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Football opens home schedule
Despite how bad last week's 32-point loss to Pittsburg State may have looked on paper, looks can be deceiving.
"It may have looked bad, but we were right with them in the stats columns," sophomore defensive lineman Charlie Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove was right, as the stats in the game did not reflect the scoreboard; the Huskies compiled 369 yards of total offense to PSU's 391 yards. Senior quarterback Keith Heckendorf was 24-of-43 for 233 yards passing with three interceptions, while sophomore running back Matt Birkel had 65 yards rushing on 15 touches to lead SCSU. Birkel added seven receptions for 61 yards, and Ed DeShazer had seven catches for 57 yards. PSU amassed 391 total yards and Gorilla quarterback Neal Philpot threw for 116 yards on five of 14 attempts and two touchdowns. Germaine Race led the Gorillas with 75 yards on 13 carries.
But like any other game and any other loss, Cosgrove and the Huskies are moving on to this weekend's match-up against the Northern State University Wolves.
"We can't overlook Northern State," Cosgrove said. "(SCSU head) coach (Randy) Hedberg told us this week to come out and be ready. They've got a lot to prove."
SCSU goes into the weekend still ranked in many national polls. The Huskies dropped six spots to the 13th position in D2football.com's nation-wide poll and dropped 10 places to number 16 in the American Football Coaches Association poll.
Saturday's home opener for the Huskies marks the 81st season of Husky football and the 66th and final season at historic Selke Field. The game between the Huskies and Wolves marks the seventh time the two teams have met. Last year, the Huskies drove NSU out of St. Cloud with a 47-15 thumping; however, the game was closer than the final score showed.
"It was a close game last year, we definitely need to be ready for them," Cosgrove said. "They're a good team and they're trying to establish themselves as a dominant team in the nation."
Hedberg agreed, stating his team was losing at the end of the first half and came back to win.
"They're a better team than they were last year," Hedberg said. "It's going to be a very good test for our team, we just have to come out, play well, and limit our mistakes."
In last year's game, SCSU saw senior quarterback Keith Heckendorf pass for 246 yards, while Josh Williams ran for 63 yards and a touchdown. NSU led 7-0 at the end of the first half, before the Huskies charged back and scored 47 unanswered points, including 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Big Win
NSU comes off a 57-6 shellacking last week over St. Mary's (Kan.). NSU is off to its best start (2-0) since their 1989 season in which they began 6-0.
The Wolves had no trouble last Saturday, jumping out to a 35-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. NSU would tack on a touchdown and a field goal to go into the locker room up 44-0. Deacon Burns ran the pigskin 16 times for his second straight 100-yard game with a total of 102 on the day. Quarterback Toby Korrodi found 10-of-17 receivers on the day for 201 yards and five touchdowns, just one away from a school record of six. Josh Martin proved to be Korrodi's favorite target of the game, accumulating 104 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, Kyle Bowman and Kia Tupou led the Wolves with five tackles apiece including Tupou's two tackles for loss. Jason Carson finished with two tackles in limited action but one was for a 14-yard sack. Carson also made his first interception of the year in the game. As a team, Northern out-gained St. Mary's 577-155. The Wolves rushed for 376 yards on the day.
"We just have to come out fast and just stick to the game plan," Cosgrove said. "It's going to probably be the biggest key for us, we have a reputation of coming out slow."
Burns leads the team with 203 yards rushing this year, while Korrodi has passed for a total of 435 yards in two games. Ronnie Cruz has over a 100 yards rushing this season and led NSU with 892 yards rushing and seven touchdowns in 2002. Carson is also a big player to watch on the defense. He has 11 tackles and two sacks coming into this weekend's game.
Hedberg thinks that both Cruz and Carson are two very talented players and said that both have gotten off to good starts thus far.
"They are both definitely a big help to Northern State," Hedberg said. "Both are very good."
Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Husky Notebook
Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Koch had a career-high two touchdown catches last weekend. He has four TD grabs this season and five in his career as a Husky.
DeShazer and Birkel each had a career-high seven receptions last weekend. Birkel was limited to 65 yards rushing against PSU, which breaks a three-game streak (dating back to 2002) in which he rushed for 100 or more yards.
Defensive back Reed Hentges gained his first fumble recovery as a Husky last Saturday. He was named SCSU's player of the week, posting five tackles in the loss.
First-year defensive lineman Joe Niehaus will be out of action again this week due to a hyper extended elbow he injured against Western Washington. Hedberg hopes to have Niehaus back in the lineup by next week.
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