UMD Shuts out St. Mary’s

NSO- NEWS RELEASE

The University of Minnesota Duluth football team bounced back in a big way Saturday afternoon at James S. Malosky Stadium, offensively overwhelming the University of Mary 46-0 to improve to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.

Pouring on the second most points of the season, UMD torched the Marauders in the air with a season-best five receiving touchdowns. The Bulldogs – who have now scored 40 or more points in a game four times this season – were a perfect 6-of-6 in redzone, scoring six TDs.

Not to be overlooked, UMD’s defense earned its second shutout of the season en route to holding UMary’s offense to just 88 rushing yards and 88 passing yards for a season-low 176 total yards for a Bulldog opponent.

UMD, which has been aggressively scoring points in the first half all season, did it again Saturday, and it started with one of two Kyle Walljasper to Jimmy Durocher TDs in the half. The first came at 11:46 of the first quarter, a 17-yard toss and the second was from 10 yards out, a scoring connection that has now happened between them four times this season. In between the Walljasper to Durocher TD passes, Walljasper found Sam Pitz on a six-yarder at the 4:44 mark of the first, and Walljasper ran in his own TD from 17 yards, his 11th touchdown on the ground this year at 14:10 of the second frame.

After scoring four touchdowns, UMD’s Curtis Cox hit a season-long 43 yard field goal to close out the first half, and the Bulldogs took a whopping 32-0 lead into halftime.

UMD added to its lead when sophomore quarterback Jacob Eggert found redshirt tight end Nick Ojile at 4:05 of the third quarter for a 2-yard touchdown to make it a 39-0 spread against UMary. The Bulldogs rounded out the scoring with a four-yard TD pass from Eggert to freshman TE Nate Branch, the final points in the 46-0 offensive outing.

While Walljasper threw for three total touchdowns and ran for one in the first half, Eggert tossed for two UMD TDs in the second half. Ben Vallafskey had a team-high 15 carries on the ground for a game-best 117 yards, while Jaylen McKnight averaged a game-high 12.3 per carry overall. In the air, three players caught three receptions – Durocher, Pitz and Ryder Ptterson, who had a game-high 52 yards receiving, including one reception for 33 yards.

On the other side of the ball, Alex Sylvester turned in a team-best four tackles, while Tim Pokornowski picked off his third interception of the season. Five players recorded three tackles, including Ty’Rese Gibson, Ty’Rhae Gibson, Jacob Morgensen, Mac Strand and Ethan Beffert.

The Bulldogs will hit the road next weekend to take on Minot State in Minot, N.D. Kickoff Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m.