MSU MOORHEAD RUSHES PAST NORTHERN IN SEASON FINALE

November 16 , 2002

ABERDEEN, S.D.: The Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons used 465 rushing yards to outscore Northern State 49-35 in each team's season finale at Swisher Field on Saturday.

MSUM came out of, what seemed to be a defensive game early on, up 7-0 after one quarter. But the Dragons put the Wolves in a 14-0 hole with 7:51 left in the second quarter before Ben Grinnell found the endzone for the Wolves on a 13-yard pass from Jake Parten with 4:59 left in the half.

Northern then tied the score on its next drive when Parten hit James Mansfield with just over a minute left in the second. But just when the Wolves thought they were going to the locker room tied, MSUM went 68 yards in just :24 to go up 20-14 at the half.

The Dragons started the second half out on the right foot as they intercepted Parten's first pass of the half at their own 45 yard line. The Dragons turned the interception into six points just two plays later when they scored on a 50-yard pass play.

The Wolves didn't go away at that point, however, as they found a quick strike offense of their own as Jake Parten hit Josh Martin on a 37-yard pass play to pull the Wolves within one touchdown at 28-21.

Moorhead upped its lead to 14 with 6:55 left in the third but NSU fought back again, scoring on its next drive on a Charlie Johnston reception of 38-yards for the TD.

Moorhead put the lead to 14 again on the first play of the fourth quarter but NSU matched their score once again when Parten hit Martin for his second score of the day on a 6-yard score to make it 42-35 with 12:23 to go in the contest.

Moorhead tacked on another score with 4:32 to go in the game as the Wolves would not possess the ball in Dragon territory in the last 12 minutes and MSUM finished the game with the 49-35 victory.

Notes from the game:

--MSU Moorhead finished the game with 465 rushing yards and 587 total yards. Both marked the most that the NSU defense had given up all season.

--MSUM's Brad Duerr rushed for 177 yards while Shane Carter added 168 for the Dragons

--NSU's Jake Parten surpassed the 300-yard mark for the third week in a row with exactly 300 yards passing and five touchdowns on the day.

--NSU's Charlie Johnston led the Wolves in receiving once again with five catches for 116 yards and one touchdown.

--Ronnie Cruz led the Wolves' rushing attack with 62 yards on 17 carries.

--The NSU defense was led by Anthony Castro who finished the day with 11 tackles (6 UT, 5 AT). Justin Briese finished with ten tackles and a fumble recovery.