Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- In a game that went down to the final seconds, the Minnesota State University Moorhead football team fell short in a heartbreaker to St. Cloud State on Saturday, losing 39-37 at Alex Nemzek Stadium in Moorhead, Minn.

The Dragons (1-10) had the ball at their own 45-yard line with 56 seconds left but turned the ball over on downs and St. Cloud State (7-4) ran out the clock.

For the second straight week, it was a valiant effort by the Dragons against one of the top teams in the NSIC North Division.

"It's exciting to see our kids battle two weeks in a row in a back-and-forth game," MSUM head coach Steve Laqua said. "We keep changing momentum back-and-forth and hanging in there and going toe-to-toe with good opponents. It's a great indicator of the growth of our young team."

The game was played in cold, rainy weather throughout.

With starting quarterback Jake Hodge out with an injury, freshman Ryan Toelle made his first start for MSUM, completing 18-of-46 passes for 227 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior receiver Matt Birr had an outstanding game with seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, and also caught a two-point conversion and threw for a two-point conversion. Freshman Zayne Medhaug had three catches for 69 yards and a score, while freshman Adam Jiskra added a touchdown catch.

Senior Barik Williams also returned a blocked punt for a touchdown for MSUM. Senior Steve Parks had an outstanding game for MSUM with 11 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss. Freshman Shea DeJong, who clinched the NSIC season tackles title by finishing with 121 tackles, recorded 10 in Saturday's game.

SCSU struck first thanks to a 51-yard touchdown pass from Brad Meade to Chad Peterson just 1:19 into the game. After the Dragons punted, their defense forced a stop. On the SCSU punt attempt, Tyler Aldridge fumbled the snap, and MSUM sophomore Lomumba Ismail came through and tackled Aldridge for a loss, forcing the Huskies to turn it over on downs.

One play later, Toelle hit Birr for a 29-yard touchdown. On the extra point, the snap was mishandled, but Birr alertly picked up the ball and fired to Steve Schutz in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion, giving the Dragons an 8-7 lead with 10:55 left in the first half.

"Matt Birr as a senior stepped up and took full advantage of the opportunity," Laqua said. "He found a way to make plays."

SCSU struck with a big play again, as Philip Klaphake hit Eli Shoemaker for a 63-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score at 13-8 in the first quarter. The Huskies pushed the lead to 19-8 on a 39-yard pass from Klaphake to Shoemaker later in the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Dragon defense came up with a serious of key plays to keep the game close. The first was when Parks hit Klaphake and forced a fumble, which he recovered, at the Dragon 25-yard line. Later, after MSUM turned the ball over on downs at it 28-yard line when Lezan Tehir's knee touched down on a punt attempt, the Dragons forced a turnover on downs.

The Dragons then got the big play offensively, when Toelle found a wide-open Medhaug out of the backfield for a 56-yard touchdown. With the extra point, MSUM was within 19-15 with 5:38 left in the half. MSUM went into halftime down 19-15.

St. Cloud State struck quickly to open the second half, going 65 yards on two plays, scoring on a 12-yard run to push the lead to 27-15. MSUM's Chris Binford took the ensuing kickoff 54 yards into SCSU territory, and the Dragons turned that into points, as a 9-play, 44-yard drive was capped off by a five-yard run by Medhaug, bringing them within 27-22.

An interception by Jack Moro turned into a 5-yard touchdown run by Klaphake to push the SCSU lead back to 33-22. Again, the Dragons answered, with a 10-play, 63-yard drive, capped off by a 7-yard pass from Toelle to Jiskra. Birr caught the two-point conversion from Toelle to bring MSUM with 33-30. The big play on the drive were long runs by Medhaug and sophomore Brandon Schell and a 17-yard pass from Toelle to Birr.

"That is the maturity of a football team," Laqua said. "The difference in looking at our players 10 weeks ago -- the look in their eyes is completely different now. There is a higher level of confidence and a higher level of intensity."

SCSU extended the lead back to 39-30 when Klaphake broke free for a 94-yard score. The Dragons didn't go away, however. With time winding down, senior Uchenna Ogbonnaya broke through and blocked a punt, and Williams picked up the ball and returned it for a score, bringing MSUM within 39-37 with 1:49 left.

MSUM was unable to recover an onside kick; however, the Dragon defense forced a stop on downs, giving the Dragons one last shot with less than a minute left. However, they were unable to move the ball and turned the ball over on downs, falling two points short.

Schell finished with 56 yards rushing for MSUM. Sophomore Nick Seedorff has nine tackles, while Brody had eight.

The game was the final one for Dragon seniors Birr, Williams, Tyler Brody,  Ogbonnaya, Terrell Ayers, Parks, Jordan Chuinard, Shawn Marlowe, Cory Capra and TJ Womack.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Senior Tight End Shawn Marlowe scored seven career touchdowns versus seven different opponents (2009 – Valley City St. and Southwest Minn. St.; 2010 – Mary; 2011 – Robert Morris, Upper Iowa and Minnesota Duluth; 2012 – Northern St.); Senior Steve Parks had three tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery in his final game; and senior Matt Birr scored his first points (touchdown and a two-point conversion) since his two touchdowns against the University of Mary on October 10, 2009.