Box Score The University of Minnesota Duluth football team closed out the season with a 30-16 victory over Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival Minnesota State University, Mankato Saturday afternoon at a sun-splashed James S. Malosky Stadium in Duluth, Minn. The Bulldogs took control with 30 unanswered points including 27 points in the second and third quarters as the Mavericks turned the ball over twice and had multiple special team errors.
UMD held MSU to 213 total yards of offense on 61 plays and netted just 29 yards on the ground. The 29 yards was the second lowest total by the Mavericks ground game this season. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, offensively produced 376 yards, 199 yards on the ground and 177 via the air attack.
The Mavericks struck first on a trick play. Hayden Ekern connected on a touchdown pass to Grant Guyett for 44 yards off a flea-flicker attempt to take an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter. UMD came up empty on the first two possessions but found the endzone on the ensuing third drive. The Bulldogs started the drive on the Minnesota State 44-yard line thanks to a poor 11-yard punt. Redshirt sophomore running back
Derrick Johnson rumbled in for the Bulldogs' first touchdown from three-yards out, that encapsulated a 11-play, 41 yard drive to tie the game at seven apiece.
On the Bulldogs next possession, redshirt junior QB
Kyle Walljasper connected with redshirt freshman wide receiver
Ryder Patterson for a 35-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. Walljasper rolled out to the left and found a streaking Patterson behind the Maverick defense all alone for a walk in touchdown. That capped off a three-play, 39-yard drive that took 90 seconds thanks to a fumbled shotgun exchange, the second of three fumbles on the day for MSU. The Mavericks blocked the point after and returned the distance to cut the Bulldog lead to 13-9.
From there, the route was on.
The Bulldogs added to their lead on the opening possession of the second half 20-9. After a pair of tush push attempts by the Bulldogs in the first half, UMD lined up on third down in a familiar formation again deep in Maverick territory. This time, Walljasper faked the scrum up the middle and rolled to the his right and found redshirt freshman running back
Alex Riley who leaked out to the corner of the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown. UMD tacked on another touchdown on a beautiful pass to
Cole Ewald. A play-action boot to the right gave Walljasper enough time to elude the rush and float a pass over the outstretch Mavericks defense into a diving Ewald.
Redshirt freshman place kicker
Drew Henson connected on his first field goal of his career with 12:50 remaining to give UMD a commanding 30-9 advantage. Henson nailed his 33-yard attempt thought the uprights as MSU scored in the closing minutes.
Walljasper finished the day 16-for-26 with 177 yards and three passing touchdowns and added 77 yards rushing. Johnson registered 60 yards rushing on nine carries with a score as well. Patterson was the leading receiver, and he ended the day hauling in all five of his targets for 57 yards and the Bulldogs' second touchdown. True freshman
Jarrett Bennett and senior linebacker
Mac Strand each had a team-high six tackles.
FAREWELL, SENIORS
UMD says goodbye to its 22-member senior class following today's regular season finale. Since 2021, this class posted an impressive overall record of 43-12. That group includes, in numerical order, tight end
Sam Pitz, linebacker
Andrew Klopp, wide receiver
Cole Ewald, defensive back
Jacob Mogensen, wide receiver
Jimmy Durocher, linebacker
Brady Herbst, linebacker
Mac Strand, running back
Daniel Mitchell, defensive back
Zach Wallace, defensive end
Landon Carter, punter
Logan Kobus, linebacker
Luke Danielski, linebacker
Jakob Aarsvold defensive end
Drew Hennessey, offensive lineman
Ethan Jauquet, offensive lineman
Liam Fahey, offensive lineman
Justin Hull, offensive lineman
Aiden Williams, place kicker
Curtis Cox, tight end
Joel Forgacs, defensive end
Jacob Kaszuba, and defensive tackle
Cassius Rohadfox.
