Come on out to Big Cat Stadium this Saturday, 11/3, to enjoy the final game of the 2012 University of Minnesota-Morris football season. Kickoff time is 1 p.m. for this contest vs. St. Scholastica.
The Cougars definitely enter this game with a feeling of momentum. It is a
pleasure to review three straight wins in this post. Most recently the success
was on the road, in Roseville vs. Crown. It was a thriller that went into
overtime. One point made the difference at the end.
Cougars 30, Crown 29
This was UMM's fifth UMAC triumph of the season. It was anything but easy
or routine to achieve. The Cougars found themselves 14 points down as late as
the fourth quarter!
The scoreboard revealed a grim situation for our maroon crew with 7:16
remaining. The score: 23-9. It looked like Crown would get the crown of victory.
But UMM took on a stubborn and resolved stance.
It was a day for UMM to lean very heavily on its passing attack. There were
61 total pass attempts flung by the Cougars. The yards gained via this attack:
327. Brendon Foss was all over the field getting open for receptions. His
reception total was 14, for 150 yards and a touchdown. He's a former Hancock
Owl. UMM's rushing yardage was a season low 38.
The Crown "Storm" began the day's scoring, striking with a 56-yard run that
had Amos Schmidt clutching the football. The PAT try failed. The Storm surged
forward again when Wes Stafford reached the end zone on a run from the one. The
Cougars found themselves down 13-0.
Dalton DeGraffenreid scored UMM's first touchdown. He caught an eight-yard
scoring pass from Derrick Foss (also from Hancock). The PAT try failed.
DeGraffenreid built his season total of touchdown catches to seven. Cameron Adel
kicked a 22-yard field goal for UMM to make the score 13-9 with 1:39 left in the
first half. Crown had a kicker capable of kicking the ball straight and true
too. This individual, Kurt Fickle, found the middle of the uprights from 24
yards out in the fourth quarter. His success made the score 16-9.
UMM sank further into a hole due to a pass interception. Crown's Sebastian
Alvar performed this pickoff and it led to a score, so UMM finds itself
looking at a worrisome scoreboard deficit. The score: 23-9. The Cougars had to
go to work.
The Foss boys showed their chemistry. Derrick hit Brendon for a three-yard
touchdown strike. Leandro Dower took a handoff with 1:45 left and scored from
the one. Adel hit the PAT so now the score is tied at 23-all. The coin toss went
UMM's way for overtime. But the Cougars chose defense. Amos Schmidt gave Crown
the lead at 29-23, but a key missed conversion attempt followed. Crown was then
hurt by not one but two pass interference calls. These set up Dower for his
one-yard touchdown run, creating a tie and giving Adel a chance to win the game
with his toe. He did!
The Cougars could celebrate this 30-29 overtime triumph.
For receiver Brendon Foss, it was his fourth game of the season with
100-plus receiving yards. It was his third game with 150-plus.
Cougars 35, Presentation 28
Big Cat Stadium was the site for UMM's thrilling 35-28 win over the Saints
of Presentation (Aberdeen, SD) on October 20.
Presentation asserted itself first. This was with a quite time-consuming
drive (eight minutes) that ended with a touchdown. The Cougars answered promptly
and in a lightning-strike way. Leandro Dower took a handoff, found daylight and
covered 70 yards en route for six. He clearly demonstrated he's a speed
merchant. Fans didn't have to wait long to see scoring catches by Brendon Foss
and Danny Kernan. Foss hauled in a 44-yard pass from Dan Garrigan. This big play
immediately followed a fumble recovery. Kernan made his scoring catch that went
into the books as a 14-yarder.
The first quarter ended with the home team in quite good shape, up 21-7.
Fans had just watched UMM score 21 points in a span of just 3:40.
The Cougars couldn't sustain this momentum in the second quarter. The
Saints instead seized the momentum for a while. The Saints scored 14 points
using methodical drives, creating a deadlocked score for halftime: 21-all.
Brendon Foss re-gained the lead for UMM with a touchdown catch. But the Saints
were able to answer, so the final quarter began with the score tied again at
28-all. In the fourth, Dower broke loose for another touchdown to create the
final score of 35-28. Dower's decisive score capped a drive of eleven plays and
80 yards, eating up over five minutes. Presentation had a last-gasp drive
stopped on fourth and two at the UMM 31. They might have gotten the ball back
were it not for a nifty first down run that had Dustin Spohn carrying the ball.
Dower could celebrate a 100-plus rushing yards day (153 total, a
career-best). Brendon Foss had two scoring catches and 181 total receiving yards
on ten total catches. Cody Hickman was a cog on defense with his 12 tackles.
Cody had a sack, 1 1/2 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Zeke Miller forced a
fumble and Terrence Chasten-Davis recovered a fumble.
Cougars 27, Eureka 23
I wondered in my last post re. Cougar football whether the squad would be
saying "Eureka!" after their October 13 game in Eureka, Illinois. Indeed they
could have! The Cougars put together a skein of 20 unanswered points and won
27-23. Their defense applied the clamps and allowed just 37 yards rushing. They
sacked Eureka's Sam Durley four times.
Eureka managed to score the game's first touchdown which came on a one-yard
run. They're called the "Red Devils."
Dustin Spohn broke loose for UMM and scored but the PAT failed. So UMM is
down 7-6. The passing game netted UMM's second score. This came with seven
minutes left in the first half. Quarterback Dan Garrigan connected with Danny
Kernan on a 40-yarder. The two-point conversion try was no-go, so UMM has a 12-7
lead. UMM's fortunes improved as Garrigan hit Dalton DeGraffenreid on a
seven-yard scoring pass, so now the score is 20-7 and the Eureka crowd is
rendered quiet. This was freshman DeGraffenreid's sixth scoring catch of the
season.
Eureka connected for a field goal from 33 yards out, making the score 20-10
as halftime neared. But enough time remained for UMM to strike again, and this
happened with Garrigan passing 23 yards to Kernan making the score 27-10.
Eureka had fight left in them. They used the aerial attack and with
considerable success. Cody Followell made two touchdown catches for Eureka in
the final quarter. Eureka tried an onside kick, unsuccessfully, with 2:10 left
and UMM was in the position of striving to run out the clock. Key in this effort
was a 27-yard pass to Kernan.
Garrigan finished this game eleven of 17 passing for 175 yards and three
touchdowns. Dower rushed for 92 yards on 24 carries. Kernan's catch total was
five and he gained 125 yards.
I invite you to click on the permalink below to read about the Cougars'
games 4 through 6 of the 2012 season:
And, you may click on the permalink below to read about the Cougars' first
three games of 2012. Thanks for reading. - B.W.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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