Minnesota-Duluth stomps U-Mary
In one of their tightest losses under head coach Shann Schillinger, the University of Mary football team tested Sioux Falls on the road last Saturday, losing by two.
There was no such hope to take away from this Saturday's game, as the Marauders were flattened by a Minnesota-Duluth team hurting from their own close loss last week.
Held under 100 yards of offense, the Marauders escaped a shutout thanks only to a 36-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Jaylen Martin late in the fourth quarter of a 43-7 defeat at the Bowl.
"We got a little outmatched late in the game, they wore us down and it got away from us," Schillinger said. "We couldn't get anything going offensively, they controlled the line of scrimmage and the wind made it difficult. Credit to them.
"We played clean football just seven days ago against a good team, so we don't want this to reflect who we are, we're going to learn from this and get better."
For as lopsided as the score was, Mary's defense had an inspired performance, led by nine tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss from Christopher Federico and eight tackles, a half-sack and two tackles for loss from Mason Phillips.
Collecting three turnovers (two fumbles, one interception) and a turnover on downs, holding the Bulldogs to 4 of 10 conversions on third and fourth down and sacking both of Minnesota-Duluth's quarterbacks once apiece, the Marauders did well at handing the ball back to their offense.
"Defensively we did some good things, they made some good throws and catches, even into the wind," Schillinger said. "They didn't run the ball well, we stopped it well. They had some scrambles where their quarterback got out, but them lining up and running the ball, we did a good job against that."
The defense was where Mary's success ended, as the run game was held to negative-eight net yards, and only a late-game burst of 36 yards on five attempts from Legacy High alumnus Carl Henry kept the total from being even lower.
Minnesota-Duluth's defense was swarming, sacking starter Sofian Massoud seven times for a loss of 47 yards and picking Massoud and replacement Jordan Polo Solomon off three times.
"We didn't get first downs when we needed them to shorten the game, we were punting into the wind and putting our defense out there too many times," Schillinger said. "We didn't play complementary football today. We have to get some first downs.
"We were without one of our best receivers, so they were able to load the box and win up front, which made it hard."
Bulldogs quarterback Kyle Walljasper was responsible for their first three touchdowns, connecting with Jimmy Durocher and Ryder Patterson for passing touchdowns of two and 15 yards, respectively.
Walljasper, who led the Bulldogs in both passing (138 yards) and rushing yards (135) on the day, ran in a 24-yard touchdown midway through the second that gave Minnesota-Duluth a 14-0 lead at the half.
"We played physically, but they made some good throws into the wind that made it hard," Schillinger said. "We were in a lot of tough situations (defensively) today."
The lead for the Bulldogs snowballed after that. Never starting in worse field position than their own 35 until the game was far out of hand, the Bulldogs missed a field goal and then scored three touchdowns on their next four drives, with the only non-touchdown being an interception from U-Mary's Maleik Bradford.
Walljasper's touchdown to Patterson was the first of three third-quarter touchdowns by the Bulldogs in just under six minutes of game clock, with Alex Riley running in a 15-yard score and Kenneth Stevenson housing a 32-yard interception touchdown.
Minnesota-Duluth backup quarterback Jacob Eggert hooked up with Tanner Schmidt for a 30-yard touchdown for the Bulldogs' final score early in the fourth.
"(Walljasper) does a good job, he's played a lot of football and he got out (of the pocket) a few times, which he'll do and he's a handful to tackle," Schillinger said. "He's a winner who does things the right way. They have a good one there.
"It was a collaborative effort, we didn't execute well enough."
Martin's touchdown came with 2:16 to go in the fourth on a botched handoff by the Bulldogs, which Martin scooped up and ran in untouched for Mary's third defensive touchdown of the season.
"Jaylin did a good job, saw the ball on the deck and it's always good to score," Schillinger said. "He's been getting going a little, which is good to see."
U-Mary was 0-of-13 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth down. The Marauders had just 10 first downs in the game.
The Marauders remain winless against the Bulldogs in 15 opportunities. U-Mary was shut out 46-0 against the Bulldogs last season and has now scored seven or fewer points against Minnesota-Duluth on seven occasions.
U-Mary was called for 10 penalties for 106 yards. The Bulldogs were flagged eight times for 75 yards.
UP NEXT
Minnesota-Duluth: Hosts Southwest Minnesota State at noon next Saturday.
U-Mary: Travels to Bemidji State for a 2 p.m. game next Saturday.
