St. Cloud, Minn. – For just the second time in school history the No. 15 ranked St. Cloud State football team earned a NCAA Division II playoff game win with a 42-28 victory over No. 10 Hillsdale College Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium. The Huskies will move on to play No. 1 Minnesota Duluth next Saturday afternoon for the second game between both squads this season and the second round of the NCAA super region three tournament. In the other Super Region #3 semifinal game #6 Grand Valley State will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a noon kickoff at Kirkeby-Over Stadium.
St. Cloud State’s offense went off for 485 yards to improve to 10-2 with the win, which ties the 1989 squad for most wins in a season. The Huskies will likely finish the season 6-0 at home and have not loss at Husky Stadium since the opening game of the 2009 season.
"We are proud of our kids offensively and defensively sticking to the game plan and we did a good job of finding a way to win," said head coach Scott Underwood after the big win.
It took just two plays for the Huskies to get on the board after a 71-yard throw and catch from redshirt freshman quarterback Phillip Klaphake (Princeton) to senior Fred Williams (Milwaukee, Wis.), set up senior Dante Steward (Milwaukee, Wis.) for a three yard run to make it 7-0, just 29 seconds into the game.
Steward, who has not played since Oct. 16 against Southwest Minnesota State, carried the ball 29 times for 153 yards and four touchdowns to spark the team to a 255 yard rushing day.
Then after a defensive stop on Hillsdale’s first drive, the Huskies put together a methodical 15-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with a one-yard run for Steward’s second touchdown run of the game to make it 14-0 with four minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Chargers then got on the board in back-to-back possessions in the second quarter with their first score coming on an 18-yard throw from senior Troy Weatherhead to senior Andre Holmes. Both players then hooked up again on a seven yard throw to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:14 to go in the half. Weatherhead finished the game going 37 for 52 for 400 yards and four touchdowns through the air.
The Huskies quickly answered with the final score of the half with an efficient seven play 59-yard drive that was capped off by a 30-yard throw to Williams who made a one handed snag at the three yard line before falling backwards into the end zone to take a 21-14 lead into halftime.
"I just focused on the ball. I didn’t think he was going to throw it that far and I just stuck my paw out there and it stuck to my glove," said Williams of his one handed catch.
Williams finished the half with nine catches for 171 yards and a score and finished the game tying his own school record with 236 yards receiving on 13 carries.
Hillsdale came out of halftime and tied the game up again just 2:24 into the third quarter with a 13-yard screen pass from Weatherhead to junior Brad Spencer in their first possession of the half.
St. Cloud State again answered with a 13-play scoring drive to take 28-21 lead as Klaphake scored on a three-yard bootleg with seven minutes to go in the third.
The Huskies then stopped the Chargers on their next possession and capitalized on it with a one-yard run by Steward for his third score of the game to make it 35-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Chargers answered with a score at 3:53 mark on four-yard throw to Spencer to make it 35-28. Hillsdale then tried an onside kick, but once again the sure hands of Williams helped secure the possession and the game, as Steward scored his fourth touchdown of the day on a 22-yard scamper on the ensuing drive to put the game out of reach.
Klaphake who was not sacked in the game, finished the game 14-of-22 for 252 yards and a touchdown through the air, while rushing 17 times for 83 yards and a score on the ground.
Sophomore Marvin Matthews (Roseville) had a huge game defensively from his defensive back position, making a team high 10 solo tackles, while breaking up three passes for a defense that had 18 players record a tackle.
The Husky defense also had three sacks in the game, while holding the Charger to just 50 yards on the ground.
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