Nov 02, 2013
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica football team set a scoring record on Senior Day totaling 48 points in the second half to defeat the Cougars from the University of Minnesota Morris 55-7 on Saturday at Ordean Stadium.
The previous record for most points in a half was 44 points against Crown College during the 2011 season.
The first half of the game was marked by three missed field goals total with St. Scholastica accounting for two.
The Saints got on the scoreboard late in the second quarter with time winding down just before halftime. Quarterback Tyler Harper connected with wide receiver Shannon James on a 5-yard score on second and goal with just 12 seconds remaining in the half to put the halftime score at 7-0 in favor of the Saints.
After both teams traded punts to begin the second half, St. Scholastica kicked off the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jake Jensen to put the Saints up 13-0 after a missed extra point.
In the ensuing Cougar drive, Saints senior defensive back Jake Turkowski would intercept quarterback Donnie Mavencamp and return the ball 37 yards for the score making it 20-0.
The next scoring drive for the Saints came late in the third quarter when freshman Josh Simmons took a first and goal end-around play 12 yards into the end zone making the score 27-0 going into the fourth quarter.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Cougars defense took advantage of a fumbled exchange between quarterback and running back and took it back 40 yards for their only score of the game making the score 27-7 with 14:09 remaining.
The Saints would then rattle off four straight touchdowns which included a 93-yard run by Jensen, a second interception return for a touchdown by Turkowski, a 68-yard punt return touchdown by Cory Gebhard, and a run of seven yards by Corey Anderson which ended up making the score 55-7 which would be the final score of the game.
Along with the scoring record set by the Saints, the defense also broke the previous sacks record of seven by sacking the Cougars quarterbacks 10 times. Blake Cedarleaf accounted for three sacks, while teammate Joe Geiselman totaled 2.5.
Turkowski, a senior from Superior, becomes the second Saint to record a pair of pick-6s in a game this year. He joins fellow senior and Superior-native Mike LaValley with that distinction.
Jensen's 93-yard run also marked the longest play from scrimmage in program history. He would finish the day with 219 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. The 219 yards are the fourth-most in a game in program history. He also recorded a team-high 84 yards receiving to finish with 303 all-purpose yards, which set a program record.
The Saints ran for 300 yards for the fourth time this season, finishing with 319 on the day. Morris was held to only 11 yards on the ground. The CSS defense also held the Cougars under 200 yards of total offense. The Saints racked up 481 yards of offense.
Harper would finish the day 8-for-16 passing with a touchdown and an interception, while Mavencamp and Caleb McLaren combined to be 19-for-36 with three interceptions for the Cougars.
The Saints (8-1, 8-0 UMAC) will wrap up the regular season in Greenville, Illinois when they take on unbeaten Greenville College (9-0, 8-0 UMAC) for the UMAC Championship next Saturday at noon. All of the action can be heard live on Saints Sports Net.