Six possessions, six touchdowns.
That's how the St. Cloud State University (Minn.) offense began the worst blowout of Paul Rudolph's six-year tenure as head football coach at Minot State University.
The Huskies (6-4) racked up 638 yards of total offense and averaged more than 10 yards per play in a 57-10 drubbing of MSU on Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.
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Adam Lawson/MDN
Minot State University sophomore Kalvin Larson (46) forces a fumble by St. Cloud State junior receiver Damon Treat during a game Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.
SCSU junior quarterback Phillip Klaphake was involved in four of those first six touchdowns - running for an 11-yard score and throwing for three more. He completed 10-of-14 passes for 225 yards and rushed seven times for 73 yards before being replaced late in the third quarter.
"Our coaches do a good job of putting me in some situations where our guys are open a lot," said Klaphake, a two-time all-Northern Sun selection. "We were in some good situations, and when you run the ball well, it makes defenses have to respect the run more and it makes passing a little bit easier."
The Beavers (3-7) received the opening kickoff and looked primed to take an early lead.
Freshman quarterback Zac Cunha completed a 20-yard pass to freshman running back Randel Barber to the Huskies' 2-yard line. Barber made an athletic play on the overthrown ball, reaching backward over his head to reel it in.
Two plays later, however, Barber fumbled and SCSU recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
The Huskies went on to score the first 40 points of the game.
"It sure hurt our sidelines," Rudolph said of the fumble. "I was telling everybody there was a good energy on the sidelines until that happened, and we tried to get 'em back, but then they take it down (and score) in (six) plays."
SCSU led 34-0 at halftime and scored another touchdown 32 seconds into the third quarter. The Huskies didn't punt until seven minutes, 8 seconds remained in the game.
Rudolph said the Beavers' offense became predictable once MSU trailed by a wide margin. Cunha was sacked four times and hurried several more, and the Huskies added 11 tackles for loss.
"I think it hurt when we got down and you're one dimensional," Rudolph said. "(They could) kind of pin their ears back a little bit and they got to us a couple times."
SCSU defensive end Jeff Bias finished with a sack and four tackles for loss.
Huskies freshman tailback Ledell White carried the ball six times for 160 yards and broke runs of 70 and 72 yards. Junior running back Michael Walker ran for 100 yards on 21 attempts.
The Beavers may have caught the Huskies at the wrong time. SCSU suffered losses the two previous weeks to Bemidji State (Minn.) and Northern State (S.D.)
"The last two weeks really hurt our program," Klaphake said. "We wanted to come out and prove that we are a really good program and we can compete with everybody. I think today we just clicked. This is what we expect from ourselves."
The Beavers scored their points on a 35-yard field goal by freshman Aaron LaDeaux in the third quarter and a 10-yard touchdown reception by junior Wayne Peters in the fourth.
SCSU plays at Minnesota State-Moorhead on Saturday in its season finale, and MSU travels to Bemidji State.