MOORHEAD, Minn. – Minnesota State Moorhead football moved to 2-0 on the season in a swarming effort against Concordia-St. Paul. The Dragons claimed the NSIC opener from the Golden Bears, 48-30.
The victory is
Steve Laqua's 75th career win as leader of the Dragons.
Moorhead would possess the ball first and would waste no time in moving their offense down the field. Quarterback
Drew Huebner would use a combination of his arm and legs to move the Dragons to the CSP 34-yard line. Huebner completed passes to
Kalen Lucas and
Kelly Johnson early on. The sophomore would find fellow classmate
Reggie Bruner on the ensuing play for a 31-yard pickup. Huebner delivered a strong sideline pass while Bruner did an immaculate job keeping a foot in bounds.
The ensuing Dragon play would see Huebner call his own number, scoring from three yards out to give MSUM a 7-0 advantage. Concordia-St. Paul would do a nice job in response, driving to score a touchdown of their own midway through the first period. The Golden Bears trailed 7-6 after missing a point-after try. CSP would continue its momentum as MSUM was driving again. The Golden Bears would intercept Huebner on a tip drill pass to regain the ball.
Concordia-St. Paul would take their first lead of the contest as the second quarter commenced. The Golden Bears capitalized on the turnover, leading 13-7 with MSUM looking to respond. Moorhead would do just that as Huebner showed off his short-term memory on the ensuing drive. The Morris, Minn., native found
Seth Staloch for 24 yards on the drive, followed by another connection to Johnson. With the Dragons at the CSP 18-yard line, Huebner delivered a strike to Lucas along the sideline. Just as two Golden Bears were converging on Lucas, he juked right, walking into the end zone in the process. The stellar play from Huebner and Lucas would even the score at 13 points.
After Concordia-St. Paul punted on their ensuing drive, MSUM would gather the lead once more. Moorhead would get to the CSP five-yard line before Huebner used his legs again, scoring on the ground to post a 20-13 Dragon lead. After another CSP punt, Moorhead was off and running (literally) as
Tyson Brandt got going to start the series. A 35-yard connection between Huebner and Johnson placed the Dragons at CSP's 23-yard line. It took only one play from there as Huebner fired a perfect bullet past the Golden Bear secondary and into the arms of the leaping Johnson. The senior did an incredible job of holding onto the ball throughout the play, arming the Dragons with a 27-13 lead.
Moorhead would carry that lead into the halftime locker room with CSP earning possession to start the second half. MSUM's defense would offer a spark on the half's first drive as
Zach Dahl forced a fumble, which was recovered by
Dean Lempka. The turnover placed MSUM at the Golden Bear 27-yard line, needing only three plays to score again. Huebner connected with Johnson for a second time to lift the Dragon lead to 34-13.
Credit is due to Concordia-St. Paul, who played hard despite the growing deficit. The Golden Bears notched a touchdown late in the third period to bring the score to 34-16. However, Moorhead was there to respond again after earning strong field position.
Owen Wiersma and Brandt would help move the Dragons to the CSP one-yard line. Brandt took care of business from there, scoring from a yard away to post a 41-16 lead for MSUM.
The Golden Bears would score early in the final period to cut their deficit to 18 points (41-23). MSUM would put together a time-consuming drive from there, using 10 plays to travel 75 yards. Wiersma and
Kevon Johnson led the charge while quarterback
Timmy Guler capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run. While Concordia-St. Paul would score before time expired, Moorhead controlled action in the 48-30 victory.
Huebner was dynamite again, accumulating 341 yards of offense and five touchdowns. Johnson was Huebner's reliable option all evening, catching nine passes for 117 yards and two scores. The Dragon defense was disruptive as well behind nine total tackles from sophomore
Jake Schaefer. Moorhead's defense tallied seven tackles for loss in the win to go along with a pair of sacks.
Top Dragons
- Drew Huebner: 17-28, 240 yards, three touchdowns, 13 carries, 101 yards, two touchdowns
- Kelly Johnson: Nine receptions, 117 yards, two touchdowns
- Jake Schaefer: Nine total tackles, five solo
- Kalen Lucas: Five receptions, 60 yards, one touchdown
- Abe Monson: Seven total tackles
- Owen Wiersma: Five carries, 61 yards
- Tyson Brandt: Seven carries, 55 yards, two touchdowns
Steve d'Eustachio's Stat of the Game
Tonight marks the first time the Dragons have started a season with two consecutive home games and won them both since beating Concordia (Moorhead) 35-32 on Sept. 8, 1990, and Nebraska-Kearney 37-7 a week later.
Up Next
MSUM (2-0, 1-0 NSIC) hits the road for the next two weeks in NSIC action. The Dragons will battle Sioux Falls on Saturday, September 12 beginning at 1 p.m.
