Wolves sunk 12-2 at Concordia-St. Paul slop bowl

Sept. 22, 2001

In what Coach Heupel described as the muddiest conditions he's ever seen in his 14-year coaching career, Northern State fell 12-2 at Concordia-St. Paul Saturday afternoon.

Heupel made no excuses, however, as both teams had to play through the muck and mire that was C-SP's Griffin Stadium. The rains came hours before the game and lasted for much of it, putting a stop to both teams' passing offenses and leading to 11 fumbles on the day. Northern accounted for only three of them, but each was crucial, as C-SP either scored off the recovery or a Wolves drive was thwarted deep in C-SP territory. The Golden Bears coughed up the ball eight times, but only lost possession three times. And NSU wasn't able to turn the tide those turnovers.

The Golden Bears offense was first able to take advantage of a Northern fumble on the Wolves 30-yard line late in the first half and sustain a drive without a fumble or turnover long enough to score and take a 6-0 halftime lead. Another fumble deep in Wolves territory near the end of the third quarter led to a 14-yard scoring drive at the beginning of the fourth quarter for C-SP.

The Wolves had their chances to come back in the fourth, but again the slick ball did them in. A fumble on the C-SP six-yard line and a dropped pass in the end zone from the C-SP three-yard line were final proof that the team's luck just wasn't going to turn around. NSU's only score was a strategic play by C-SP, as Golden Bear quarterback Mike Allen purposely ran out of the back of the end zone to give the Wolves two points instead of risking a punt from the back of the end zone and possible defensive touchdown off a bobbled snap or block. C-SP was then able free kick from the 20-yard line and rely on their defense to stop the Wolves from still having to score twice with only three minutes left on the clock.

NSU's offense was able to mush out only a little over 100 yards on the day. Senior back Tefua Bloomfield (Kearns, Utah) rushed for 68 yards, while junior quarterback Jake Parten (Sioux City, Iowa) was 4-of-11 with for 52 yards and one interception. His target for each of the receptions was senior wideout Cody Jamison (Murray, Utah). Senior safety and punter Jared Harward (American Fork, Utah) had a good day punting despite the conditions, averaging nearly 37 yards per on six punts. Defensively, junior safety Jason Pleasant (Port Hueneme, Calif.) and senior middle linebacker Sam Mounga (Kearns, Utah) led the way for NSU with eight tackles apiece. Pleasant also had a fumble recovery.

C-SP was led by running back Chris Washington, who gained 158 yards on 39 carries. In all, the Golden Bear offense accounted for 217 yards.

The win kept Concordia's undefeated season intact at 4-0 and 2-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, while NSU dropped to 1-3 and 1-1. Northern hopes to rebound in time for the homecoming game against Bemidji State, which is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Swisher Field.