Duluth, Minn. – The University of Jamestown football team fell 50-3 against No. 20 Minnesota Duluth Saturday afternoon at James S. Malosky Stadium.
The Jimmies fall to 0-9 and 0-8 in the NSIC with their home finale looming next weekend. The NSIC North-leading Bulldogs move to 7-1 in the conference and 7-2 overall.
It was a tough start for the Jimmies as they went three-and-out on their first drive. The Jamestown defense had a couple nice stops on Duluth rushing attempts to start, but then a 49-yard rushing touchdown run followed by a successful two-point conversion gave the Bulldogs an 8-0 advantage with 11:02 left in the first quarter.
With 4:52 left in the first quarter and UMD threatening to score again,
Joseph Malfavon got a hand on a pass to deflect it, then
Evan Smith dived for a loose ball in the air to snatch it for an interception. Unfortunately, though, Jamestown was unable to take advantage as they failed to record a first down and were forced to punt for the fourth time in the quarter.
With about 1:30 left in the game,
Xander Jarosh had a 32-yard punt return then Matthrew Dosch connected with Josh Byren for 23 yards which placed the Jimmies into the Duluth red zone. The first quarter ended with the Jimmies on the UMD two-yard line with the score still 8-0 Bulldogs.
To begin the second quarter, a rushing attempt by UJ was stopped, but the Jimmies settled for a field goal and
Ethan Lieb got Jamestown on the board with a 21-yard kick as the contest was now 8-3. However, the Bulldogs saw success on the next drive as they responded with their second touchdown then added one point for a 15-3 lead. Another stop and another score later, and it was 22-3.
Around midway through the second quarter, Jamestown had a nice drive which started with a couple of decent rushes, including an 11-yard attempt on the ground by
Matthew Dosch. However, once the Jimmies got inside the UMD end of the field, the Bulldogs forced a fumble and took over possession.
A Duluth touchdown with just under a minute remaining put the home team in control 29-3 at the half.
UJ struggled getting offensive momentum in the second half. Several failed drives, including one that resulted in a fumble returned to a touchdown allowed Duluth to grab a 50-3 advantage with 15 minutes remaining on the timer.
On the Jamestown drive between the third and fourth quarters, the Jimmies slowly made their way up the field with a big play by
Jeric Schloegl for a 14 yard catch off
Jacob Mattick's pass. Despite this, the Jimmies were stopped at the Duluth 20-yard line on 4
th-and-4, leading to a turnover on downs.
On the final drive, Dosch contributed with a 10-yard rush, but that was the only first down. No team scored in the fourth quarter and the final wrapped up at 50-3 over on the coast of Lake Superior.
Mattick completed 11 passes for 54 total yards while Dosch had one completion of 23 yards and also rushed three times for 25 yards on the ground.
Mason Whitley led the ground offense with 47 rushing yards. Schloegl had six catches for 23 total yards while Byrne led receiving yards with 29 on two grabs.
Defensively,
Tristan Huse had a career-high 10 tackles and
Jack Young got five tackles, two of which were for a loss. Smith grabbed an interception in what was the only Duluth turnover of the night.
UMD had twice as many first downs (20-10) and nearly triple the number of total yards (476-179). The Jimmies were outgained 250-77 in the air and 226-102 on the ground. UJ went 4-for-17 on third down conversions and Duluth was 8-for-13. Time of possession was nearly even with Jamestown at 29:17 and the Bulldogs 30:43.
The Jimmies will be back at home for their final home game of the season as they host Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday, November 7 on senior day at 1 p.m.
