SID: Jacque Scoby Office: (605) 626-7748 Cell: (785) 285-0538 Northern Football Email: [email protected] Web: www.nsuwolvesathletics.com Weekly Wolves Notes - Thursday, October 23, 2008 Game 9 - Northern State (1-7, 1-6) at MSU Moorhead (1-7, 1-6) Current NSIC Standings Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008 Kickoff: 1 p.m. (CDT) NSIC Overall W L Pct. W L Pct. Site: Moorhead, Minn. Series: NSU leads 24-20 #9 Minn.-Duluth 7 0 1.00 8 0 1.00 Stadium: Alex Nemzek Field Capacity: 5,000 Surface: Grass Augustana 6 1 .857 6 2 .750 Northern State Radio: KSDN-AM Radio 930 AM Minnesota State 6 1 .857 6 2 .750 (Gene Reich-Play-by-Play) Wayne St. 5 2 .714 6 2 .750 St. Cloud State 5 2 .714 5 3 .625 Internet: Live Radio on www.nsuwolvesathletics.com U-Mary 4 3 .571 4 4 .500 Streaming video at www.northernsun.tv Southwest MN St. 4 3 .571 4 4 .500 Winona St. 4 3 .571 4 4 .500 Bemidji St. 2 5 .286 3 5 .375 On the road again Conc.-St. Paul 2 5 .286 3 5 .375 The Wolves hit the road after an extended week of preparation to take on the UM, Crookston 1 6 .143 2 6 .250 MSU Moorhead 1 6 .143 1 7 .125 Dragons of MSU Moorhead. This begins a 2-week road stretch, as the Wolves Upper Iowa 1 6 .143 1 7 .125 will not play at home again until Nov. 8, the final regular season game of the Northern St. 1 6 .143 1 7 .125 year. NSU and the Dragons have identical 1-7 overall and 1-6 NSIC records heading into this week's game. UpcoMinG NSIC SCHEDulE Saturday, October 18 1 pm *Winona State at Minnesota, Crookston Story lines 1 pm *Wayne State at Augustana • NSU leads the all time series 24-20, including a 21-20 victory last season. 1 pm *St. Cloud State at Mary • The Wolves have had an extended week to prepare for Saturday's game after play- 1 pm *Upper Iowa at Concordia-St. Paul ing a Thursday night game last week. 1 pm *Bemidji State at #9 Minnesota-Duluth 1 pm *Minnesota State at SW Minnesota State • Both teams are looking for a win to snap losing streaks. NSU is on a 7-game skid, 1 PM *NORTHERN ST. AT MSU MOORHEAD while the Dragons are in the midst of a 4-game slide. • NSU senior Nate McGruder has blocked a kick in three of the past four games, NSIC GAMES LAST WEEK including a blocked punt last week that was returned for a touchdown to put NSU up Thursday, October 16 28-21. *MARY 34, AT NORTHERN ST. 31 (OT) • Three of NSU's seven losses this season have been decided by five points or fewer. • MSU Moorhead is comming off its first shutout loss in three years, a 52-0 drubbing Saturday, October 18 at the hands of Minnesota State last weekend. *Minnesota, Crookston 27, at Bemidji St. 41 *Winona State 18, at Wayne State 55 *Augustana 40, at Upper Iowa 7 *SW Minnesota State 38, at Concordia-St. Paul 28 2008 Northern State Football Schedule *Minnesota State 52, at MSU Moorhead 0 Last Year's *#9 Minnesota Duluth 38, at St. Cloud State 21 DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME/Result Results AUG. 28 MISSOURI WESTERN ABERDEEN, S.D. L, 27-38 DNP * - Denotes NSIC Conference Game Sept. 6 *Winona State Winona, Minn. L, 14-39 L, 20-49 SEPT. 3 *& UPPER IOwa ABERDEEN, S.D. L, 26-31 W, 55-35 2008 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll SEPT. 20 *$ ST. CLOUD STATE ABERDEEN, S.D. L, 12-17 L, 7-17 Points Sept. 27 *Bemidji State Bemidji, Minn. L, 20-31 L, 7-35 1. Minnesota Duluth (7) 151 OCT. 4 *! MINNESOTA, CROOKSTON ABERDEEN, S.D. W, 35-0 W, 52-9 Oct. 11 *Minnesota Duluth Duluth, Minn. L, 7-55 DNP 2. Winona State (4) 148 OCT. 16 *UNIVERSITY OF MARY ABERDEEN, S.D. L, 31-34 (OT) L, 13-37 3. Minnesota State (3) 141 Oct. 25 *MSU Moorhead Moorhead, Minn. 1:00 pm W, 21-20 4. Augustana 127 Nov. 1 *Southwest Minnesota St. Marshall, Minn. 1 p.m. W, 31-27 5. St. Cloud State 120 NOV. 8 *% AUGUSTANA ABERDEEN, S.D. 1:00 PM L, 16-37 6. University of Mary 116 Home Games in BOLD * = Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Game ! = Homecoming & = Shrine Game 7. Wayne State 109 ^ = NSIC Metrodome Classic % = NSIC Crossover Rival Game $ = Take a Kid to the Game 8. Bemidji State 96 9. Concordia-St. Paul 76 WOLVES ON THE WEB: All of NSU's 2008 home games and every NSIC game of 10. NORTHERN STATE 60 11. Southwest Minnesota State 46 the year will be webcast in real time on http://northernsun.tv, allowing Wolves fans to keep up to 12. MSU Moorhead 37 date with the action every week! 13. Upper Iowa 32 14. Minnesota, Crookston 15 first place votes in ( ) NORTHERN STATE vs. MSU Moorhead Page Oct. 3, 008 National Rankings Last Week vs. University of Mary: American Football Coaches Association Prev. 1 2 3 4 F Rk Team Record Points Rank 1. