October 11, 2003

ABERDEEN, S.D . - Northern State's high powered offense proved itself again on Saturday afternoon gaining 667 total yards in its 51-14 victory over Minnesota, Crookston at Swisher Field.

NSU jumped out to a 24-0 lead with 11:21 to go in the second quarter before UMC took advantage of good field position to make the count 24-6 four minutes later.

The Wolves added a late quarter touchdown by Ronnie Cruz to give the home team a commanding 31-6 advantage at the break.

The Golden Eagles fought to get back in the game when, on the Wolves' first drive of the second half, Toby Korrodi had a pass intercepted and returned 78 yards for a UMC score bringing the count to 31-14.

NSU answered right back to put things out of reach when Korrodi found a wide open Matt Pinto who found the endzone on a 47 yard pass play.

NSU's defense would stand tough throughout the rest of the ballgame and the offense would add 13 more points before the gun sounded with a 51-14 Wolves victory.

Ronnie Cruz led the Northern State offense with 260 rushing yards on 37 carries falling 18 yards shy of the NSU school record of 278 set by Tyrone Morgan.

NSU also found its air attack effective as Toby Korrodi hit 19-of-39 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns.

Josh Martin hauled in five receptions for 101 yards on the game including one touchdown grab.

Defensively, the Wolves were led by all-American candidate Jason Carson who corralled 11 Eagle ball carriers and threw two for losses. NSU's Waleed Gaines broke up four UMC passes on the day, as well.

As a team, NSU's defense held UMC to just 181 yards of total offense while allowing just 46 on the ground. Coming into the game Minnesota, Crookston led the NSIC in rushing averaging over 208 yards per contest.

On special teams, Northern's Owen Olson tied his career long with a 42-yard field goal and was 3-of-3 on the day in three-pointers. He also hit a perfect 6-of-6 in extra point kicks.

NSU (5-1, 3-0 NSIC) will travel to the Twin Cities next weekend to face off against Concordia-St. Paul in a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the NSIC. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. in CSP's Griffin Stadium.

Complete Game Statistics