Last-second loss to Wolves stuns UMD

As the final second elapsed, Northern State’s Jeremy Caruso sent this 38-yard field goal through for a 24-21 victory against UMD. Photos by John Gilbert.

On a drizzly, chilly Saturday, I had a hooded Bulldogs sweatshirt on and a windbreaker over it, trying to calm the harsh weather as I stood on the far sideline adjacent to the Northern State players bench.
I had just watched UMD quarterback Kyle Walljasper try to will his Bulldogs to finish a comeback from a 21-7 deficit against the persistent Wolves.

Walljasper did his thing, posing 9-for-14 for 115 yards and a touchdown, but he did his real thing by carrying the ball — rampaging through the Wolves defense for a game-leading 145 yards on 15 carries. He ran for a touchdown with 2:15 left to cut the deficit to 21-14, and he directed a 44-yard drive in 8 plays finished by Derrick Johnson’s short run to gain a 21-21 tie with 2:33 remaining.

Kyle Walljasper broke through for a critical gain leading UMD to a fourth quarter comeback to get a 21-all tie.

In my mind, I was thinking that was too much time to leave the Wolves, and quarterback Daniel Britt. Sure enough, Britt’s short sideline passes to assorted receivers brought Northern State down the field, and what seemed like a subtle mistake — booting the kickoff out of bounds — proved decisive by giving Northern State a short field to attack.

There was still time to run the clock down while seeking a tie-breaking touchdown, or to let it run down for a game-winning field goal.

Britt stayed calm, even at a third down and 7 from the UMD 27 with 0:16 showing. He connected on a left sideline pass to create first and goal, and after a couple cracks at a touchdown, Wolves coach Mike

Schmidt stood next to an official as the final seconds of regulation ticked away. The clock went from 0:05 to 0:04 to 0:03, when Schmidt said, “Time out.” The clock continued to run and went to 0:00, and Schmidt had to go out and plead his case to the officials to get the time out.

At that, they reset the clock at 0:01. Schmidt didn’t care, because all he needed was a micro-second to get Jeremy Caruso on the field, lined up for a 38-yard field goal. UMD took time out, Northern took its last timeout, then UMD took its final timeout, and after what seemed like forever, the play was allowed to occur.

Caruso split the uprights at 0:00, and Northern State beat the Bulldogs 24-21.

It was a wrenching loss for UMD, particularly because just a few weeks earlier MSU Moorhead snatched a 30-29 victory from the Bulldogs with two late touchdowns and two-point conversions after both.

But that was a classic football game; this was ugly, and it brought out some fire from coach Court Wiese.
He dismissed the idea of a nice comeback from 21-7 by saying, “Not nice enough.” Then he launched into some well-deserved venting.

“You can’t take (bleeping) penalties, or kick the ball out of bounds, or keep making all the little mistakes we keep making, because when you do, this is what happens — you get beat.”

It was perhaps an unprecedented Football Saturday for Minnesotans everywhere.

While UMD was rallying and then stumbling, the University of Minnesota backed up its colossal upset against Southern California a week earlier by rallying to ride an interception from Esko freshman Koi Perich to take the lead, then rallied in the closing minutes to regain the lead at 21-17 out at the storied Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

But they left too much time to the Bruins, who promptly stormed down the field and were in position to snatch victory with a late touchdown.

But when it came down to a final Hail Mary pass to the end zone, there was — guess who? — Koi Perich, making an acrobatic somersaulting interception to clinch the victory.

And there were more. Among my favorites was the national spotlight game with No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Oregon. Great game, back and forth, and my favorite Ducks were clinging to a 32-31 lead as the final minutes ticked down.

Ohio State was coming, and obviously the Buckeyes didn’t need a touchdown because a field goal would win the game for them.

Quarterback Will Howard got the Buckeyes within range, then ran off a couple more plays to get closer. He was easily close enough, but uncertain, so with 0:07 left, he decided to try one more pass, then kick the field goal. He dropped back, found everyone covered, so gambled and scrambled for a short gain, then slid to the turf to stop the clock.

But he cut it too close, and the clock hit 0:00 an instant before his rear end hit the turf, and the Ducks poured onto the field to celebrate a 32-21 victory.

In the new and too-big Big Ten, Penn State was down by 14 in the fourth quarter, but rallied to tie Southern Cal, forcing overtime, when the Nittany Lions won 33-30 on a 36-yard field goal.

And maybe you preferred the incredible drama of Illinois beating Purdue 50-49 in overtime?

Or, in the other big national game, No. 1 Texas pounded Oklahoma 34-3 in a blowout where I expected a close battle.

The Vikings didn’t play last weekend, enjoying a bye week, but there were some other huge games.
One big surprise was Detroit thrashing Dallas 47-9 in a game with major overtones — not the least of which is the fact the Lions next come to Minneapolis to face the Vikings for first place in the conference.
This is a week of huge high school soccer playoffs, and the Northern Minnesota area has proven it can hold its own, even against the big Twin Cities schools. The Duluth East girls are one example.

The Greyhounds, as No. 1 seed, got to play at home at Ordean Field, and they’ve kept winning, knocking off Blaine 2-0 in the Class 7AAAA semifinals. East’s attack can be expected to make the Hounds formidable for years to come, after this one, as top goal-scorer Lilly Kuettel is only a sophomore, and her co-conspirator on attack is Darby Friday, who is a ninth-grader.

Duluth East sophomore Lilly Kuettel was surrounded after scoring her first of two goals in the Greyhounds 2-0 Class 7AAA semifinal victory over Blaine at Ordean Field.

Kuettel broke a scoreless tie 40 seconds into the second half when she rushed up the left side, cut in sharply between two Blaine defenders, than cut loose with a hard shot from 26 yards that beat Blaine goalkeeper Brekka Snyder for a vital 1-0 lead.

Blaine was aware of stopping Kuettel and Friday, and did its best to contain them in the first half. But both got free for several thrusts and impressive scoring chances, which were stopped by Snyder, until Kuettel broke through again and fired a high, longer shot that found its way in.

East brought a 15-3 record, and 11 straight victories, into the section final against Andover. Kuettel’s two goals give her 31 goals for the season, and the semis were were ninth game with more than one goal. Friday, the most recent extension of a famous Duluth soccer family, has 17 assists for the season.