Football hits the road for Crookston Saturday

Saturday, September 8

Crookston, MN

1:00 p.m.

St. Cloud State

University of Minnesota Crookston

Senior defensive end Jake Schley led the team in tackles in SCSU's 14-13 win over Mary last week.

Photo by: Paul Middlestaedt

9/7/2018 12:00:00 PM | Football

Game notes

CROOKSTON, MINN. – The St. Cloud State football team could not have asked for a better, albeit slightly dramatic, start to the 2018 season. Thanks to some last-minute magic from juniors Dwayne Lawhorn (Germantown, Wis. / Germantown) and John Solberg (Cambridge, Minn. / Cambridge-Isanti), the Huskies upended the University of Mary in their season and home opener with a 14-13 victory.

On Saturday, St. Cloud State will get its first road test of the 2018 season as the team takes on the University of Minnesota-Crookston at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The Huskies enter the game coming off the big win over Mary to open the season with an overall record of 1-0 and a 1-0 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play. The Golden Eagles suffered a 34-10 road loss in their season opener to Minnesota State-Moorhead last week.

Fans who can't make the sojourn to Crookston, Minnesota can follow St. Cloud State via live stats, video and WJON's radio broadcast. Score updates will also be posted to the team's official Twitter account (@SCSUHuskiesFB).

Here are the five things to know before Saturday's 1 p.m. kickoff:

53 – The Huskies scored 53 points against Minnesota-Crookston en route to their 53-27 victory at Husky Stadium. In fact, it was the second time all-season St. Cloud State scored more than 50 points in a single game, the other time being the team's dominant 56-21 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in mid-September.

7 – Seven different Huskies scored in last year's game between St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Crookston. Gregory Lewis (Milwaukee, Wis. / Waukesha West) accounted for the team's lone rushing touchdown, while Solberg, Luke Shepherd (Grayslake, Ill. / Central), John Pass (Elk Grove Village, Ill. / Elk Grove), and Anthony Craver (Milwaukee, Wis. / Lutheran) all recorded receiving touchdowns in the game. Adam Stage (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) also converted a 22-yard field goal.

5 – Lawhorn is no stranger to success against the Golden Eagles. In 2017, the then-sophomore QB tied the school record for passing touchdowns in a single game, as he connected with four different receivers for five touchdowns in the game. Lawhorn also recorded a career-high 327 passing yards against Crookston, completing 13 of 24 passing attempts with two completions of more than 50 yards. Lawhorn connected with Solberg for a 62-yard touchdown at 9:21 in the first quarter before finding the receiver again for a career-long 78-yard touchdown pass in the second.

237 – In addition to their 327 yards in the air, the Huskies tallied 237 yards on the ground against the Golden Eagles in 2017, accounting for their best offensive game of the season. Lewis led the charge with 103 rushing yards and a touchdown in the game, while Curtwan Evans (Bloomington, Ill. / Lake Park), Matt Winters (Mequon, Wis. / Homestead), Joe Blando (Oak Creek, Wis. / Oak Creek) and Pass rushed for a combined 141 yards in the effort.

21 – St. Cloud State's stout defense will have its hands full Saturday afternoon, as it will have to stop Crookston's All-American wide receiver Rod Stewart. As a junior, Stewart earned First Team All-NSIC and All-America Honorable Mention status for his play as both a return specialist and a wide receiver, racking up a combined 1426 yards between the two positions. In the Golden Eagles first game of the season. Stewart tallied 21 yards and a touchdown against Minnesota State-Moorhead.

Bonus number:

3 – Stewart might not be much of a factor on Saturday if the Huskies defense plays the way it did against Mary last Thursday. St. Cloud State held the upstart Marauders to just 45 yards on the ground and 191 yards in the air and allowed the visitors to score just 13 points in the game. The Huskies also forced two fumbles and recorded one interception by Matthew Lechner (Waukesha, Wis. / Catholic Memorial), making them the No. 3 defense in the NSIC as of Thursday afternoon.