GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- No. 8/9 North Dakota scored six first-half touchdowns for the second straight week and cruised to a 62-26 victory over St. Thomas in the 60
th annual Potato Bowl USA game Saturday at the Alerus Center. Senior quarterback
Jerry Kaminski threw a career-high five touchdown passes all in the first half as the Fighting Hawks raced out to a 43-12 lead at the break.
Safety
Avery Dixon opened the scoring for Nodak with a 34-yard interception return for a touchdown on St. Thomas' second pass attempt of the game to quickly put the home ahead 7-0.
The UND offense also scored following its first time on the field as Kaminski found
Korey Tai on an 8-yard scoring toss to push the advantage to 14-0. Kaminski's 31-yard toss to
Deng Deng was the longest of the 10-play, 95-yard opening drive for the Fighting Hawks.
After the home team's defense forced another punt, Kaminski engineered another opening-quarter touchdown drive, which was the Hawks' sixth in the opening two games. He capped this one with a six-yard touchdown pass to Deng, who finished the contest with four catches for a career-high 82 yards. A failed two-point conversion attempt left UND's lead at 20-0.
Kaminski kept the air strikes coming in the second quarter, adding three more to give break his previous career high of four in the opening half. He hit
Mason South from five yards out for the tight end's first career touchdown reception to make it a 27-0 contest.
The Tommies took advantage of UND's first miscue, converting a
Matt Lawson fumble into three points after Ben Hoiland connected on a 49-yard field goal to get on the scoreboard.
The Kaminski-Tai connection struck again on UND's next drive. Tai's second scoring catch of the game was from 11 yards, padding the Fighting Hawks' lead to 34-3. Tai finished with a career-high six grabs for 61 yards.
After forcing another Tommies' punt, the St. Thomas defense came up with a big play as Malachi Boadi-Aboagye would pick off Kaminski and outrace the UND signal caller to the end zone for a 74-yard interception return.
Kaminski would make amends for that turnover as he capped his five-touchdown first half passing display with a six-yard throw to
Sam Strandell, who found the end zone for the first time in his career to put UND ahead 41-9 with under a minute to play in the half. Kaminksi finished the game 23-for-29 for 233 yards and those career-high five touchdown passes.
A 59-yard kickoff return by Mordecai Ford allowed the Tommies to sneak three more points on the board before halftime as Hoiland connected on a 40-yard boot as time expired to leave the Hawks ahead 41-12 at the break.
After the teams traded punts to open the third quarter, Chuck Langama turned a 4
th-and-1 into a 15-yard touchdown scamper that pushed the Fighting Hawks' lead to 48-12. He accounted for 21 yards on the ground to crack the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.
St. Thomas quickly got the touchdown back after taking advantage of UND's third turnover of the contest. The Tommies' back-up quarterback Nick Peipert found tight end Nick Magner on a 27-yard scoring pass on the opening play of the drive to make it a 48-19 contest.
The Hawks and Tommies traded one-yard touchdown runs early in the fourth quarter as the points continued to pile up for both teams.
Griffin Broderick scored his first career touchdown for UND, while Noah Long would answer on the Tommies' ensuring drive to push the score to 55-26.
UND's back-up signal caller
Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson put a bow on a nine-touchdown day for the Hawk's offense, scoring his third career touchdown on a one-yard sneak midway through the fourth quarter.
UND returns to action next Saturday for the program's first road test of the season at Portland State. Kickoff against the Vikings is set for 9 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
- UND's win improved its mark in the all-time series with St. Thomas to 12-6-1 -- this was the first meeting between the two programs since 1964.
- Nodak improved to 48-12 all-time in Potato Bowl USA contests and have now won seven straight dating back to 2019.
- With the teams combining for 88 points, this was the third-highest scoring Potato Bowl in the 60-year history of the game. UND beat Texas A&M Kingsville 67-44 in 1986 and Nodak beat South Dakota 47-44 in double overtime in 2016.
- With 62 points, UND has scored 50-plus points in three straight Potato Bowls for the first time in program history. Those were the second most points Nodak has scored in the Potato Bowl.
- Dixon's 34-yard interception return for a touchdown was the first for the Fighting Hawks since Jonnie Wiltshire had a 30-yarder against Murray State a season ago (Nov. 15).
- Kaminski went 23-for-29 for 233 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes that all came in the first half.
- Tai's eight-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter marked the first time he has scored in back-to-back games in his UND career. He added an 11-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter to produce the first multiple-touchdown game of his career, while finishing with a career-best six receptions (61 yards).
- The last UND quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a game was Tommy Shuster, who achieved the feat in a 45-31 victory over Murray State on Nov. 4, 2023.
- UND scored six first-half touchdowns for the second straight week – the Hawks led LIU 42-0 at halftime last week in the season opener
- Langama posted the first 100-yard rushing game of his career and scored touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time as well thanks to a 15-yard rush in the third quarter. He finished with a career-high 120 yards on 11 carries, including a career-best 49-yard rush in the second quarter.
- Langama also added two kickoff returns for 96 yards to give him 216 all-purpose yards – he had returns of 40 and 56 yards in the contest.
- Broderick's one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the first of his career.
How It HappenedÂ
First Quarter
14:10 – UND |
Avery Dixon scores on a 34-yard interception return (
Kenten Laughman kick).
6:13 – UND |
Korey Tai scores on an 8-yard pass from
Jerry Kaminski (Laughman kick). 10 plays, 95 yards, 4:25
2:32 – UND |
Deng Deng scores on an 6-yard pass from Kaminski (Tai pass fails). 5 plays, 52 yards, 2:03
Second Quarter
12:47 – UND |
Mason South scores on a 5-yard pass from Kaminski (Laughman kick). 5 plays, 69 yards, 2:03
8:57 – UST | Ben Hoiland makes 49-yard field goal. 4 plays, 2 yards, 00:52
7:02 – UND | Tai scores on an 11-yard pass from Kaminski (Laughman kick). 5 plays, 74 yards, 1:52
4:41 – UST | Malachi Boadi-Aboagye scores on a 74-yard interception return (Hoiland miss kick).
00:24 – UND |
Sam Strandell scores on a 6-yard pass from Kaminski (Laughman kick). 13 plays, 60 yards, 4:12
00:00 – UST | Hoiland makes 40-yard field goal. 3 plays, 0 yards, 00:15
Third Quarter
5:50 – UND |
Charles Langama scores on a 15-yard rush (Laughman kick). 10 plays, 72 yards, 5:17
2:59 – UST | Patrick Wagner scores on a 27-yard pass from Nick Peipert (Hoiland kick). 1 play, 27 yards, 00:06
Fourth Quarter
13:10 – UND |
Griffin Broderick scores on a 1-yard rush (Laughman kick). 10 plays, 47 yards, 4:42
11:21 – UST | Noah Long scores on a 1-yard rush (Hoiland kick). 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:49
9:59 – UND |
Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson scores on a 1-yard rush (Laughman kick). 6 plays, 44, 2:21
For more information on North Dakota Football, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media
@UNDFootball.
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