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Words like resilience and tenacious roll easily off the tongue as contemporary sports cliches. But never have the words been as significant as in the fourth quarter of UMD’s astounding 25-21 victory over defending Division 2 football champion Northwest Missouri State.
With just over 10 minutes remaining in their Super Region 3 playoff opener, UMD was in what appeared to be a hopeless situation. But at the end, with 0:00.9 remaining, the Bulldogs needed one more magic trick to escape with the victory that sends them to Arkadelphia, Arkansas to face No 1 seed Ouachita Baptist this Saturday. Getting to that chaotic finish required some amazing twists and turns, however.
The Bulldogs had scored first, when Drew Bauer had connected with Taylor Grant, a giant 6-foot-5 senior tight end, for a 13-yard touchdown back in the first quarter at Malosky Stadium. But that was it. Northwest Missouri State blocked Andrew Brees’s attempt at the extra point, then the Bearcats struck for a 7-6 lead in the second quarter.
With 1:24 left in the first half, Shawn Magee’s punt attempt was blocked by Bryce Enyard, and the block-happy Bearcats succeeded in a wild and crazy scramble that wound up with Kohlman Adema-Schulte scooping up the loose ball and running the last three yards into the end zone. That provided Northwest Missouri State with a stunning 14-6 halftime lead, and when the Bearcats marched 79 yards in a brisk five plays, with Kyle Zimmerman rushing the final 29, the surprisingly small crowd of 1,017 sat stunned as the score stood 21-6.
UMD has overcome such hefty deficits before, but never in the playoffs, against such a worthy foe. As the third quarter was melting into the fourth, the Bearcats had first and goal at the UMD 4, but the Bulldogs massed and stopped the threat to take over on downs at the 3 -- the second time in a row UMD had stopped Northwest Missouri State on fourth downs.

But the score stayed unchanged, things looked bleak indeed with just over 10 minutes remaining. Bauer, however, was undeterred. He moved the Bulldogs into striking distance, then he struck, spotting a hole and darting through for a 14-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 21-13. The Bulldog defense held again, and got the ball back on a punt. With third and 15 at the Bearcat 26, Bauer sent Beau Bofferding up the middle and lobbed a perfect pass over the gathering defense, and Bofferding caught it for a touchdown, closing it to 21-19 after a failed 2-point conversion pass.
But once again, UMD’s defense proved nothing short of spectacular, forcing a three-and-out punt to get the ball back, with 70 yards and only 4:18 remaining. Bauer’s running and passing got UMD to a third and goal at the 4, and from there, Bauer again ran a keeper, freezing the defense with a little hop-step, then barreling into the end zone with 26 seconds remaining. Another two-point try failed, but it didn’t matter because UMD had a 25-21 lead.
At that point, if you like lucky numbers, you might want to select “11” on the Bulldogs behalf. Bryce Enyard caught the ensuing kickoff and cut to his left, reaching the 20 and looking open for much more. Suddenly, Aaron Roth -- UMD’s do-everything senior -- caught Enyard from behind with a flying tackle at the 22. As the two got up, Enyard appeared to be so surprised at getting caught that he blasted Roth with a two-handed jolt to the chest, knocking Roth flat on his back. The ref’s flag flew, and a 15-yard penalty was forthcoming. Except that, because the ball was on the 22, it would only be half the distance to the goal line -- 11 yards.
With great poise, and the final seconds ticking away, NW Missouri quarterback Brady Bolles completed a 14-yard pass, then a 16-yard pass, and the Bearcats reached their 41 yard line. But the clock was only .9-seconds from running out, so the next play was it.
Noseguard Jonathan Harden nailed Bolles as he started to pass. His arm came forward, but the ball had hit the ground. The UMD players thought it was an incomplete pass, game over. But there was no whistle. Bearcats center Cole Chevalier picked up the ball and started forward, then pitched it to another lineman, who muffed it, but inadvertently kicked it ahead. The ball was still live.
Bearcat wide receiver Korey Jackson got his hands on the ball and took off up the left sideline as the UMD players started coming onto the field across the way, to celebrate a victory they didn’t realize was not yet secure. Sophomore linebacker Beau Bates, who was having his best day as a Bulldog, kept chasing, and finally tackled Jackson at the UMD 11-yard line.
“I jumped on top of him,” said Bates, who admitted that he stayed on top of him for a lengthy period of time. “I was exhausted,” he said.
Finally, the game was over. Northwest Missouri State had the ball, but no more ticks on the clock. The ball was on the 11 yard line -- perfectly matching the number of yards the Bearcats had been penalized at the start of the frantic drive. Had Enyard not blasted Roth with the cheapshot, you could have added 11 yards to the length of the final drive, which would have put Northwest Missouri State in the end zone, with a ticket to Ouachita Baptist in hand.
Instead it’s the Bulldogs, resilient and tenacious all the way, and now make their way to Arkadelphia, Ark., for another game, with their 12-0 record still perfect, and their mojo definitely still working.

