WOLVES BLANKED AT DULUTH

Oct. 20, 2001

When Minnesota-Duluth recovered a fumble deep in Northern territory and quickly punched it in for the first score of the day, it was an omen of the bad things to come for the Wolves. The Bulldogs routed Northern 48-0 Saturday in Duluth, all but ending NSU's chances for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship this season.

The play sparked Duluth's offense, which Northern had successfully stopped during its first two possessions of the game. The Bulldogs went on to score touchdowns on five of its next six drives in the first half to put the Wolves in a 42-0 hole entering the third quarter.

Meanwhile, NSU's offense never got on track despite senior running back Tefua Bloomfield's (Kearns, Utah) ever-consistent performance. Bloomfield broke the 1,000-yard season barrier by rushing 23 times for 111 yards. Duluth all but completely shut down the Wolves' passing attack, holding it to 5-of-30 for just 29 yards. Defensively, senior linebacker Booker T. Bell III (Diamond Bar, Calif.) led the Wolves with 10 tackles including one for loss.

Duluth's balanced offensive attack amassed 478 total yards on the day to NSU's 165. The Bulldogs improved to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the NSIC, while NSU dropped to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in league play.

The Wolves will try to get back on the winning track next week when Minnesota-Crookston comes to NSU for the home finale.