Lawhorn Ties Record As Offense Thrives In 35-12 Win Over UMary

Thursday, September 5

Bismarck, ND

6 p.m.

St. Cloud State

1-0 , 1-0

University of Mary

0-1 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

St. Cloud State

University of Mary

Tanner Teige with a big run after a nice catch

Photo by: Tran Doan, UMary Athletics

Lawhorn Ties Record As Offense Thrives In 35-12 Win Over UMary

9/6/2019 4:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

BISMARK, N.D. - St. Cloud State University came out firing on all cylinders tonight as they seemed to have their way in both the running and passing game. The Huskies beat UMary by a score of 35-12 while racking up 419 yards of total offense. SCSU had 281 rushing yards and 143 yards in the air. Dwayne Lawhorn (Sr., QB, Germantown, Wis.) tied the single-game record for touchdowns in a game, a record he set against Minnesota-Crookston back in 2017.

Thursday night started the quest to win the North, as the Huskies faced a scrappy UMary team that gave them a run for their money in 2018. St. Cloud State was able to win that game over the Marauders, opening the season with a 14-13 victory thanks to a last second touchdown. This year, the team was looking to make a statement, and it certainly did.

The first drive started out promising but ultimately SCSU failed to convert on fourth and short. The next drive St. Cloud State marched down the field on a 10 play, 74 yard drive that featured six rushes and four passes. A few plays that highlighted the scoring drive were a 35 yard pass between Lawhorn and Jason Bents (So., WR, Osceola, Wis.) to put the Huskies in scoring position, and the seven yard touchdown pass from Lawhorn to Nathan Gimza (So., WR, Chicago Ridge, Ill.) to give the team a 7-0 lead with 6:17 left in the first quarter.

The defense flexed its muscles early by giving the St. Cloud State offense great field position. The Huskies took advantage with a five play, 31 yard touchdown drive on their very next offensive possession. Curtwan Evans (Sr. RB, Bloomington, Ill.) highlighted the drive with three very physical rushes. Lawhorn connected with senior target John Solberg (Sr., WR, Cambridge, Minn.) on a two yard touchdown to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead with 9:51 left in the second quarter.

St. Cloud State took a commanding 21-0 lead on a 49-yard strike to Tanner Teige (WR, Jr., Big Lake, Minn.), the Huskies longest offensive play of the night. The offense then chewed up the rest of the clock to take the 21-0 lead over UMary into halftime.

St. Cloud State University rotated three running backs during the game, which the Marauders had no answer for. Joe Blando (So., RB, Oak Creek, Wis.), Evans, and Eric Bridges (Fr., RB, Beloit, Wis.) were pivotal in moving the ball and allowing Lawhorn to work with a short field.

The Huskies scored two more times in the third quarter on a one yard touchdown catch to Solberg and a five yard touchdown catch to Bents en route to their commanding 35-12 victory.

The Marauders did not go down easy and limited big plays in the second half of the game. UMary had a few big plays of its own, which resulted in two touchdowns. Early in the third quarter, Logan Nelson hooked up with Kade Lynch for a 56-yard bomb that resulted in a touchdown. The Marauders ultimately failed to convert the extra point, leaving the score at 28-6. The next drive, a-39 yard pass from Logan Nelson to Leo Vecchi helped aid a 84-yard, eight play drive that resulted in a quarterback keeper for a touchdown, cutting the Huskies lead to 28-12. It was no matter, though, as a fumble recovery by St. Cloud State's defense gave Lawhorn and Co. perfect field position to put another seven on the board, extending the lead back to a comfortable 35-12 advantage.

Lawhorn was 12-22 with 133 yards in the air Thursday evening and five touchdowns, tying a school-record he set back in 2017. Teige had three receptions for 71 yards and one touchdown. Solberg had three receptions for 10 yards and two touchdowns. Jason Bents had two receptions for 40 yards along with a touchdown, and Nathan Gimza had one reception for a touchdown on the night. Joe Blando had 23 carries for 116 yards. Eric Bridges had four carries for 45 yards and Curtwan Evans had 10 carries for 41 yards.

The St. Cloud State University defense was stingy and limited the UMary offensive to just a few big plays. The Huskies defense tallied four sacks on the night. Matthew Lechner (Sr., DB, Waukesha, Wis.) had one of those sacks, which resulted in a fumble recovery by Louis Williams IV. Joe Carpenter(Jr., DL, Robbins, Ill.) and Ben Gutschow (Sr., DB, Amherst, Wis.) accounted for another sack. Skyler Kurt (Sr., DL, Lodi, Wis.) and Ferris Ingraham (DE, Sr., Evanston, Ill.) accounted for the third sack and Devon Kraznowski (So., DB, Fond Du Lac, Wis.) had the fourth. Alec Hafferman (So., DB, Edgar, Wis.) led the defense with seven total tackles.

With tonight's win the Huskies are 1-0 (1-0 NSIC North) on the young season. St. Cloud State University's next game will be next Saturday., September 14, 2019, as the team hosts the University of Minnesota-Crookston in its home opener. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. with pregame festivities starting in the Husky Pay Lot at 4 p.m.