BISMARCK, N.D. – Northern State had all three phases of football clicking on all cylinders on Saturday afternoon.
From offense, defense, and special teams, the Wolves were dominant in a 53-14 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football victory over Mary.
“Overall, I’m really proud of this group. We’re playing good football,” said NSU coach Mike Schmidt. “Yes, we’re winning games, but it’s more than that. We’re playing a good brand of winning football in all three phases of the game. We took another big step as a program today.”
Brock Bagozzi spotted Trey Birdsong for a 40-yard touchdown in the opening quarter and the big plays were just getting started for the Wolves.
After Northern received touchdowns from Wyatt Block and Carter Campbell, the Marauders were lining up for a field goal before Lorenzo Jones Jr. blocked the kick and ran 73 yards for a touchdown.
The Wolves tacked on three more touchdowns in the second half including a 96-yard scoring run from Block, who finished with 163 yards rushing in the contest.
“What a run by Wyatt. School record for longest run,” Schmidt said. “Great blocking up front. Wyatt makes a few guys miss and takes it to the house.”
Northern’s special teams played a major role in the victory. The Wolves not only blocked a field goal, they also blocked a punt and had a fake PAT.
“Special teams were huge today. Jeremy (Caruso) and Jackson (Isakson) did a great job kicking the ball and we created some huge momentum swings with the blocked punt, fake PAT by (Cade) Kaiser, and blocked field goal return,” Schmidt said. “Great effort by Lorezno and an unforgettable return to score six.”
While the defense can often be overlooked when a team scores more than 50 points, Schmidt also praised his team’s defensive effort.
“Our defense faced a huge challenge today schematically. I’m really proud of their effort and how physical they played,” Schmidt said. “We had one slip up with our discipline on the first TD, but other than that, we did a great job executing our game plan.”
The Wolves, 3-1 on the season, have another road game next weekend taking on Bemidji State. Northern has now won three straight games.
“This was a tough road test. They took Augie to the brink a few weeks ago and had great energy on their homecoming,” Schmidt said. “Our guys stepped up and truly dominated every aspect of this game.”
To see a complete box score, click on the following link:
https://nsuwolves.com/sports/football/stats/2025/umary/boxscore/13989
