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Huskies shocked in Mankato
 Media Credit: charles martin Starting defensive linemen Jeremy Pilarski (97) and Charlie Cosgrove (18) make sure to stop running back Bobby Ruffin (21) on this play in the second half of Saturday’s Traveling Training Kit game. Ruffin and the Mavs edged the Huskies 41-40, as Ruffin scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
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MANKATO - A cold and windy day, a sloppy field and an opponent with nothing to lose added up to disaster Saturday afternoon as the Minnesota State, Mankato Mavericks overcame another spectacular four touchdown performance by Husky wide receiver Ben Nelson to capture the Traveling Training Kit in stunning fashion, 41-40.
Leading 40-35 late in the fourth quarter, the Husky defense let the Mavs convert on fourth-and-four from the Mankato 26-yard line, which led to a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Shea to tailback Bobby Ruffin. Ruffin had come clean out of the backfield for the score, making up for his fumble on the previous drive which allowed the Huskies to take the lead.
"I was just sitting there hoping our defense could hold them," Ruffin said. "The biggest thing was I was hoping I could do something else in the game to make a difference so that we could win. Something big happened against me, I was hoping I could do something real big to change the outcome of the game."
The Huskies got the ball back with 1:42 remaining and quickly drove to the MSU 24. Following an incomplete pass from quarterback Keith Heckendorf to Ryan Koch and a run that was stuffed by the Mavs' defensive line, Heckendorf hit Koch with a pass that appeared to give the Huskies a first down.
The referee saw it differently however, and the pass was ruled to have hit the ground, leaving the Huskies in a fourth-and-ten. Rather than go for it, the Huskies opted to try a 41-yard field goal by true freshman kicker Shaun Braunagle, who had connected from 41 against Northern Colorado earlier this season. As Braunagle approached the ball, he slipped and his kick flew harmlessly left, sending Blakeslee Field into an uproar.
"All game, everybody was falling," he said. "If you look at the punt returns and the kick returns- Oly (Brian Olson), for instance, I saw lost his footing many, many times."
The turf cost the Huskies more than once. Early in the first quarter, senior cornerback Anthony McCoo slipped in the end zone and was unable to make a play on a floater from Shea that went to wideout Shaun Fonoimoana for a 17-yard score.
Field conditions aside, the Huskies rising playoff hopes were badly damaged by the loss, which dropped their record to 6-2, and 4-2 in the NCC.
"It's a big downer. We did one thing we shouldn't let them do, and that's come out of the gate right away and get some momentum," said junior linebacker Shane Rohman. "They just took that right off the bat and just ran with it. It's the one thing we had to not allow to happen and it's exactly what happened."
The odd part of the loss is this: the Huskies played true to form. They won the turnover battle 3-1, got six touchdowns, including five TD passes from Heckendorf and a rushing score from freshman running back Matt Birkel, who led the Huskies with 103 yards on the ground.
The defense stopped the run most of the day, save for a 10-yard touchdown by Ruffin and a crucial 12-yard run by Shea on the winning drive. The defensive line sniffed out a screen in the second quarter and junior defensive tackle Nick Peterson intercepted the pass and ran it to the MSU 15. The reason behind the loss cannot be found on paper.
"We had them on a fourth down, but they got the yards and got the first," Rohman said. "Just some bad miscommunication. Communication was the number one key to this game, and at the end it just fell apart."
Another key to the loss was the special teams play. Kicker Nick Orndorff missed two extra points that proved to be crucial, and in the third quarter, the punt coverage team allowed Mavs junior wide receiver Dominic Longo to escape after they had him cornered; Longo was able to elude the entire coverage team and scamper into the end zone for a 48-yard score.
"We definitely are guilty of looking past these guys," Rohman said. "You look at their record (1-6) and you're going to look past them. But we made it evident that we can't during the whole week." The coaches were constantly talking about how you can't overlook them and personally, I knew they were good. You look at their skill positions and their main returning guys at the skill positions are two wide receivers that can get the job done. People like that, at those positions, they can do anything."
Despite playing behind a reconstructed offensive line, the Mavs' skill players still flourished. Shea was 23 of 35 for 297 yards and four touchdowns, rushing for 46. Ruffin ran 21 times for 87 yards and a score and caught six passes, one for the winning touchdown.
Fonoimoana had two touchdowns through the air, while Ruffin and Longo each caught one. Their efforts totaled 436 yards of offense and the first NCC victory for their head coach, Clarence Holley.
"It's a huge win for us. It was a total team effort. It's not like they played bad and we snuck up on them," Holley said. "They played a great football game, with two interceptions they almost ran back for scores. I don't know how many catches Nelson had or for how many yards. But for our guys, we've been so close every stinkin' week and we've really played pretty good, we just haven't been able to close the deal."
Earlier in the week, Holley said he was having trouble finding much out about the history of the Traveling Training Kit. In the midst of the locker room celebration, Holley cited the Kit as the inspiration for his team's victory.
"We've got a new building here, with a bunch of new trophy cases with nothing in 'em," he said. "We talked to our kids before the game today, I walked 'em out there to show them the trophy cases. I said, 'Today we're going to get through and put that thing in there.' Obviously, we hadn't won as many games as we'd like, but this is a rival game for us, a great football team and they played great, too."
The Husky dressing room was significantly more silent, as the team mulled over its immediate future.
"Everyone on the team thought this was the year we'd make the playoffs. Now it's not looking too good," said Nelson, who caught seven passes for 149 yards and the four scores. "We can't worry about that. We've got three games left. So we'd better be ready to go."
The Huskies already had to win their last four games in order to have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs, but now there are a few other things that must be considered.
"We have to win out and just hope. Hope that some other people are going to lose," Rohman said. "You can't just give up on the rest of your season, especially when you've been doing this well. You just have to play it like another three game season and you've gotta go 3-0."
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