Huskies rally for 30-23 victory over Minot State

Saturday, November 3

Minot, ND

1:00 p.m.

St. Cloud State

7-3 , 7-3

Minot State University

1-9 , 1-9

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

St. Cloud State

Minot State

Gregory Lewis rushed for a season-high 226 yards against Minot State Saturday.

Photo by: Sean Arbaut

11/3/2018 4:27:00 PM | Football

Box Score

MINOT, N.D. – The odds were not necessarily in the St. Cloud State University football team's favor Saturday afternoon. The team was facing Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) foe Minot State on the road, which meant less than ideal weather conditions.

Yes, there was snow.

Yes, there was wind.

Did that matter to the Huskies? Nope. Somehow, someway, St. Cloud State overcame those obstacles, including a 14 point deficit in the second half, to defeat Minot State 30-23 Saturday afternoon.

It was a tale of two halves for the Huskies, as they trailed the Beavers 16-9 at the half. In fact, Adam Stage (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) was the lone individual to score for St. Cloud State in the first half, as his three made field goals kept the Huskies within striking distance of Minot State's lead. The sophomore also gave St. Cloud State its lone lead of the first half early in the second quarter, as his 24-yard field goal gave the Huskies a brief 6-3 edge over the Beavers.

However, the slight lead did not last for very long. Minot State quarterback Ben Bolinske connected with receiver Lavante Bushnell for a 56-yard touchdown to regain a 10-3 lead for the Beavers. A 31-yard field goal from Stage cut the league back to 10-9 before a Kiante Goudeau pick-six gave Minot State an 11 five point lead at 16-9.

The Huskies hoped to come out strong at the start of the third quarter with a scoring drive of some kind, but it was the Beavers that ended up scoring first in the third quarter, one again on a St. Cloud State turnover. A fumble by senior running back Greg Lewis (Milwaukee, Wis. / Wauwatosa West) resulted in a touchdown for Minot State, giving the home team a 23-9 advantage early in the third quarter.

The Huskies, though, slowly but surely chipped away at the Beavers lead, as they scored on their next offensive possession following the fumble. Junior quatterback Dwayne Lawhorn (Germantown, Wis. / Germantown) connected with his favorite target John Solberg (Cambridge, Minn. / Cambridge-Isanti) for a 41-yard touchdown reception to cut the Minot State lead to 23-15. Stage then connected on the point after attempt (PAT) to bring the Huskies within a touchdown of the Beavers lead at 23-16.

St. Cloud State's defense then went to work, forcing a fumble on the Beavers next offensive position to give the Huskies offensive a chance to even the score or take the lead. Junior linebacker Matthew Lechner (Waukesha, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) forced the fumble by Bolinske while Payton Conrad (Tea, S.D. / Tea) recovered to give the Huskies possession with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Thanks to some outstanding runs by Lewis, St. Cloud State charged right down the field to score its second touchdown of the day to get within one of the 23-22 lead. In fact, it was Lewis who scored on 1^st and 10 from the Minot 15 to put the Huskies within one before Stage converted the point after attempt to even the score at 23-23. Of course, St. Cloud State was not done scoring in the fourth and final quarter, as Lawhorn took care of business himself on the Huskies next offensive possession with a three-yard run, allowing his team to take its second lead of the day at 29-23.

Naturally, Stage made it 30-23 with his third PAT of the afternoon, a score that would end up sticking for the final 10 minutes of play. Despite giving up two first downs on third-and-long, the St. Cloud State defense came up with multiple huge plays in the fourth quarter, including a sack from junior defensive end Graham Miller (Minneapolis, Minn. / Wasburn) and a big-time interception by junior Jake Bruner (Mequon, Wis. / Homestead) to stop a potential Minot State scoring drive in its tracks and cement the 30-23 victory for the Huskies.

The Huskies had a slew of strong offensive performances on the day, as both Lewis and Solberg ended with over 100 yards to their names. Lewis was St. Cloud State's top rusher, as he gained a season high 226 yards on the ground to go along with his touchdown. Solberg tallied his fifth 100+ receiving yard game of the season, as he recorded 137 yards in the air on six receptions with a touchdown.

Lawhorn finished the day with a 103.9 quarterback rating after going 11-31 for 237 passing yards. The junior also recorded one touchdown and one interception on his stat line to go with his game-winning rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Huskies were led by Jack Horter who tallied nine total tackles, four solo and five assist. Miller, Zach Stecklein (Mt. Horeb, Wis. / Mt. Horeb) and Ferris Ingraham (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) all had a hand in at least one sack Saturday afternoon.

Stage was 3-3 of field goal attempt and 2-2 on PAT attempts, bringing his season totals on field goals to 15-19.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 7-3 this season with an identical mark in NSIC play. The Huskies will close out the season on November 10 when they take on Minnesota State-Moorhead at 1 p.m. The game will take place in Moorhead, Minnesota and will hopefully not feature snow.