Jonathan Harden took part in his final University of Minnesota Duluth home game Saturday afternoon and he certainly made it a memorable one.

The starting nose tackle and part-time fullback rushed for three short touchdowns and wreaked his share of havoc on the other side of the football as he and the Bulldogs closed out the 2015 regular season by downing Minot State University 36-10. The Senior Day triumph gave UMD a share of its eighth consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division title and a 8-3 final regular record. It was also the Bulldogs' 16th straight win at home and their 27th victory in 27 lifetime North Division outings in Duluth.

Minot State (1-10 overall) gave UMD a bit of a scare in the opening 30 minutes of play and took a 10-8 lead into halftime, but it was all Bulldogs after that as they struck for 28 unanswered points over the last two quarters. UMD was playing for the second consecutive game without a trio of its offensive starters, including third-year starting quarterback Drew Bauer. His replacement, sophomore Nate Ricci, wound up rushing a game-high 19 times for an even 100 yards -- 64 of which came off a third- quarter touchdown jaunt. He also hauled in a 59-yard scoring strike from wide receiver Justin Fowlkes off a double reverse that put UMD up 29-10 late in the third quarter.  Ricci completed 10 of 19 passes for 107 yards with Fowlkes, freshman running back Jamiah Newell and junior wide out Dominic Bonner all on the receving end of two of those passes.
 
Minot State, which is 0-4 all-time against the Bullogs and has been outscored 191-16 in the process, generated just 161 yards of total offense -- a 2015 low for a UMD opponent -- and seven first downs the entire afternoon.  Brent Stiglich paced all Bulldogs in tackles with eight while fellow senior linebacker Mark Nahorniak had six stops. Harden figured in on four tackles, including three for a loss and was credited with one quarterback hurry.  Stiglich, Nahorniak, Harden and Fowlkes were among 10 UMD seniors who were recognized prior to the game. The others included defensive lineman Pierre Avesca, free safety David Boegel, placekicker/punter Andrew Brees, cornerbacks Ty Fischer and Darion Fletcher and running back Logan Lauters (who is out with a career-ending injury).

"All of our senior are great role models," said Ricci. "They do all the right things and are great leaders on and off the field. Most of all, they're just great people. It's been a blessing to play alongside them."
 
The Bulldogs now appear headed to the Mineral Water Bowl on Dec. 5 in Excelsior Springs, Mo., where their opponent is likely to be the University of Central Missouri.