Box Score MOORHEAD, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Moorhead used a special team's touchdown and a defensive touchdown to seal a victory over University of Minnesota, Crookston 35-13 Saturday in Moorhead, Minn. The victory gives the Dragons the first victory in the “Red River Valley Showdown” Presented by State Farm Insurance and they are first winner of the State Farm Traveling trophy provided by State Farm Insurance agents Andy Oman and David Eggers.

MSU Moorhead improves to 1-6 on the year while UMC falls to 1-6 on the season. The Dragons have now won the last four meetings between the two rivals who are located just 75 miles apart. The Golden Eagles are now 0-4 in road games this season with losses to Winona State University, Augustana College, Bemidji State University and MSU Moorhead.

UMC produced more yardage offensively than MSU Moorhead but had five turnovers including four interceptions thrown by A.J. Barge (So., QB, Carrollton, Ga.). The Golden Eagle defense held the Dragons to 309 yards of offense including only 161 through the air and 148 on the ground.

The Dragons started the game with the ball and took the first drive down the field but the opportunity ended Wes Kramer missed a 37-yard field goal.

On the ensuing possession, the Golden Eagles faced a crucial third-and-eight at the MSU Moorhead 48 yard-line but Barge was intercepted by defensive lineman State Parks. MSU Moorhead took the turnover and turned into points going 48 yards in four plays culminated by Jake Hodge connecting with Wade Youngblom for the score to put the Dragons up 7-0.

Neither team was able to come up with points for the remainder of the first quarter. However, to open the second quarter, UMC ended a 12-play drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Barge to Marcus Cheatham (Jr., WR, Stockton, Calif.). The touchdown was Barge's fifth of the season and Cheatham's third of the year. The score was the first offensive touchdown of the season for the Golden Eagles on the road.

The Dragons answered on the following drive to go ahead 14-6, going 65 yards ending in a Hodge 19 yard rush to pay dirt.
After a three-and-out by the UMC offense, MSU Moorhead added to its lead with a 40-yard touchdown run from Zayne Medhaug to put the Dragons up 21-6.

After MSU Moorhead stopped the Golden Eagles, Chris Secrest (Sr., K/P, Hollywood, Fla.) came on to punt but the Dragons' Sheldon Jones fumbled the ball after a hit from Tyler Roed (Sr., DB, Devils Lake, N.D.). The ball was recovered by Tyler Hansen (So., RB, Morris, Minn.) and set the Golden Eagles up at the MSU Moorhead 16, looking poised to score. However Barge threw his second interception of the game to Shea DeJong that ended the scoring opportunity and would ultimately end the first half with the Dragons holding a 21-6 advantage.

Right out of the locker room UMC looked to close the gap as they marched to the 16 yard line aided by a 23-yard pass from Barge to Josh Ross (Fr., WR, Palmdale, Calif.) and a 15-yard pass from Barge to Talo Pascal (Fr., RB, Arlington, Texas). But after MSU Moorhead stopped a third-and-goal, Stephen Henderson (Sr., K/TE, Chatsworth, Calif.) missed a 33-yard field goal keeping the score 21-6 with the Dragons in the lead.

UMC's defense came up with a turnover on the next drive as Andrew “Rock” Hall (Jr., LB, Detroit, Mich.) forced a Logan Lane fumble that was recovered by Freedom McCullough (Jr., DB, Valley Village, Calif.) but MSU Moorhead's defense came up with the stop forcing a Secrest punt.

The defense came up with another turnover later in the third quarter as Tevin Kellum (Jr., DB, Detroit, Mich.) picked off a Hodge pass setting the UMC offense up at the MSU Moorhead 32. The Golden Eagles were able to turn it into points as Richard Haley (Sr., RB, Detroit, Mich.) rushed for a three-yard scamper to put the Golden Eagles within striking distance with the score now at MSU Moorhead 21, UMC 13.

But the fourth quarter would prove costly for the Golden Eagles. To open the fourth quarter, Secrest had a punt blocked by Tyler Brody and recovered at the UMC 26 but the defense came up with a big stop forcing a 37-yard field goal from Wes Kramer that was wide right.
On the next possession, the punting woes continued as Secrest was unable to control a bad snap and the ball was recovered by Brody in the end zone putting the Dragons up 28-13.

MSU Moorhead added to the score as Barge threw his third interception which was returned by Jones, 32 yards for a touchdown to give MSU Moorhead a 35-13 lead.

Minnesota, Crookston's offense looked to try to put something together late in the fourth quarter but Barge threw another interception to Nick Seedorff all but icing the game for MSU Moorhead.

Haley led the Golden Eagle offense with 112 yards rushing on 22 carries with one touchdown. Barge finished the game 23-of-41 for his most passing yard of the season with 208 with one touchdown and four interceptions. Cheatham led the Golden Eagle receivers with seven receptions for 64 yards and a score while Ross had six catches for 67 yards.

Defensively, Cecil Brown, Jr. (Sr., DB, Edison, Ga.) led the team in tackles for the fifth time this season with eight. UMC had three sacks on the day accomplished by Brody Davidson (So., LB, Crookston, Minn.), Greg Lofquist (So., DL, South St. Paul, Minn.) and Drew Selvestra (So., DL, Eagan, Minn.).

MSU Moorhead was paced by Zayne Medhaug on the ground with 124 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. Hodge was 12-of-22 for 161 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Hodge's top target on the day was Tyler Rivard, who had seven catches for 98 yards.

The Golden Eagles will return to action next week as they face Minot State University at 2:30 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 20 in Minot, N.D.
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

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The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).