Penalties Plague the Huskies on Homecoming night loss to NSU

Saturday, September 28

St. Cloud, Minn.

5 p.m.

St. Cloud State

2-2 , 2-2

Northern State University

2-2 , 2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Northern State

St. Cloud State

Photo by: Greg Kremer

Photo by: Luke Schmidt

Photo by: Greg Kremer

Photo by: Luke Schmidt

Photo by: Greg Kremer

Penalties Plague the Huskies on Homecoming night loss to NSU

9/28/2019 11:19:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Jordan Deadwyler

St. Cloud- The Huskies fought hard but fell to Northern State Saturday night by a score of 17-20. With that loss St. Cloud State falls to 2-2 (2-2 NSIC North) on the year and NSU improves to 2-2 (2-2 NSIC North). SCSU started off strong by scoring on the first drive of the game and continued to move the ball all throughout the first half. This was a heavily penalized game. St. Cloud State was penalized 10 times for 105 total yards. NSU was penalized seven times for 80 total yards.

After taking a 17-14 lead into the second half St. Cloud State struggled to move the ball. The Huskies had 115 rushing yards on the night on 30 attempts. Dwayne Lawhorn (Sr., QB, Germantown, Wis.) threw for 204 yards on 16-of-33 passing. Lawhorn also added 50 rushing yards on seven rushing attempts. Paris Howell (So., RB, Brookfield, Wis.) had 40 rushing-yards on six attempts and Joe Blando (So., RB, Oak Creek, Wis.) had 39 rushing-yards on 11 carries. John Solberg led the way with 111 receiving-yards on six receptions and touchdown. Peyo Parker (So., Chicago, Ill.) added his first touchdown reception of the year and also tallied 49 reception yards on 4 catches.

Parker Buckley (Jr., LB, Rice Lake, Wis.) led the defense with 13 total tackles on the night. Devon Krzanowski (So., ILB, Fond Du Lac, Wis.) was right behind him with 11 tackles and two sacks for 10 yards. Payton Conrad (So., DB, Tea, S.D.) had another big night as he added 10 tackles and another interception for his second of the season. The Huskies had three sacks on the night and tallied nine tackles for loss as a team.

St. Cloud State came out the gate firing on all cylinders as they put together a methodical seven play, 75-yard drive. On the very first play of the game Lawhorn welcomed Solberg back as the two connected on a 27-yard throw and catch. The drive ended with Lawhorn finding Parker for his first touchdown reception of the year on a 20-yard hookup.

The Huskies defense forced a three and out for Northern States' first drive of the game and set the offense up with great field position. The Huskies offense moved the ball with the help of a few penalties. SCSU worked their way into the red-zone and on second and goal Lawhorn threw an interception. The Wolves offense moved the ball down field and had to settle for a field goal but they ultimately missed.

To start the second quarter the Wolves took advantage of missed coverage by scoring off a 76-yard touchdown to make the score 7-7. St. Cloud answered by marching down the field for 78-yard, seven play drive. The drive was capped off with a 4-yard touchdown from Lawhorn to Solberg. After forcing another three and out the Huskies drove the ball down the field and Adam Stage (Sr., K, Appleton, Wis.) made a 29-yard field goal to make the score 17-7. Northern State eventually ended up scoring a touchdown to make the score 17-14 with a few seconds left in the first half.

During the second half the Huskies struggled to move the ball and penalties seemed to hurt SCSU on both sides of the ball. Ultimately the Wolves scored late in the third quarter to make the score 20-17. The defense continued to make stops but the Wolves shut down the Huskies offensively.

After making a few big stops the Huskies had the ball with a little over a minute left to play in the game. Unfortunately, SCSU was not able to convert on fourth and one and time expired as the Huskies failed to come back and win after leading early. Penalties proved to be the determining factor in a game that could have went either way.

The Huskies will be back in action at home next Saturday, October 5, at 1 p.m. against the Concordia-St. Paul Bears who are 3-1 (3-1 NSIC South).
https://scsuhuskies.com/boxscore.aspx?id=3997&path=football