|
Offense has banner night in Aberdeen
Solid defense bolsters Huskies as they cruise in second half blowout of NSU
 Keith Heckendorf
|
|
 Ben Nelson
|
|
ABERDEEN, S.D. — The Huskies went into Saturday night’s game at Northern State figuring to have a final tune up before conference play began. The first 30 minutes, however, looked a little more like conditioning week.
Northern’s game plan in the first half had the visitors wondering if they could build on last week’s 45-17 pasting of Northern Michigan. Aside from two touchdown passes from SCSU quarterback and reigning NCC player of the week Keith Heckendorf to his favorite receiver, senior wideout Ben Nelson, the Huskies had trouble getting their game in sync. The offensive line went through some pass-blocking struggles and Heckendorf was under pressure on several plays.
At the half, the Huskies went to the locker room and made all the right adjustments. The offense was in full stride in the second half, as Heckendorf found the end zone three more times, twice more to Nelson, and the Huskies scored 35 unanswered points and trampled the Northern Wolves, 47-15.
“Coach (offensive coordinator Paul) Rudolph did a good job at halftime just trying to simplify what we were going to do in the second half, and I think our protection picked up a little bit,” SCSU head coach Randy Hedberg said. We were able to run by them a couple times when they got into press coverage and brought seven people at us.”
The defense did a commendable job for the second game in a row, shutting down Northern’s 255 pound halfback, Ronnie Cruz. Cruz was held to 56 yards on 20 carries, while NSU wound up netting only 51 rushing yards due to poor special teams play. Huskies’ defensive line coach Steve Grimit said that hard work and the addition of fresh bodies to the front seven have resulted in positive results so far.
“One of our emphasis was to stop the run this year, because we didn’t stop the run as well as we should’ve last year,” Grimit said. “It’s emphasising it and then taking pride in it. To stop the run, you have to do the little things right. You have to stay low, you have to hit your aim point and maintain your gap integrity and things like that. We’re doing a better job of maintaining our gap responsibilities, and it’s hard for them to run the ball because the running lanes aren’t there.”
While Northern’s defense was lit up in the second half, it was their special teams that made any thoughts of a comeback seem futile. The Huskies got a glimpse of things to come early in the second quarter, when NSU long snapper Eric Rambow flew the ball over punter Owen Olson’s head, giving the Huskies the ball at the Northern 32. Three plays later, SCSU scored their second touchdown.
In the third quarter Rambow let another fly, and the Huskies recovered at the NSU 5 and scored one play later on junior running back Josh Williams’ first rushing touchdown of his career. He had 14 carries for 63 yards and the score.
“It feels good. It’s been a long time, since high school, since I crossed that goal line,” Williams said. “It’s nice to get that TD mark behind your name.”
The Huskies sealed the game three minutes into the fourth quarter, when junior safety Nate Loughran blocked a punt at the NSU 38 and took it in for the score. The Huskies found a weakness in the Northern special teams unit early in the game and exploited it.
“We had the same play on both times they fumbled,” Loughran said. “We had the same play on again (in the fourth) and we brought it and I got a chance to block it.”
The Huskies’ secondary also did well for themselves, holding Wolves’ quarterback Jake Parten to 157 yards on 27 pass attempts, intercepting him four times, including picks on Northern’s first two possessions of the second half.
The win leaves the Huskies at 2-0 for the first time since 1999, Hedberg’s first season at SCSU. A win next week against South Dakota would make them 3-0 for the first time since 1995.
As for the team’s day on offense, it was phenomenal. Heckendorf and Nelson played as if they had some sort of psychic rapport, setting a couple of important SCSU single-game scoring records. Heckendorf’s five TD passes tied his output last season against Mankato, while Nelson’s four receiving touchdowns outdid the old record of three held by several Huskies, most recently achieved by Mike McKinney in 1998.
Nelson’s four scores came on passes of 18, 23, 3 and 32 yards, giving him six on the young season and a total of 24 for his career, placing him just four shy of the all-time SCSU receiving TD mark of 28, held by McKinney and John Kimbrough. He totaled 10 catches for 150 yards.
Surprisingly enough, Heckendorf wasn’t in top form through much of the game, as he faced some pressure in the first half and was sacked four times. He completed 16-of-27 for 246 yards and only made one glaring mistake.In the fourth quarter, he threw a bad pass that Northern cornerback Wayne Hill easily picked off. Hedberg said Heckendorf will sort out those mistakes.
“Keith wasn’t as sharp as he was last week…, Hedberg said.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
