ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston football team had their highest scoring output of the season Sat., Oct.7, but were unable to slow down St. Cloud State University in a 53-27 loss at Husky Stadium.

Minnesota Crookston drops to 0-6 (0-2 NSIC North) with Saturday's loss. St. Cloud State moved their mark to 4-2 (1-1 NSIC North) with the victory.

The Golden Eagles looked to back-up quarterback Jeremy Neuman (R-Fr., QB, Andover, Minn.) for the second week in a row due to an injury to Joseph Nava (R-Fr., QB, San Antonio, Texas) against University of Sioux Falls. Neuman had his best game of the season as he was 21-of-33 for 224 yards with a career-high four touchdowns. He had two interceptions on the game. Neuman led the team to 286 yards of offense on the day.

His top target on the day was Adam Connette (Sr., WR, Corona, Calif.) with nine catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Connette, the program's top all-time receivers, inched closer to Carl Aho's all-time receiving touchdowns mark as he now just needs just three to tie and four to break the mark. Connette has 38 catches for 412 yards and six touchdowns.

Minnesota Crookston also got a strong performance out of Rod Stewart (Jr., WR, Fort Worth, Texas), who notched six catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Haire (So., WR, Detroit Lakes, Minn.) added three catches for 45 yards.

In the run game, the Golden Eagles looked to Shavez Hawkins, Jr. (Fr., RB, Gilbert, Ariz.) with 12 rushes for 54 yards for an average of 4.5 yards per carry.

Defensively, Minnesota Crookston was led by eight tackles from Ali Alkhatib (R-Jr., LB, Rosemount, Minn.), who also recovered fumble. Will Cole (Jr., DB, Compton, Calif.) added seven tackles, while Austin Howard (Sr., DL, New Albany, Minn.) notched four tackles and a tackle for loss. Anfernee Cooper (R-Fr., DB, Fort Worth, Texas) tallied an interception on the day.

St. Cloud State tallied 564 yards of offense with 237 on the ground and 327 through the air. Dwayne Lawhorn paced the team going 13-of-24 for 327 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Gregory Lewis led the ground game with 11 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown. Curtwan Evans added 17 carries for 81 yards. The top targets in the passing game for Lawhorn were John Solberg and John Pass.

Solberg was the big-play guy with four catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Pass notched three grabs for 85 yards and a touchdown.

St. Cloud State's defense looked to Gary Koehring's 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Jack Horter notched six tackles on the game. Craig Szymanski had four tackles and two sacks, while Carvel Graham and Jake Bruner added interceptions.

The Huskies drove 63 yards on six plays on the first drive to quickly go up 7-0 as Lewis rushed in from 27 yards out.

Minnesota Crookston responded with a drive of their own as they marched 75 yards on seven plays. The Golden Eagles were led by a 22-yard pass from Neuman to Stewart and a 29-yard pass from Neuman to Haire. The Golden Eagles found pay dirt on the play when Neuman connected with Stewart on a 10-yard strike to knot the game up 7-7.

St. Cloud State quickly responded with a big play as Lawhorn connected on a 62-yard pass to Solberg to go up 14-7.

The Golden Eagles punted on the next drive but quickly got the ball back with a Cooper interception to give Minnesota Crookston great field position at their own 46. However, the Golden Eagles would go three-and-out and give the ball right back to the Huskies.

St. Cloud State would be unable to capitalize on the turnover on downs as Adam Stage missed a 40-yard field goal to keep the score at 14-7 in favor of the Huskies.
The Huskies added to their lead early in the second quarter when Graham ran pack an interception 25 yards to put St. Cloud State ahead 21-7.

Minnesota Crookston came right back led by a special teams turnover as James Smith dropped a punt return, which was recovered by Alkhatib at the St. Cloud State 13.

The Golden Eagles would capitalize on the turnover as Neuman found Connette for a two-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 21-14.

The Huskies countered as Lawhorn found Luke Shepherd on a 13-yard strike to move their lead to 28-14.

St. Cloud State added to their lead later in the second quarter as Lawhorn again connected with Solberg for the big play. This time it was a 78-yard touchdown pass that would put the Huskies up 35-14.

Minnesota Crookston responded as they moved the ball down the field 75 yards in five plays. This time Neuman found Connette for a 20-yard strike to cut the lead to 35-21.

The Huskies ended the first half with one more score as Lawhorn again came up with the big play, finding Pass for a 50-yard touchdown pass to extend their lead to 42-21.
St. Cloud State came up with an interception from Bruner to open the second half and give the Huskies great field position at the Minnesota Crookston 12. The Golden Eagle defense would hold the Huskies from the end zone as Stage connected on a 22-yard field goal to make it 45-21.

Minnesota Crookston got their first touchdown of the second half when Neuman hooked up with Stewart on a 37-yard connection to cut the lead to 45-27 after a failed two-point conversion.

The Huskies added to their lead in the third quarter when Lawhorn came up with a big fourth-down play. He found Anthony Carver on the 30-yard touchdown strike to make it 51-27. A two-point conversion from Solberg to Graham Miller made the game 53-27.

Minnesota Crookston moved the ball to the St. Cloud State 24 early in the fourth quarter led by Numan 18-yard pass from Connette. However, the Golden Eagles would fail to convert a fourth-down to turn the ball over on downs.

Neither team would score the rest of the way as St. Cloud State held on for the 53-27 victory.

Minnesota Crookston will return to action Sat., Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. against University of Mary at 1 p.m. Both teams come into Saturday with 0-6 records.