The GLIAC's two playoff entrants headed to Minnesota for their playoff openers, and both encountered snowy conditions on Saturday afternoon. The precipitation subsided in Duluth before it really had an impact on the game, but St. Cloud got hammered by (at least) several inches of snow during the afternoon and the conditions were difficult pretty much throughout. Our clubs headed back to Michigan with a split, and congrats to Wayne State for fighting through the snow and earning themselves a trip to Kearney next weekend.


Minnesota-Duluth 30, Saginaw Valley 27 - OT

We talked going into this one that Saginaw's losses this year came when teams were able to run the ball against them. Such was the case on Saturday as UMD racked up 260 yards on the ground and controlled the pace of the game with nearly 40 minutes of possession. Make no mistake, the Cardinals came ready to play and fought back from a ten-point halftime deficit to send the contest to an extra frame. And, one could argue that an "iffy" offensive pass interference call on SV's overtime possession (that took a TD off the board on the play) set up the difference for the Bulldogs. While all that's true, for us we still look at the fact that SV wasn't able to run the ball when they needed to (34 net yards on the day), and were not able to put together multiple, consistent drives to give their defense a break. While the Cards did out-gain UMD, nearly half of their total yardage output (more than 45%) came on their three scoring plays. While those plays were exciting (all scoring tosses from Jonathon Jennings to Jeff Janis), they bely the truth in the numbers that SV only mustered 13 first downs on the day and, as we noted, were never able to run the ball.

Jennings finished the day with 324 yards passing and the three TD's to Janis of 76, 65 and 22 yards. Janis caught six balls in total for 179 yards. One other Cardinal performance of note was the one turned in by DB Darius Middlebrooks. In his final game the senior notched 21 tackles, including one for a loss as he single-handedly tried to fill in for a couple of key defenders who were unable to go for the Cards. Zach Hulce did the bulk of the ground damage for Duluth with 123 yards and two TD's. Bulldog quarterback Chase Vogler also found the end zone twice on the ground, including the game winner in overtime.

Duluth is now 10-2 and will travel to CSU-Pueblo to take on the Thunderwolves. Saginaw Valley concludes its season at 7-4.


Wayne State 48, St. Cloud State 38

We mentioned above that St. Cloud was hammered by snow during this game. That wasn't the only "hammering" going on in this one, as the Wayne State offensive line and ground-game pounded the Huskies on the field. After falling behind 21-6 in the second quarter, the Warriors stuck to their game plan and churned out a dominant performance on the ground the rest of the way.

This game was wild to watch. It looked like the field received at least two inches of snow during BOTH halves. At intermission, they brought out a spiffy tractor with a rotating brush on it to remove the snow and it actually did a great job. The problem is that as it worked its way from the middle of the field out to the sidelines, the snow kept coming so that when the poor guy was finished the sidelines looked clean but the middle of the field already had a complete covering back on it. After a halftime that lasted roughly an hour (and the realization that the field would simply be snow-covered all afternoon), the teams returned to the field with Wayne ahead by a 27-24 count as the Warriors posted a 21-3 advantage over the last twelve minutes of the second stanza. From there, the Wayne ground game kept it going and suffocated the Huskies.

Most of the WSU damage was done by Toney Davis. The sophomore running back set a school single-game rushing record (which is saying something after all the damage Joique Bell did in his four years) with 326 yards on 38 carries. Davis also found the end zone five times and he seemed to revel in running in the snow as he repeatedly found himself in the Husky secondary. While we want to be sure and give the due amount of credit to Davis and his line, it must also be noted that the tackling displayed by SCSU was as gruesome as it comes and there were several long runs by Davis (not to mention a 55-yard score from Josh Renel) that once he was through the line the LB's and secondary looked like Keystone Cops with the flailing arms, poor angles, slipping and falling, etc. The conditions were certainly rough, as Wayne had a couple plays from their own defense that looked the same. That said, even with Toney's outstanding performance the biggest difference between the two teams in that second half was Wayne's tackling. Other than those couple plays we mentioned, Wayne's defense swarmed to the ball and when they did have to make one-on-one stops they did so with great effectiveness. They consistently frustrated the SCSU offense, forced multiple punts, and even chipped-in with a Raleigh Ross interception return for a touchdown.

Wayne's win ended SCSU's season at 9-3, and punched the Warriors' ticket to Kearney, Nebraska where the UNK Lopers are waiting this coming Saturday.