St. Cloud State Downs Minot State at Home

Saturday, November 9

St. Cloud, Minn.

1 p.m.

St. Cloud State

4-6 , 4-6

Minot State University

3-7 , 3-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Minot State

St. Cloud State

Photo by: Tom Nelson

11/9/2019 4:48:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – St. Cloud State University returned to their winning ways by snapping a four game losing streak after beating Minot State University in dominating fashion. The Huskies won 31-19 and the defense put on an absolute show. St. Cloud State improves to 4-6 (3-3 NSIC North) while Minot State falls to 3-7 (2-4 NSIC North).

The St. Cloud State defense held the Minot State defense held Minot to 41 rushing yards and 152 total yards on the day. SCSU had 7 sacks for a loss of 49 total yards, three interceptions, and one forced fumble. The Huskies scored 17 points off turnovers on the day, which seemed to be quite the difference maker. Graham Miller (Sr., LB, Minneapolis, Minn.) had three sacks and one interception on the day while making four total tackles. Devon Krzanowski (So., ILB, Fond Du Lac, Wis.) led the defense with eight total tackles.

The Offense played extremely well too. Dwayne Lawhorn (Sr., QB, Germantown, Wis.) threw for 262 yards on 13-of-29 completions while adding two touchdowns through the air. Darian Washington (So., WR, St. Cloud, Minn.) stepped up big time and had a career best 116 receiving yards on three receptions and added two touchdowns. Anthony Carver (Sr., TE, Milwaukee, Wis.) had 62 receiving yards on three receptions as well. Curtwan Evans (Sr., RB, Bloomingdale, Ill.) led the way for the running backs with 67 yards on 14 carries. Joe Blando (So., RB, Oak Creek, Wis.) added 43 yards on the ground with one touchdown and 26 receiving yards on one reception.

The Huskies defense came out and looked to make a statement early by forcing two punts. After the first drive for SCSU stalled, the offense drove the ball down field and worked their way into field goal range. Adam Stage (Jr., K, Appleton, Wis.) lined up to take the 48 yard kick but ultimately hit the left crossbar. The defense forced another three and out but a roughing the punter penalty gave the Beavers a first down. Minot State capitalized by connecting on a 40 yard catch to set up first and goal at the two yard line. Mohamed punched the ball in from the two yard line to make the score 7-0 Minot in the first quarter.

As Minot started to drive the ball down the field, Jake Bruner stepped in-front of a pass and intercepted the Beavers quarterback. The St. Cloud State offense took that momentum and scored on a 20 yard pass from Lawhorn to Washington to tie the game at seven.

After a muffed punt, Minot recovered the ball in Huskies territory but the defense put their foot down and held the Beavers to a 33 yard field goal to make the score 10-7 Minot. St. Cloud State took the ensuing kickoff and drove the ball down field. Lawhorn connected with Carver for 30 yards and found Washington the very next play to set the Huskies up at the one yard line. The next play Lawhorn fumbled on a quarterback keeper and the Beavers recovered. Wyatt Jentz (So., DL, Hortonville, Wis.) then forced a fumble the very next play and SCSU recovered at the Minot one yard line. Blando then scored to make the score 14-10.

Minot went into their bag of tricks and tried a wide receiver reverse pass and the Huskies defense recognized it in time for Ben Gutschow (Sr., DB, Amherst, Wis.) to intercept Lane Torgerson. SCSU could not capitalize and ended up punting. With the Minot defense pinned in their own end-zone, Miller intercepted a deflected pass and gave the Huskies possession in Beavers territory. Stage connected on a 26 yard field goal to make the score 17-10 Huskies with just under one minute left in the first half.

Both teams were fairly quiet on offense in the third quarter. St. Cloud State's defense continued to dominate the line of scrimmage and make it hard on the Minot offense to move the ball. With a few minutes left in the third quarter Minot State was gifted a short field to work with and took advantage by making a 37 yard field goal to make the score 17-13 SCSU.

The St. Cloud State defense forced Minot State to punt from their own end-zone. The Huskies rushed the middle and created enough pressure for Zack Hegseth (Sr., LB, Oswego, Ill.) to block the punt and Dein Vouk (So., RB, Sartell, Minn.) recover the punt in the end-zone for a touchdown. After getting the ball back, St. Cloud State put the game out of reach with a 55 yard touchdown from Lawhorn to Washington to make the score 31-13. After an electric return from Minot's Lavante Bushnel, Sean Kuenzinger connected with Ali Mohamed for 39 yards to make the score 31-19 with four minutes left.

The Huskies are back in the win column after beating Minot 31-19 at home. Next week, St. Cloud State will finish out their season as they face off with Minnesota State University Moorhead. November 16, 2019 will also be senior day at Huskies Stadium as the 16 seniors will be honored for all they have done for the St. Cloud State program.