calif.) returned two punts and one kick-off for a total of 106 yards. He had a kick-off return of 47 yards and a punt return of 41 to go with his seven receptions for 66 yards and one touchdown. This marked the third straight week that Treat has gone over the 100 yard mark in returns.
#23 St. Cloud State is off to its first 3-0 start since the 2007 season and first under current head coach Scott Underwood following a 34-3 win over Concordia-St. Paul. Phillip Klaphake (Sr., QB, Princeton, Minn.) continues to post solid numbers as he rushed for a touchdown and threw for two others, finishing the game 20 of 31 for 243 yards. Klaphake is closing in on 9,000 career passing yards as he has thrown for 8,576 in his career. His longest  completion of the day was a 41-yard touchdown to Michael Walker (Sr., RB, Walworth, Wis.). Walker also had a solid day as he scored twice in the first quarter, on a one-yard rush and that 41-yard pass play. He carried the ball 11 times for 68 yards.
Defensively, the Huskies were led by Tate Christopherson (Sr., LB, Maple Grove, Minn.) and Jack Moro (Sr., DB, Brookfield, Wis.). Christopherson had a team and career high eight tackles. Moro continued his march to the school record for interceptions, collecting the 16th of his career moving him closer to the school record of 19 that has held since the 1980 season. St. Cloud State will host Augustana College this Saturday as part of Celebrate! St. Cloud State weekend. The Huskies are 20-14 all-time against the Vikings since 1950. This will be the first meeting between these two teams since the 2010 season. The Vikings have won five straight over the Huskies. Current head coach Scott Underwood has an 0-3 record against his alma mater.

Upper Iowa
Chris Smith (RB, 5-8, Jr., Brown Deer, Wis., Brown Deer HS) rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns as Upper Iowa overcame turnovers and a NSU special teams touchdown to claim a 24-17 win and improve to 2-1.  Smith scored UIU’s first touchdown which tied the game at seven and then added an 11-yard scoring run with 35 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. The touchdown came as UIU trailed 17-16 and gave the visitors a five-point lead, 22-17.  This marks the third time in Smith’s career that he has rushed for more than 200 yards; the first two came as a freshman versus Wayne State (278) and Southwest Minnesota State (230).  Smith now has three of the eight 200 yard rushing days  in the history of the UIU program.
Ethan Douglas (LB, 6-3, Sr., Brodhead, Wis., Brodhead HS) recorded a team-high 9 tackles for the Peacocks and forced the fumble that gave Upper Iowa the ball for the game-winning drive.  Douglas posted 6 solo stops and 3 tackles for 11 yards of loss by NSU.  For the season, the senior middle linebacker has 22 tackles (tied for 22nd in the NSIC) and 4.5 tackles for loss (tied for 6th in the NSIC).
Trailing 17-16 with less than two minutes to play, Peacock linebacker Ethan Douglas forced a fumble as the Wolves looked to run out the clock; linebacker Alex Wahl jumped on the ball for Upper Iowa. A few plays later and with 35 seconds on the clock, Chris Smith scampered into the endzone from 11 yards away to give the Peacocks the lead. After a two-point conversion to Lucas Hefty, UIU had a 24-17 lead. The defense forced a turnover on downs to end the game and complete the successful escape act. Upper Iowa has now won its last three games against Northern State, altough the teams haven’t met since 2009.
The Peacocks will host the the University of Mary at Harms-Eischeid Stadium this coming Saturday, Sept. 28. Kick off is set for noon.

Wayne State
Senior running back Charlie Davidson and redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Osborn led Wayne State College to a 41-25 win at Minnesota Crookston Saturday afternoon.  For the sixth time in his last seven games dating back to last season, Davidson surpassed the 140-yard mark on the ground and finished with 172 yards on 26 carries and two scores against the Golden Eagles Saturday, scoring on runs of three and 35 yards.  Osborn, from Harlan, Iowa, accounted for four touchdowns Saturday completing 10 of 19 passes for 249 yards and three TD’s while rushing for another.  One of his TD passes was a 97-yard strike to junior Adam Stark, tied for the second longest passing play in Wayne State history and just one yard shy of tying the school record of 98 yards set in 1985 on a Ed Jochum to Sonny Jones play against Midland Lutheran.  Thanks to the play of Davidson and Osborn, the Wildcats racked up 459 yards of total offense in Wayne State’s first win of the season.
 
Winona State
Jack Nelson (QB, 6-4, 195, Fr., Byron, Minn.), making just his second career start, threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns in the Warriors’ 65-21 win over MSU Moorhead. Nelson completed 19 of his 27 pass attempts (70.4 percent), connecting with seven different receivers on the game. His four touchdown passes covered 21, 49, 33 and 5 yards, with three coming in the second half as the Warriors scored 41 unanswered points. Nelson was also able to use his legs effectively, breaking off a 43 yard run to set up the Warriors’ first touchdown of the game.
Ian Murray (LB, 6-3, 215, So., Plymouth, Wis.) had six tackles and a forced fumble as the Warriors beat MSU Moorhead 65-21. Four of Murray’s tackles were solo, while one came behind the line of scrimmage. His forced fumble was recovered by teammate Mike Barton and led to a Warriors score.
Alan May (WR, 6-2, 185, So., Adams, Minn.) had a great game returning punts, averaging 22 yards on five punt returns in the Warriors’ 65-21 win over MSU Moorhead. May had a 47 yard return in the second quarter that set up a Warrior touchdown while a 34-yard return in the third quarter also led to a WSU score. The sophomore ended the game with 196 total yards, making five receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown while on offense.

Past NSIC Players of the Week
9/9/13
OFF: Cole Jaeschke  - UIU
DEF: Connor Quinn - BSU
SPT: Lucas Wainman - Augie

9/16/13
OFF: Tyler Tonderum - SMSU
DEF: Troy Guptill - U-Mary
SPT: Elby Pope - U-Mary

9/23/13
OFF: Chris Smith - UIU
DEF: Nathan Hancock - MSU
SPT: Alan May - WSU

    #NSIC#