Article

Mavs Nearly Pull Huge Upset

MSU gives No. 5 NW Missouri State team a good fight, but falls short in overtime

by Dan Myers
August 31, 2005

For the first 15 minutes of their match-up with No. 5 Northwest Missouri State Thursday, the Minnesota State Mavericks could not find the end zone. In fact, they struggled to get a first down, and in the end, couldn't overcome a more experienced Bearcat team in a 24-21 loss at Blakeslee Stadium.

The Mavericks offense sputtered during the opening frame of the 2005 season, garnering only 44 yards of total offense on 15 plays. And despite holding the ball for more than half the quarter, senior halfback Sean Treasure and the Mavericks could muster only a pair of first downs.

Things weren't much better for the Bearcats, either.

Led by a pair of pre-season All-Americans in quarterback Josh Lamberson and running back Xavier Omon, one of the most potent offenses in Division II was held out of the end zone.

It was a mistake by the Maverick special teams that allowed the Bearcats to put points on the board first. Senior quarterback and punter Jamie VanDenElzen came on for his second punt of the quarter when Zach Chambers broke through the Mavericks' line and blocked VanDenElzen's kick. E.J. Falkner scooped up the rolling ball in the end zone for the first score of the game. Tommy Frevert added the extra point and the Bearcats led 7-0.

NWMSU jumped to a 14-0 lead with a minute and a half left in the first half. Lamberson's pump fake and throw beat Maverick safety Tony Wnek and found E.J. Falkner for the 36-yard touchdown reception. For the senior Lamberson ? who dislocated his hip in the Bearcats' eighth game in 2004 ? it was his first score of the season and 33rd of his collegiate career.

"You could actually hear a sigh of relief from the Northwest side," Lamberson said. "Everything will be fine after that, hopefully."

Minnesota State would find the scoreboard before halftime however, when a series of Bearcat errors allowed the Mavericks to get in the end zone. After running plays on first and second down allowed MSU nothing, it seemed as though MSU was content to run out the clock. NWMSU called timeout with 40 seconds remaining in order to have one final shot at points in the first half.

"I should've let the clock run out right there," said Bearcats head coach Mel Tjeerdsma. "When you have a team down like that, you get greedy and think you can get more. But I put them in a bad position, and we made a mistake."

The Mavericks made them pay for the decision as VanDenElzen threw a jump ball to senior wide receiver Kyle Krivoruchka. Krivoruchka came down with the ball 37 yards later, converting a long third down attempt. The Mavs hurried to the line and spiked the ball to stop the clock. After the rather routine play was over, however, the Bearcats were penalized 15 yards for too many men on the field. On the next play, VanDenElzen again completed a long pass down the left sideline, as he connected with newcomer Tyrell Smith on a 36-yard score. The touchdown pass was the first career score for VanDenElzen in his three plus seasons as a Maverick.

"When you have guys like Sean Treasure, Krivoruchka, Tyrell Smith and a great offensive line, it makes my job easy," VanDenElzen said. "I was just trying to get the ball to those guys."

VanDenElzen threw his second touchdown with nine minutes left in the third when he found Cory Jones on a 14-yard screen. The reception was Jones' first touch of the night and it tied the game at 14.

"We were running the same plays we did in the first quarter," VanDenElzen said. "We just executed them a lot better. The line was playing great; they were just giving us some unique fronts."

Minnesota State scored their third straight touchdown just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter after another newcomer, senior transfer D.J. Porter, was on the receiving end of a VenDenElzen touchdown pass. The score gave the Mavericks a 21-14 lead, but the celebration after the score was too excessive, and instead of kicking off from the 35-yard line, it was moved back to the 20. The penalty allowed the Bearcats to start near midfield with over 14 minutes to play.

Just over four minutes later, NWMSU struck again, using the field position and a short passing game to tie the game at 21. Andre Rector hauled in a 15-yard pass from Lamberson capping a ten play drive that covered only 57 yards. Rector was the star for the Bearcats, catching nine passes for 107 yards to go along with his touchdown catch.

The Mavericks mounted a late charge but were left without timeouts on their final drive, and were unable to get into field goal range.

"It's tough to drive down 60 or 70 yards with no timeouts," Maverick head coach Jeff Jamrog said. "We'll make some corrections to make sure we aren't left in that situation again."

The Maverick defense took the field to start overtime and looked as though they would hold the Bearcats scoreless. Lamberson however, scrambled for eight yards on 3rd and 15 to set up the game winning score, a Frevert 39-yard field goal that sailed through the uprights giving the NWMSU a 24-21 advantage.

Using the collegiate system of overtime, where each team gets the ball, the Mavericks had a chance to win or tie the game with a possession themselves. After a sack on 3rd and three left the Mavericks with a 39-yarder of their own to tie, kicker Jason Tompkins sent his kick wide right, ending the game and any hopes of a Maverick upset.

"It's a tough loss, it hurts, it hurts for these seniors," Jamrog said. "But we'll be a better football team from it, we'll learn from our mistakes, and we went toe-to-toe with a heck of a football team. The ball went their way."

 

DOG FIGHT: Minnesota State 's defense was able to hold down the high-flying offense from Northwest Missouri State - which features two pre-season All-Americans - throughout most of the contest.