CROOKSTON, Minn. –  The University of Minnesota Crookston football team fell 77-3 to No. 2 University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday. The Bulldogs remained undefeated, moving to 9-0 overall, while UMC falls to 0-9, wrapping up their home slate. The wind played a factor all day long, quite effectively taking the wind of UMC's sails in the first half, and UMD did the rest as they were the first team to put up 70 or more points on the Golden Eagles since Winona State did so in a 70-7 win Oct. 24, 2009.

UMC was led on the game by freshman quarterback Travon Hearns (Bloomington, Minn./Sports and Rec Management), who had six rushes for 53 yards, and was 5-of-15 for 48 yards passing. Defensively, Greg Lofquist (Sr., LB, South St. Paul, Minn.) played his final home game just like he has every game he has played, with a lot of heart. Lofquist put together another one of the strongest defensive performances in the nation this season, besting his previous high with 20 tackles. Lofquist's mark ranks third all-time for single-game total tackles. In addition, Lofquist broke Neil Austin's school record for single-season tackles, which stood since 2001. Lofquist had already broke the mark for single-season assisted tackles. The senior came into the game, leading the NSIC in tackles, and was third in NCAA Division II in tackles. He has 127 tackles this season.

Minnesota Duluth accumulated 560 yards of offense, including 396 yards on the ground. Despite a season-ending injury to leading rusher Austin Sikorski, UMD still came out firing Sunday. Reserve running back Nate Beaulieu led the way with 13 rushes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Drew Bauer added 10 rushes for 71 yards, while Blake Bofferding chipped in seven rushes for 62 yards.

However, the standout was wide receiver Aaron Roth, who had four touchdown catches for 77 yards, all in the second quarter. Bauer finished the day going 11-of-13 for 140 yards passing with the four touchdowns to Roth.

UMC went down the field quickly in the first quarter as Boffering went in on a 37-yard rush for a touchdown.

However, the Golden Eagles would move the ball on their first drive, going 50 yards in eight plays, culminating in Michael Maw (So., K, White Bear Lake, Minn./Accounting) 31-yard field goal.

UMD would go down the field again on the next drive as Logan Lauters had a three-yard touchdown run.

Then the wind would start playing a big factor. An Andrew Brees kick would get caught in the wind and would became an unintentional onside kick as it had traveled further than 10 yards and was recovered by Mark Nahorniak. UMD quickly struck with a Lauters 25-yard touchdown run to go ahead 21-3.

Early in the second quarter, the wind would again play a factor as it knocked down a Maw punt, which ended up traveling a net of 0 yards, giving UMD the ball at UMC 28. From there, Bauer would find Roth for the first of what would be four-straight touchdowns.

UMD would go into the half with a 49-3 lead over the Golden Eagles.

Early in the second half, back-up quarterback Eric Kline would hook up with Nate Ricci for a 24-yard strike.

Later in the third quarter, Beaulieu would go in from 15-yards out for the Bulldogs to make it 63-3.

In the fourth quarter, UMD would recover a UMC fumble at the Golden Eagle 27 and would go in on one play after a delay due to a Golden Eagle injury.

On the next drive, a Maw punt would be blocked by Karl Finkel and would be recovered in the end zone by Zach Bassuener, giving UMD a 77-3 advantage, which would be the final.

Saturday was the final home game for 11 seniors who played their final home games at Ed Widseth Field. The group of young men won four games in their career, after UMC hadn't won a single NSIC game in four seasons. The group has started to turn the tide for the Golden Eagle program. The 11 seniors included Lofquist, Marcus Cheatham, Myint Maung, Sam Smith, John Simmons, Andrew "Rock" Hall, Caleb Seger, Tyler Hansen, Matt Borowicz, Jacob Pinder and Jeff Pryor.

The Golden Eagles will head to Northern State University Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. as they still seek their first win of the year.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.
 
Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at @UMCAthletics.
 
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).

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