CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston football team fell 59-21 to Minnesota State University Moorhead Sat., Nov. 14 in the Red River Valley Showdown sponsored by State Farm Insurance at Ed Widseth Field. The Dragons were led by 35 points in the second half including three touchdowns from MSU Moorhead running back Zayne Medhaug.

The Golden Eagles finish the season with a 1-10 (1-6 Div.) mark, while MSU Moorhead picked up their first winning season since 2006 with a 6-5 (3-4 Div.) mark. The Dragons improve to 3-1 in the Red River Valley Showdown series.

UMC struggled defensively giving up 634 yards overall, including 396 yards of offense. Offensively, the Golden Eagles finished with 369, including 320 through the air.

The Golden Eagles were led by a strong day by sophomore quarterback Tra Hearns (So., QB, Bloomington, Minn.), who was 29-of-52 for 320 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception. His top target was Constant Jackson (Sr., WR, Jacksonville, Fla.), who had a great Senior Day performance with seven catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Lincoln Tappe (Fr., WR, Aiea, Hawai'i) also put up a great performance with 10 catches for 78 yard and one touchdown, while Adam Connette (So., WR, Corona, Calif.) had five catches for 57 yards.

UMC's run game struggled as they were without starter Dre Person (Jr., RB, Detroit, Mich.) for much of the game. UMC back-up Matt Hunt (R-Fr., RB, Mounds View, Minn.) also went down with an injury, which left Michael Williams (Sr., FB, Miami, Fla.) as the lone running back. Williams would have two carries for four yards. Connette led UMC in rushing with eight carries for 35 yards.

MSU Moorhead was led by the play of Medhaug, who has consistently put up strong performances against the Golden Eagles, including five touchdowns last season. Medhaug finished with 18 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns and added one catch for 69 yards and a touchdown. Medhaug actually started at quarterback as the Dragons opened the game in the wildcat formation. In addition, back-up running back Herman Gray Added nine carries with 119 yards and two touchdowns, while Demetrius Carr had 11 rushes for 88 yards and two touchdowns.  

In the passing game, Carr was 19-of-28 for 238 yards and one touchdown. His top target was Damon Gibson, who had eight catches for 115 yards.

MSU Moorhead's defense was led by Steve Schutz with eight tackles and one fumble recovery. Drew Lingle had four tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Brandon Nelson had an interception return for 70 yards.

UMC was led by senior Lethzee Calderon (DB, Eagan, Minn.) with 10 tackles. Drew Selvestra (Sr., DL, Eagan, Minn.) also had a strong senior day with seven tackles and one tackle for loss, as did Anthony Peterson (Sr., DL, Swanville, Minn.) with six tackles.
The Dragons opened scoring as Gray scored on a 51 yard rushing touchdown after a punt was partially blocked by Schutz.

MSU Moorhead would add another score early in the second quarter as Medhaug went in for a seven-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.

UMC cut the lead to 14-7 as Hearns found Jackson for a 38-yard touchdown.

The Dragons went up 21-7 on the next drive as Carr rushed in from 16 yards out.

The Golden Eagles added another score to make it 21-14 as Hearns found Jackson for a seven-yard touchdown, their second time connecting on the day.

The Dragons would finish the first half with a 19-yard field goal by Joe Tjosvold to make it 24-14 after the UMC defense stopped MSU Moorhead on the two-yard line.

The Dragons would get on the board early in the second half Carr found Medhaug out of the backfield for 69 yards to make it 31-14.

MSU Moorhead would quickly get the ball back as Hearns found Tappe for 16 yards but Tappe would fumble the football, which was recovered by Schutz, setting MSU Moorhead up at the 49.

The Dragon drive would culminate with a three-yard touchdown run from Carr to make it 38-14.

MSU Moorhead would extend their lead to 45-14 on a 61-yard touchdown run from Medhaug.

UMC would go in for a score later in the third quarter led by a 55-yard completion from Hearns to Jackson. Hearns would then find Tappe for the eight yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 45-21.

The Dragons extend their lead to 52-21 on a Gray 42-yard touchdown run. Later in the fourth quarter, Nelson would run back the interception 70 yards to the UMC five. Medhaug would then go in again for his fourth touchdown of the game on a five-yard touchdown run to make it 59-21 and culminate the Dragon win.

Saturday was the final game for UMC seniors including Calderon, Davidson, Jackson, Peterson, Selevestra, Williams, A.J. Wallace (R-Sr. DL, New Richmond, Wis.), LaMar Daniels, II (R-Sr., WR, Toledo, Ohio), Trey Mitchell (Sr., RB, West Palm Beach, Fla.), Marvin Miller, Jr. (Sr., DB, Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), Austin Strukel (Sr., LB, Virginia, Minn.), Cito Horton (Sr., LB, Stamford, Conn.), Tyler Hayashi (Sr., LB, Kalihi, Hawai'i), Bubba Adeniyi (Sr., DB, Miami, Fla.) and Tommy Smith, III (Sr., WR, Naranja, Fla.).
Though UMC will have to fill the void of the 15 graduate players, they have several key players returning to the fray. Person finished the 2015 season with 767 yards and seven touchdowns. UMC also returns both of their top two quarterbacks, Hearns and Nathan Cole (R-So., QB, Aliso Viejo, Calif.). Hearns had over 1,000 passing yards with eight touchdowns, while Cole also had over 1,000 passing yards with four touchdowns. Connette also returns after 54 catches for 671 yards and four touchdowns. In just two seasons he has over 1,000 yards and is closing in on the top two in receiving yards and receptions all-time.

Defensively, UMC returns safety Jake Newman (So., DB, White Bear Lake, Minn.), who had 58 tackles with three interceptions, while Dion Wallisch (R-Fr., DB, Oakdale, Minn.) had 56 tackles with one interception. Bubba Cook (Fr., DL, Surprise, Ariz.) also returns after a strong freshman year with 40 tackles and five tackles for loss.

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 a NCAA Division II university located in the Red River Valley of Northwest Minnesota. UMC sponsors 11 intercollegiate athletic teams with membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference (NSIC) and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The NSIC is a 16-team conference with schools situated in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.