Sioux keep NCC title hopes alive with win

ST. CLOUD, Minn.—UND's North Central Conference title hopes are alive and well after a 34-27 overtime victory over St. Cloud State this afternoon at Husky Stadium. The win, coupled with South Dakoa's victory over Nebraska-Omaha, pulls the Sioux into a first-place tie with USD and UNO heading into next Saturday's regular season finale against South Dakota.

Ryan Chappell's 14-yard touchdown run on the second play of overtime was the winning score and capped another late-game rally for the Fighting Sioux.

UND found itself trailing 27-24 midway through the quarter, with St. Cloud State's Jon Gutierrez lining up for a 35-yard field goal that would have made it a two-possession game. However, UND's Adam Wolff blocked the kick to keep the deficit at just three points with 9:18 left in regulation.

The Sioux took over at their own 20 and promptly put together a 15-play, 66-yard march to set up a game-tying 31-yard field goal by freshman kicker Brandon Hellevang with 1:40 remaining.

After the Sioux defense forced a three-and-out on the next series, Hellevang had a chance to win the game, but his 48-yard attempt into the wind on the final play of regulation was wide left.

The Huskies won the overtime coin toss and elected to put the Sioux on offense, but UND found the end zone on just two plays, back-to-back runs by Chappell covering 11 and 14 yards.

It was Chappell who also opened the scoring on this afternoon, in a see-saw first half that surprisingly saw 41 points put on the scoreboard despite a matchup of two of the top defenses in the NCC.

Chappell's 11-yard scoring run was the exclamation point on UND's opening drive, givng the Sioux an early 7-0 lead.

The Huskies responded, however, with a 30-yard Gutierrez field goal and a Nate Johnson 50-yard touchdown reception on their first two possessions and St. Cloud State took a 10-7 lead into the second quarter.

Gutierrez extended the lead to 13-7 with a 42-yard effort, but Dressler gave UND the lead back with a two-yard touchdown reception midway through the period, his school-record 12th regular season TD catch.

UND was in position to add to the lead on its next series, but a Hellevang field goal attempt was blocked after a low snap, and SCSU's Philip Hedlof returned it 59 yards for a touchdown and a 20-14 Husky lead.

But Chappell answered with his second of three scoring TDs, this time scampering 19 yards to finish off an efficient nine-play, 80-yard scoring march.

Chappell finished the day with 150 yards on 23 carries, as the Sioux racked up 209 rushing yards, their second straight game with more than 200.

Senior quarterback Reed Manke returned to the starting lineup for the Sioux and completed 26-of-37 passes fpr 217 yards and the touchdown strike to Dressler. Freshman receiver Brady Trenbeath was Manke's favorite target, catching a career-high 10 passes for 92 yards.

St. Cloud State quarterback Jon Quesnel was 18-of-29 for 266 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked five times and intercepted once.

The Sioux held the Huskies to 19 rushing yards on 23 carries.

UND (8-1, 6-1 NCC) will host South Dakota next Saturday at the Alerus Center with at least a share of the conference title on the line. A Sioux win and a Nebraska-Omaha loss would give UND the championship outright.

Notes: Chappell now has 782 rushing yards on the season, the second-highest total by a freshman in Fighting Sioux history. He needs just 64 yards to break Phillip Moore's UND record for regular season rushing yards by a freshman (846) and 140 yards to break his overall freshman rushing record (921) … Dressler now has 140 career receptions to tie Willis Stattelman (2000-03) for fourth place on UND's all-time list. He is just 19 receptions shy of Dan Grossman's school record of 159.


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Contact: Jayson Hajdu