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St. Cloud State University
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SCSU prepares for noise, UND
By Ben Birnell
Published:
Thursday, October 2, 2003
Things look to be firing on all cylinders for the Husky football team as they roll out of last weekend's 41-6 win over MSU-Mankato and into this weekend's match-up against another NCC opponent in the University of North Dakota.
Less than a week after the Traveling Training Kit made it back to SCSU, head coach Randy Hedberg is praising the work his defense did during the weekend. Limiting the Maverick offense to just 249 yards offensively, Hedberg is happy that the defense played well.
"They put together a solid showing the entire game," Hedberg said. "We put an emphasis on stopping the run, once we were able to do that, we were able to get pressure on their quarterback and it came together."
On the offensive side of the ball, things heated up nicely for the Huskies.
Senior quarterback Keith Heckendorf garnered good enough numbers to be selected as the North Central Conference's Player of the Week. In the blowout, Heckendorf passed for 225 yards and was 19-of-27 with four touchdown passes to his credit. All of this was accomplished in just three quarters of play as SCSU reserve QB Dan Kaczor saw action in the final quarter. On a similar note, Heckendorf is now the proud owner of another SCSU passing record, adding to his long list of SCSU passing records he has already broken. During Saturday's game, he became the first SCSU player to pass for over 8,000 yards in his career (8,017 thru 9/27) and he owns the team career record with 616 completions and 84 TD passes. The senior QB is also ranked 10th in pass efficiency this season according to NCAA Division II rankings with a 155.6 thus far.
The Huskies ranked 11th in the most recent American Football Coaches Association poll, and invade the AFCA 20th ranked Fighting Sioux and the Alerus Center this weekend.
The match-up this weekend should be an interesting one as the Huskies' third-ranked offense (513.2 yards/game) take on UND�s fifth ranked defense (223.3 yards/game). Hedberg knows the UND defense is tough and knows it'll be a battle all the way through.
"They traditionally have a good defense," he said. "It's going to be a battle and we're going to have to fight and scratch to score touchdowns."
Hedberg expects this year's game to be a mirror of last year's game in which the Huskies edged out the Fighting Sioux 20-17. The game marks the 25th time the teams will meet and UND owns a 21-3 lead in the series.
Hedberg knows the biggest problem his team faces is the noise that the Alerus Center generates because it's an indoor stadium. Like last year, Hedberg brought in a truck that pipes in crowd noise to get his players accustomed to what they might be hearing while on field against UND.
"With the noise, it gives us a chance to concentrate on both sides of the ball," Hedberg said. "Because moving the ball is one of the keys to winning this game."
Injury Updates
-Senior linebacker Ryan Rutten will be out of action this weekend due to a knee injury. Hedberg believes it isn't a season-ending injury.
-There's a possibility first-year Joe Niehaus, who has been out of action with a hyper-extended elbow, could be back in the lineup.
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