MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team held on for a 21-20 win over Concordia-St. Paul in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday night at Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium.
MSUM is now 2-2 overall and in the NSIC while Concordia-St. Paul is 1-3 overall and in the league.
After committing 11 turnovers in the last two games, MSUM was turnover-free on Saturday. The Dragons took a 21-10 lead into halftime and as rain fell in the second half, stuck to a conservative plan on offense in order to avoid turnovers.
"That was the No. 1 priority, especially in inclement weather," MSUM head coach
Steve Laqua said. "We had the lead, and we wanted to just take care of the ball."
Senior linebacker
Abe Roehrich led MSUM with 11 tackles, while junior linebacker
Carter Thiel had nine tackles and a fumble recovery. Sophomore defensive lineman
Miles Baggett had eight tackles, including two for a loss, and a sack. Junior cornerback
Jerry Raye had six tackles and forced a crucial second-half fumble near the end zone. Sophomore defensive lineman
Derek Porozinski had a sack.
"In the end, we bent but we didn't break," Laqua said. "We held when we needed to hold."
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The last time the Dragons started 2-2 by going 1-1 at home and 1-1 on the road was Steve Laqua's first year as Dragons head coach (2011):
--Won at Robert Morris (Ill.) 28-17 on Sept. 3
--Lost at home to Winona St. 48-10 on Sept. 10
--Lost at Upper Iowa 45-31 on Sept. 17
- Won at home over Minnesota Crookston 29-22 (ot) on Sept. 24
Junior running back
Jonathan Kabambi had the first 100-yard rushing game of his career, posting 120 yards on 23 carries. Senior running back
Austin Stone had 63 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. Senior quarterback
Demetrius Carr was 17-of-25 passing for 156 yards and one touchdown and no interceptions. Senior receiver
Hunter Braaten had six catches for 51 yards while redshirt freshman
Grady Bresnahan caught five passes for 66 yards and a score.
CSP scored on the opening drive of the game, going 12 plays, 78 yards, to take a 7-0 lead. Later in the quarter, after a 24-yard punt return by Bresnahan and a personal foul penalty on CSP, the Dragons scored quickly as Bresnahan caught a 28-yard touchdown from Carr with 3:27 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Dragons went on a seven-play, 68-yard drive and scored on a 9-yard run by Stone to make it 14-7. The Golden Bears kicked a field goal to make it 14-10 with 8:49 left in the half.
Stone added a 16-yard touchdown run to make it 21-10 with 3:50 left in the half, and that was the lead the Dragons took into halftime.
CSP cut the lead to 21-17 with 8:04 left in the third. The Golden Bears were threatening later in the third when Raye hit CSP quarterback Ron Johnson near the goal line and forced a fumble, which ended up in the hands of Dragon senior
Drew Lingle.
"That was a huge play," Laqua said. "We were able to stop points from going on the board and it also gave us some momentum."
The Golden Bears added a fourth-quarter field goal to cut the lead to 21-20.
Trailing 21-20, CSP had the ball twice in the fourth quarter, but the Dragon defense got stops twice to preserve the one-point advantage.
MSUM took over at its own 32-yard line with four minutes left. Kabambi, who had 29 rushing yards on seven carries on the final drive, converted two third-and-shorts to keep the Dragon drive alive and run the clock out.
"We ended the game with the ball in our hands," Laqua said. "Kabambi did a nice job. It says a lot about your program when your backups come in and do the job."
MSUM is at Northern State on Sept. 30.
