UMD football derails Minot State 37-0 in rainy Homecoming game

Written by Austin Rush | Archived Nov. 10, 2020

Red-shirt freshman quarterback John Larson escapes a Minot State defender

In dominating fashion, the University of Minnesota Duluth football team (6-2) trounced Minot State University 37-0 in today’s homecoming 2017 game.

The shutout victory is the Bulldogs second consecutive game without giving up a single point. You have to go all the way back to 1984 for when the UMD last pulled off back to back shutouts.

Accumulating 429 yards of total offense, it was all UMD all afternoon. Red-shirt freshman quarterback John Larson had himself a day throwing 193 yards and two touchdowns on 12 of 20 passing attempts in only his second career start. The Braham, Minnesota native wasn’t done there. Larson was the Bulldogs leading rusher with 97 yards and a touchdown that ran for 51 yards.

Junior wide receiver Jason Balts continued his stellar season today posting a five catch, 95-yard and one touchdown performance against the Beavers. Senior wide receiver Dominic Bonner and junior running back Anthony Wood found also the end zone for the Bulldogs this afternoon.

"Our defense is playing with a lot of confidence right now," said UMD head coach Curt Wiese. "We have continued to get better each week and I thought the guys came out with a lot of confidence and fire tonight."

UMD used three second half field goals to ice the Beavers today: Sophomore kickers Dan Branger and Cameron Hausman shared the kicking duties as Branger nailed 45 and 42-yard field goals while Hausman was good from 25. Branger’s 45 yarder was the longest of his career.

On the defensive side of the ball, UMD forced four Beaver turnovers (three interceptions and one fumble recovery) while giving up 257 yards of total offense. Senior defensive back Kale Boomer led the Bulldog defensive performance today with five tackles and a fumble recovery.

On short weeks rest, the Bulldogs travel to Bemidji State next Thursday to take on their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference north division rival. If all holds in the NSIC today, the Bulldogs and Beavers will be meeting in a battle of north division unbeatens at 4-0. Kickoff is set for 7 o’ clock p.m.

Photo courtesy of Brett Groehler