Golden Eagles Overcome Penalties to Defeat Mayville State University 20-15
(Crookston, Minn.)- The University of Minnesota, Crookston football team entered today’s non-conference contest with Mayville State University looking for the team’s first home victory since 2003. Despite 132 yards in penalties and five personal fouls, the Golden Eagles proved they can win at Ed Widseth Field, defeating the Comets 20-15.
The Golden Eagles and the Comets swapped five drives in the first quarter before a point was put on the board. At the 5:01 mark of the first quarter, Mayville State quarterback TJ Sanford threw an interception to UMC’s Chris Wooding (DB, 5’10, 170, JR, Miami, Fla.) at the UMC two yard-line. The team averted a possible Mayville touchdown but on the third play of the Golden Eagle drive, Jake Poehler (QB, 6’1, 175, Coon Rapids, Minn.) was sacked in the end zone for a Comet safety to go up 2-0. Mayville would find the end zone again with 21 seconds left in the first quarter after a Minnesota, Crookston and fumble put the Comets on the UMC 11 yard-line. It took Mayville quarterback Jake Mclain just seven seconds to find Andy Jacobson on an 11 yard touchdown reception to put the Comets up 8-0.
The University of Minnesota, Crookston took advantage of a fumbled Comet punt return in the second quarter to put the team’s first points on the board. Calvin McMullen (RB, 6’0, 180, SR, Sparta, Ga.) took the ball on the first play of the drive and found the Mayville end zone on a 14 yard rush to get the Golden Eagles within two points. To close out the half, UMC put together the team’s longest drive of the day, marching 85 yards on 10 plays. Tim Ennis (QB, 6’2, 205, SO, Lancaster, Calif.) capped off the drive, finding Aaron Wall (WR, 6’5, 210, SO, New Orleans, La.) in the end zone for an eight yard scoring strike to end the half up 14-8.
The third quarter saw no scoring but at 13:35 of the fourth quarter, UMC went up 20-8 when Ennis found the end zone on the ground, scoring on a two yard rush on a drive that covered three plays and 41 yards. Mayville State made the game interesting as they scored on a Mclain 13 yard pass to wide receiver Jeff Shaffer to get within five points. The Golden Eagle were down to a third and eight yards to go with 33 seconds left when Ennis found Wall for an 11 yard game and a first down to seal the victory for the Golden Eagles.
On the afternoon, the Golden Eagle offense accumulated 336 total yards. Calvin McMullen led UMC offensively, rushing for 126 yards on 18 carries with a long of 30 yards and one touchdown. Aaron Wall caught five passes for 85 yards with one touchdown and a long of 31 yards. Kenny James, Jr. (LB, 6’1, 220, FR, Monticello, Ga.) played a solid 60 minutes leading UMC defensively with seven total tackles (one solo, six assisted). He earned a half a tackle for a loss of six yards and half a sack.
The Comets were led offensively by Jake Mclain who completed 13 of 29 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Jeff Shaffer and Andy Jacobson each caught three passes and a touchdown for Mayville’s two scores on the day. Anton Bratford led the Comets and all defenders with 11 total tackles (five solo, six assisted). He forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and had one and a half sacks.
The Golden Eagles are 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC, while the Comets drop to 0-1 overall. The team returns to Ed Widseth Field on Saturday, September 13 to host Augustana College in an NSIC game. Kick-off for the contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on KROX-1260 AM at http://www.umcrookston.edu/people/services/MediaServ/stream.htm and watch all Golden Eagle games live on Northern Sun TV at http://www.northernsun.tv/.
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at: www.goldeneaglesports.com.
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UMC News