Everhart, Bulldogs find football rhythm
Unaccustomed as we have become to seeing UMD’s football team with a numeral in the ”loss” column, our trust in coach Curt Wiese’s program never wavered. Well, not much, anyway.
The Bulldogs are used to having a quarterback-led offense run first and pass whebn necessary, and trust rock-ribbed defense to win Northern Division titles in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. But with the graduation of Drew Bauer, and injuries to two quarterbacks in the second game, No. 3 was Ben Everhart, an untried sophomore.
He did OK, but the running game didn’t show any benefits, and then wide receiver and captain Nate Ricci went down with a season-ending injury. The Bulldogs lost to Sioux Falls, beat Upper Iowa, lost to MSU-Mankato, beat Wayne State - 34-31 in the second overtime - and then faced St. Cloud State last Saturday night.
In the chill of Malosky Stadium, Coach Wiese’s determination to make the game plan work prevailed, and suddenly everything fell into place. Everhart, still at quarterback, led the team from the opening kickoff to the St. Cloud State 5, then he ran a rollout to the left, and pitched to Anthony Wood, who circled left end and crashed into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Two possessions later, on third and 10 from their own 10, the Bulldogs escaped when Everhart passed to Wood for a 23-yard gain, then Wood ran for 12. On second and seven from his own 48, Everhart sent James Conner out on the left and hit him with a pass. Conner went up the left sideline, then cut right, veering almost all the way across the field to score on a 52-yard play for a 14-0 first-quarter score.
Changing directions for the second quarter, Everhart spotted Dominic Bonner with a step on the last defender and fired a pass to him. Bonner broke free and went all the way for another 52-yard touchdown pass and a 20-0 halftime lead.
The Huskies got their first touchdown to open the second half, but Everhart countered with another touchdown pass to Bonner, then opened the fourth quarter with another short touchdown pass to Jason Balts and the Two late Huskies touchdown passes just didn’t matter. What mattered was that Everhart found his rhythm, Wood provided a key rushing threat, and while the UMD defense was its normal self, the offense -- with 288 yarsds rushing and 183 yards passing -- showed the benefit of balance. Wood gained 128 yards on 17 carries, and Everhart ran 14 times for 81 yards.
Coaches stress that you have to play them one game at a time, but we in the media have no such rule. Besides, we tried that at the start of the season, and it didn’t work. So now, we can look ahead. The Bulldogs head for MSU-Moorhead, then play at Northern State, before coming home for a 1 p.m. game with Minot State on October 21. The following week, a key match at Bemidji State could decide the Northern Division.
TWINS FABULOUS FINISH
Winning a Wild Card berth was huge for the Twins, who then headed off for that huge one-game battle with the New York Yankees Tuesday night.
But we do have to go back and marvel at the amazing and totally entertaining season it has been for the Twins. Up and down, counted out and then forcing their way back into contention, and finishing with a flourish through September.
In the process, they’ve defied accurate evaluation. Columnists and analysts have raved about Brian Dozier, and about surprising contributions from unexpected places, such as Jorge Polanco, Eduardo Escobar, and Eddie Rosario. They always, as usual, leave out Joe Mauer, and they have completely overlooked Kennys Vargas.
Here is a list of the Twins regulars batting average for the whole season, and for September alone - when Miguel Sano went off with a shin injury, and after Twins management gave up by trading away starter Jaime Garcia and closer Brandon Kintzler.
Rosario .290 for the season/.275 for September; Dozier .269/.284; Polanco .256/.267; Byron Buxton .253/.268; Escobar .254/264; Robbie Grossman .246/.274; Max Kepler .243/.216; Vargas .253/.333; and Mauer .305/.343.
Mauer and Vargas are my favorite upsurge stories on the team. Mauer was struggling at .225 in April, but came on strong in August (.336) and September (.343). Vargas was floundering, going down to the minors and back, and he got only 7 hits and batted .226 in August before going .333 in September. And while Polanco evened out, he rose from the oblivion of hitting .078 with only 4 hits in July to an outburst of 38 hits and a .373 mark in August.
Ervin Santana led the pitching staff with an outstanding season at 16-8 with a 3.28 ERA. Jose Berios didn’t make the team out of spring training, but came on and established himself well at midseason. Kyle Gibson convinced us he could never get through a batting order a second time, pitching well the first time through, then getting lit up the second. But suddenly he was unhitable and unbeatable to the finish. And Bertolo Colon had a storybook year, looking like he couldn’t do it in his first two starts, then getting more and more effective, and creating a final highlight.
Colon pitched into the seventh inning, limiting Detroit to only three hits, and when Paul Molitor took him out, he walked toward the dugout with an amazing ovation of appreciation from the fans at Target Field. He smiled, waved his hat in appreciation to the fans, and walked slowly on. When he got to the foul line, suddenly there was the Detroit first base coach, Omar Vizquel, walking up to him, greeting him with a big, emotional hug.
The two had been teammates in Cleveland 20-some years ago, when Vizquel was one of the best shortstops in the Major Leagues, and Colon a dazzling young strong-armed right-hander. Colon wants to come back, and the Twins would be fools to let him finish his career anywhere else.
