Football Comes Up Short In a 45-12 loss to No. 19/21 Minnesota State

Saturday, September 17

St. Cloud, Minn.

3:00 p.m.

St. Cloud State

1-2 , 1-2

Minnesota State University - Mankato

2-1 , 2-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Minnesota State

St. Cloud State

Nate Meyer

Photo by: Maddie MacFarlane

Football Comes Up Short In a 45-12 loss to No. 19/21 Minnesota State

9/17/2016 7:20:00 PM | Football

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State's football team (1-2) fell to visiting No. 19/21 Minnesota State (2-1) by a 45-12 score on Saturday, Sept. 17, at Husky Stadium. The Mavericks were winners of the Travelling Training Kit for the second consecutive meeting with the victory. The game also was SCSU's Alumni and Family Weekend plus the university handed out stickers honoring Jacob Wetterling prior to the game.

Senior Jameson Parsons led all players in the contest with his seven catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. Parsons has nine 100+ yard game in his last 14 games. He also hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from senior Nate Meyer plus threw an eight-yard touchdown pass himself on a successful fake field goal attempt. Meyer connected on 19 of 32 passes for 295 yards plus a touchdown. Sophomore John Pass recorded 57 yards on his three catches. Sophomore tight end Sam Hartman tallied three catches for 41 yards. Redshirt freshman tight end Anthony Carver recorded 49 yards on his two catches. Junior Jaden Huff led the rushing attack with 50 yards on 13 carries. Junior Jerry Duckworth led the defensive effort with his nine tackles (eight solo) including a stop for loss. Junior Carvel Graham had eight stops in the game.

The Huskies were outgained in the contest by a 503 to 383 margin including 203 to 59 on the ground. Nick Pieruccini, who started last week at running back for the Mavericks, was the team's quarterback this week and completed 18-for-21 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the team with 109 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Ty Dennis caught a pair of passes for MSU for 106 yards and a touchdown. Brent Esser scored a pair of touchdown on his four catches. Cornerback Jared Gillespie returned an interception 71-yards for a touchdown.

SCSU scored first in the game on the fake field goal and passing touchdown from Parsons to redshirt freshman linebacker Graham Miller to complete the five play, 79 yard drive. The extra point was missed to give the Huskies a 6-0 lead with 11:23 remaining in the first stanza. The Mavericks answered quickly with Pieruccini throwing a touchdown pass to Eric Fuller to give MSU a 7-6 lead with 5:14 remaining in the first quarter after the made extra point from Anders Gelecinskyj.

The Mavericks took full control of the game in the second quarter in scoring 28 points to take a 35-6 lead at the break. The Huskies scored their other touchdown of the contest as Parsons hauled in a five-yard pass from Meyer to start the third quarter and cut the deficit to 35-12 after a missed extra point plus The touchdown reception completed the 12 play, 75-yard drive that chewed up 5:05 in clock time. A MSU field goal later in the third quarter and then the long interception touchdown return in the fourth made the final score 45-12.

St. Cloud State will next travel to Wayne, Nebraska to take on Wayne State on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium / Bob Cunningham Field.

Notes: SCSU is now 42-34-4 all-time against Minnesota State…The Huskies are still looking for their first win at home over the Mavericks since the 2011 season….The team dropped its record to 24-13 against the Mavericks since the programs started to play for the Travelling Training Kit in 1978…This is the second time in as many games at home that SCSU has faced off against a ranked opponent…The Huskies are now 10-9 against the NSIC South since the start of the 2012 season.