HAMMOND, La. ? A 49-yard field goal attempt by Brandon Hellevang (Fargo, N.D) on the final play of the game veered wide left as the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux fell to Southeastern Louisiana 38-35 at Strawberry Stadium.
The loss broke UND's seven-game regular season winning streak dating back to the 2007 season and dropped them to 4-1 on the year. The Lions improved to a 3-2 record.
The Lions dominated their home turf in the first half as they started off with a 14-0 lead and went into the locker-room with a 24-14 advantage. The second half was a reversal as UND outscored SELU, 21-14 ? 15 of those points came in the final 17 minutes of the game.
Josh Murray (Pepin, Wis.), who led the Sioux with 77 yards rushing on 22 carries, scored his second touchdown of the game with two minutes left in the third quarter to cap a 10 play, 83-yard drive to make the score 38-27.
Trailing 38-27 midway through the fourth quarter, Sioux quarterback Danny Freund (Kenosha, Wis.) rallied the team to a pair of drives, including a six-yard touchdown run by Alex Nicholas (Franklin, Minn.), to cut the lead to 38-33 with just over seven minutes left in the game.
Freund then connected with Nicholas on a 6-yard scoring pass with 7:10 left in the game to cut the lead to 38-33. Freund's pass on the two-point conversion was broken up leaving the deficit at five.
The Sioux defense then stopped the Lions on three consecutive plays to force a punt. Freund drove the Sioux to the Lion 25-yard line, but a grounding penalty forced UND into a third and a 25 from the SELU 40-yard line. The UND drive came to a sudden stop as Freund's high pass to the end zone was picked off by the Lions and returned to the one-yard line with 1:37 remaining.
After being held within their own 10-yard line on the following three plays, Lion punter Cody Samples ran out of the back of the end zone. With the safety, UND now trailed by just three points..
Murray returned the free kick 21 yards to the UND 37-yard line and after a gain of 30 yards, the Fighting Sioux found themselves on the SELU 32-yard line with six seconds left.
Hellevang set up for a 49-yard field goal attempt, but after two Southeastern timeouts, the ball flew wide left as time expired.
Freund finished the game with a career-high 29 completions on 43 attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns while Brady Trenbeath (Cavalier, N.D.) had a career-high 13 receptions for 201 yards and a touchdown. The night marked the first 200-yard receiving game for a Fighting Sioux player in six seasons.
For the first time in three games, Murray was held to under 100 yards rushing. He finished with 77 yards on 22 carries and a pair of touchdowns. He also added 30 yards receiving on three catches.
Nicholas logged a career-high two touchdown receptions with 34 yards on four catches.
Defensively, Andrew Miller (Menomonie, Wis.) and Brett Holinka (Dickinson, N.D.) led the Sioux with six tackles apiece. Miller notched a career-high four solo tackles and Holinka added one tackle for loss.
Ross Cochran (Kenosha, Wis.) posted two quarterback sacks with Mike Ebanks (Orlando, Fl.) and Jeff Richter (St. Cloud, Minn.) adding one apiece.
The Fighting Sioux forced the Lions to three and out on their first two series of the evening but on its third drive, Southeastern Louisiana made some noise.
An SELU false start and a sack by senior defensive lineman Ebanks put a stop to the opening drive and tackles by Holinka, Jeff Tescher (Jr., Bismark, N.D.), Richter, and Nathan Wayne (Jr., Menomonie, Wis.) in the second drive forced the Lions to punt once again.
Southeastern Louisiana struck first in their third drive with 3:56 left to go in the first quarter. A 30-yard pass from Brian Babin to Simmie Yarborough put SELU inside the UND 10-yard line. Babin and Yarborough hooked up again in the next play with a six-yard pass to the end zone. With the extra point good, the Lions took a 7-0 lead.
Less than five minutes later, the Lions pushed their lead to 14-0 on a 12-yard pass from Jay Lucas to Babin.
A little over a minute and a half into the second quarter, Murray busted up the middle to cut the Lion lead in half. A 34-yard kickoff return by freshman defensive back Dominique Hawkins (Rockford, Minn.) combined with a 10-yard personal foul penalty on SELU put Murray in position for the 34-yard touchdown carry.
Three plays into their possession, Babin tossed his third pass for over 40 yards, this time finding Krishna Muhammad 55 yards downfield. In the next play, a reversal in the backfield put Brady Miles in the end zone with an 18-yard touchdown carry.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the half, a nine-play, 33-yard drive by the Lions resulted in a 42-yard field goal by Jeff Turner to put the score at 24-7 in favor of the home team.
The remainder of the second quarter belonged to North Dakota as it held the ball for 5 minutes, fifty-nine seconds. On that drive alone, Brady recorded 20 yards, Murray 15 yards, and Trenbeath had a 26-yard reception. The 12-play, 79-yard drive was capped by an 11-yard touchdown reception by Nicholas ? his second touchdown reception this season.
A little over two minutes into the second half, the Fighting Sioux made it a three-point ballgame with a 24-yard touchdown reception from Freund to Trenbeath. Just three plays earlier, the two had connected on the 30-yard pass to put the ball on the SELU 27 yard line.
Within the next seven minutes, Babin found himself two more TD receivers. At 10:24, he found Andre Cryer on a 37-yard pass to the end zone. Two minutes later, Babin found Jas Ducksworth on two consecutive plays, a 36-yard reception and a nine-yard touchdown pass.
Down 38-21, Freund found Trenbeath downfield on a 43-yard pass. The play set UND up for its fourth touchdown of the evening. It took just three plays before Murray found an opening and pushed through for a three-yard carry and his second touchdown of the evening.
North Dakota cut the lead down by six more following a nine-play drive midway through the fourth quarter. Freshman running back Catlin Solum (Fargo, N.D.) started off the drive with a five yard carry. Blair Grover (Sr., Mequon, Wis.) tacked on a seven-yard reception and junior Zach Keller (Minot, N.D.) added another five yards after snatching a tipped pass for his first career reception. Nicholas and Murray combined for another 14 yards before Nicholas took a six-yard reception to the end zone to put the score at 38-33.
In their next drive, the Sioux had a chance to take the lead, but an intentional grounding call and an interception stopped them short. After holding Southeastern Louisiana inside the 10 yard line on the next three plays, UND was eventually able to push them back for a safety.
With the clock running down and the score set at 38-35 in favor of the home team, UND again set themselves up for a chance to score.
Following a 21-yard punt return by Murray to the UND 37 yard line, Freund completed two passes for a total of 28 yards to move the ball to the Lion's 32. With :06 remaining on the clock Hellevang setup for a 49-yard field goal. The kick had the distance, but went wide left to give the Lions the 38-35 victory.
The Sioux will have two weeks off before they return home for an October 18 homecoming game against Western Washington. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
- Go Sioux -
GAME NOTES: Captains for tonight's game, Danny Freund, Rory Manke and Alex Nicholas ... Danny Freund threw his first interception this season to snap a streak of 240 passes without an interception... Zach Keller recorded his first career reception... Steven Battle recorded his first assisted tackle of the season... Nick Farstveet first assisted tackle of his career... Ryan Konrath, career-high three receptions, career-high 26 yards, career-high 13-yard reception... This is the second game played at Strawberry Stadium since the renovations on the press box and the suite area... At halftime, SELU honored its four new inductees to the Athletic Hall of Fame...