UMD Volleyball Hopes Fall in Final

There was no way to avoid the disappointment, but the UMD volleyball players handled it with class, after their hopes for an NCAA Division 2 championship ended with an upset loss to an inspired Southwest Minnesota State outfit Saturday night at Romano Gym.
The Bulldogs had run their incredible winning streak to 27 straight by taking out Arkansas Tech in three sets, then beating Wayne State, also in three sets. That set up the anticipated meeting with seven-time defending champion Concordia of St. Paul -- except Concordia was upset by Southwest Minnesota State. All Southwest had to do was to come to Duluth and face No. 4 ranked Nebraska Kearney, No. 3 ranked Concordia, and then No. 2 UMD.
But having lost three matches against UMD this season, Southwest was ready to spring the upset. Let by Eisha Oden and Abbey Thissen -- both of whom had 14 kills in the match -- Southwest overcame deficits of 10-4 and 14-9 and won the first set 25-22 with a closing run of 10-4. UMD came back in the second set, trailing 4-0 and 10-7 before making a closing 13-2 surge to win 25-16.
“I thought, ‘There’s my team; we’re in a dogfight to the finish now,’ but we just couldn’t sustain it,” said UMD coach Jim Boos. “I told my players I’m disappointed for them, not in them. I was proud of our effort, but we thrive on attacking, and they really uglied us up. They made us play the way we played. This is one of the best teams I’ve ever coached, and it’s too bad this is where it has to end. But we’re certainly Mustang fans for the next couple of weeks.”
Where it ended for UMD is with a 33-2 record, having lost only to No. 1 Tampa, and holding the No. 2 rank all season, as their winning streak built. But Southwest’s credentials show the Mustangs were the only team to beat Tampa all season, and by knocking off UMD, they have all the momentum necessary to keep the NCAA title within the Northern Sun Conference.
It was a special weekend for UMD sports, with the UMD men’s hockey team scoring three third-period goals to shock Nebraska-Omaha 3-2, ending UNO’s winning streak at six games, before falling 4-1 and seeing their own six-game winning streak snapped, for a split. The UMD women’s hockey team swept Cornell at AMSOIL Arena and now has won nine straight games.
And the UMD football team, by rallying for 19 fourth-quarter points to beat defending D-2 champion Northwest Missouri State, can now set the record straight at Ouachita Baptist. In the final national ratings, Minnesota State-Mankato was No. 1, and UMD No. 2, with Pittsburg State of Kansas No. 5, Northwest Missouri State No. 6, and Ouachita Baptist No. 7. Only in the minds of the regional selection committee could a team ranked No. 7 nationally be placed No. 1, ahead of four of the six other teams in the regional who are ranked above Ouachita Baptist. UMD can prove themselves, once again, by winning at Ouachita and getting a crack at MSU-Mankato in the region final.