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (23) 7-0 646 1 Northern State 7 0 0 0 7 2. Abilene Christian (Texas) (3) 7-0 625 3 U-Mary 7 35 7 6 55 3. Northwest Missouri St. 7-1 586 5 4. Bloomsburg (Pa.) 8-0 560 6 ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University Wolves came within inch- 5. Delta St. (Miss.) 6-1 552 7 es of clinching a dramatic win Thursday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate t6. California (Pa.) 7-1 459 8 Conference football action, but instead, watched the visiting University of Mary t6. Minnesota-Duluth 8-0 459 9 8. North Alabama (4) 7-1 655 2 Marauders escape with a 34-31 overtime win in a rare mid-week night game at 9. Valdosta State (Ga.) 6-1 450 10 Swisher Field. 10. Central Washington 7-1 410 11 The Wolves, who held leads of 14-3 and 21-13 in the first half and 28-21 in 11. West Texas A&M 7-1 405 4 the fourth quarter, fell to 1-7 overall and 1-6 in NSIC play, while the Marauders 12. Tuskegee (Ala.) 7-0 357 12 moved to an even 4-4 on the year and 4-3 in the league. t13. Chadron State (Neb.) 7-1 345 t13 t13. Pittsburg State (Kan.) 7-1 345 t14 NSU scored three touchdowns in the first half in a burst of offensive produc- 15. Edinboro (Pa.) 7-1 281 16 tion, highlighted by a broken-play, left-handed pass from sophomore quarter- 16. Tarleton St. (Texas) 7-1 264 17 back Eric Ellingson (Riverside, Calif.) that slipped through the hands of one 17. Carson-Newman (Tenn.) 5-2 227 18 NSU receiver and a pair of UM defenders before landing in the hands of senior 18. Central Missouri 6-2 168 21 19. American International (Mass.) 7-0 143 24 wide-out Mike Stamps (Fresno, Calif.), who found the endzone to give the 20. Wingate (N.C.) 7-1 127 15 Wolves a 14-3 lead with 9:50 to go in the second quarter. 21. Indiana (Pa.) 5-2 113 23 With the scored tied at 21 in the fourth quarter, senior Nate McGruder (Lead, 22. West Virginia St. 6-1 86 25 S.D.) blocked a Marauder punt deep in UM territory. The block was returned for 23. Ashland (Ohio) 6-2 78 NR a TD by junior David Alvarez (Soquel, Calif.) to put the Wolves up 28-21. 24. West Chester (Pa.) 6-2 61 NR 25. Midwestern St. (Texas) 5-2 45 NR UM, however, caught a huge break of their own on the ensuing kickoff. Sophomore defensive end Matt McNabb (Riverview, Fla.), a converted tight Week 9 Poll, October 21, 2008 end and a regular on special teams play for the Wolves, forced his first fumble of the year, stripping UM return man Tim Brown of the ball near the sideline. NSU appeared to recover the fumble, but game officials ruled that the ball was recovered out of bounds. By rule, the Marauders retained possession, starting what would prove to be a 16-play, 70-yard scoring drive at their own 30-yard- line, scoring with 23 seconds left in regulation. The Wolves had first crack at the endzone in the overtime period, narrowly missing a pair of Ellingson passes to the endzone. Sophomore kicker Thomas Parrott (Tampa, Fla.) then converted on a 38-yard field goal attempt to give the Wolves the lead once again at 31-28. Again, however, UM found a way to answer, this time in the form of a 13-yard Jamal Lomax run, giving the Marauders the dramatic OT victory. National Rankings d2football.com National Stat Review: (As of 10/23/08; 148 players ranked in each category) Rk Team Record 1 Grand Valley 7-0 Northern: MSU Moorhead: 2 Abilene Christian 7-0 Category Player Rank Actual Category Player Rank Actual 3 Northwest Missouri 7-1 4 Delta State 6-1 Pass Eff. E. Ellingson 70 125.28 Total Off. C. Kutz 71 193.33 5 Central Washington 7-1 Total Off. E. Ellingson 37 233.12 Recep./Gm J. Taylor 8 7.12 6 Bloomsburg 8-0 Recep./Gm B. Jark T-37 5.71 T. Small T-86 4.62 7 Valdosta State 6-1 8 North Alabama 7-1 Intercep.