Beau Bofferding switched to running back and ran for four UMD touchdowns and 171 rushing yards. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Wayne State goaltender Kylie Comba dove to block a pass to UMD’s Natalie St. Martin (12), in UMD’s 1-0 victory Friday. UMD’s final home game is Friday at 6 p.m. against Minnesota-Crookston. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Unless you were at Malosky Stadium Saturday afternoon, you have no idea how strange UMD’s seventh straight football victory was. Consider that Beau Bofferding scored four touchdowns, and Jason Balts scored three more, but it took more than those seven touchdowns for the Bulldogs to subdue Bemidji State 54-47.
If it hadn’t been for one more touchdown, by Nate Ricci in the second quarter, the teams would have been left in a 47-47 deadlock.
Instead, UMD was able to hold off the Beavers, who rallied from a halftime deficit of 27-7, and trailed 41-18 before shredding UMD’s defense for 29 fourth-quarter points. UMD had a huge advantage in possession time, 43 minutes to 17, and spent that time gathering a 28-18 edge in first downs, and a 273-62 edge in rushing yards. But while Drew Bauer was 22-32 passing for 331 yards and three touchdowns, Bemidji State quarterback Jordan Hein lit up the Bulldogs for 434 passing yards on a 17-33 day, including touchdown passes of 60, 90, 56, 10 and 44 yards.
UMD’s offense hinged on the legs of Bofferding, who switched to running back from wide receiver and gained 171 yards on 18 carries when Darren Walker went out in the first half with a leg injury, and the magical hands of sophomore wide receiver Balts, who caught seven passes for 165 yards and seems to be most comfortable flying horizontal while making spectacular catches.
Balts had a fairly routine 9-yard TD catch in the first quarter, a 35-yard TD catch in the second, and a 58-yard scoring pass in the fourth. Bofferding, a mercurial 5.-foot-8 senior, scored four touchdowns, plunging in from the 3 in the first quarter and adding TD runs of 22 yards in the third quarter and 65 and 2 in the fourth quarter.
While giving up 496 total yards, UMD gained a total of 604 yards – a standard they may need to duplicate at Minnesota-Crookston this weekend. At 7-1, the Bulldogs can’t take their foot off the gas in the final three games if they hope to repeat as Northern Sun northern champ.

Volleyball String Snapped
 
When the Vikings saw their unbeaten 5-0 start interrupted at Philadelphia last Sunday, it was a sloppy performance and they didn’t deserve anything better. They should bounce back against the Chicago Bears this weekend, and be back on track in their quest for the division title.
When the UMD volleyball team saw its 21-match unbeaten season interrupted last Saturday at Augustana, it was just that, an interruption. It came not because of sloppy play, but a strong performance simply outgunned by a superb effort by Augustana, which won 25-17, 25-21, then fell to the Bulldogs 25-22 before coming back to take the fourth game 25-14. At 13-1 in Northern Sun play, and 21-1 overall, UMD remained No. 1 in national Division II volleyball, and they can start a new streak Friday at 7 p.m. against Sioux Falls and Saturday at 4 against Southwest Minnesota State. Facing two such potent foes will prepare UMD for another challenge next weekend, when Concordia and MSU-Mankato come to Romano Gym.

“I knew we weren’t going to go undefeated all season,” said UMD coach Jim Boos. “We learned some things, and most of the credit has to go to Augustana because they were attack-minded throughout the match. I said to the team, ‘when we’re on, other teams feel like we do today.’ We played good volleyball, but not quite good enough. From here on, we’ve got to play great volleyball.”
One of the great promotions at UMD all season comes Saturday, when the Bulldogs will hold Pack the Gym day, with all fans allowed entry to Romano Gym for free for the 4 o’clock game with Southwest.

Indians-Cubs Great Match

Roberto Perez staked a claim to the early favorite as World Series star, coming in as backup catcher and blasting two home runs as the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0. It was a tight game, a wonderful pitching duel despite the final score, and we can only hope it’s a long series. I’m pulling for a seven-game deal.
The Series shifts to Chicago Friday for three games in three days, and long-suffering Cubs fans will get their chance to cheer their heroes from close up. The teams are so well matched, with strong pitching, strong relief pitching, solid hitting and solid defense. The Series is so close, between two such intriguing teams, that I frankly don’t care which team wins. Before the Series started, I predicted the Cubs in seven. We’ll see.