No. 12/14 North Dakota Falls to No. 15/16 Sacramento State, 42-35

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND ATHLETICS)– Despite trailing 28-14 at the break and evening the score up at 28-28 going into the final frame, No. 12/14 North Dakota fell 42-35 to No. 15/16 Sacramento State inside the Alerus Center on Saturday afternoon.

After trailing 28-14 at intermission, the Fighting Hawks (7-5) scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to even the game up at 28-28. On the opening drive after the break, NoDak traveled 54 yards and converted two fourth downs to trim the deficit to 28-21, highlighted by a seven-yard Bo Belquist touchdown grab on fourth-and-five. UND tied the score up with 2:07 left in the quarter on a one-yard Quincy Vaughn sneak.

In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Sacramento State (8-4) went back on top with a four-yard rushing touchdown. With 8:10 left in the game, Vaughn capped a seven play, 76-yard drive with another two-yard rush to tie the game at 35-35.

Kaiden Bennett, the elusive Sacramento State quarterback, scored the eventual game-winner with just under five minutes to go with a four-yard scamper. He finished the game with 126 rushing yards and two scores on 13 attempts. Bennett also aired out the ball, going 17-for-22 for 207 yards and one touchdown. Anderson Grover had the touchdown reception and was the top Hornet receiver with 96 yards on six receptions.

Tommy Schuster ended his afternoon 11-for-17 passing for 137 yards and a touchdown. The Sacramento State defense got to him four times and also picked off one pass. Belquist was Schuster’s top target with five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown.

UND’s backfield rushed 46 times and picked up 221 yards on the ground. Gaven Ziebarth was the top back for UND, toting the rock 18 times and rushing for 96 yards and a pair of scores.

The Hornets finished the game with 244 yards rushing and 212 yards passing for a total offensive yardage of 456. The Fighting Hawks picked up 358 yards of offense, highlighted by 221 yards on the ground. Sacramento State went eight-for-10 on third down conversions in the game.

The Hornets took a 28-14 lead into the locker rooms at intermission. The Hornets scored touchdowns on four of their five possessions in the opening half and ate up 17:19 minutes of clock, including 10:28 minutes of possession in the opening quarter.

UND accumulated 187 yards of offense in the first half. Ziebarth had both of UND’s touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes, scoring a seven-yard touchdown early in the first quarter that knotted the game up at 7-7 and then scoring on a 14-yard rush midway through the second quarter to bring the tally to 21-14 at the time. The Fighting Hawks had a chance to trim the deficit from 28-14 before intermission, but it ended with an interception with less than a minute remaining in the half.

Sacramento State ran 39 plays in the first half and racked up 313 yards of offense. Of the Hornets’ 313 yards, 198 yards came on the ground. Bennett had 105 yards rushing on eight attempts, while the next most-productive Hornet offensively was running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver with 38 yards on four carries.

Postgame Notes

• North Dakota is now 4-3 against Sacramento State in the all-time series. The road team has won the last six contests.
• UND is 21-17 in the postseason, including a 1-5 mark in its Division I games.
• NoDak is now 25-3 in its last 28 games played inside the Alerus Center. Its only other losses in that stretch came to the eventual FCS national champions in 2022 (South Dakota State) and 2021 (North Dakota State).
• When having over 100 yards rushing as a team this season, the Fighting Hawks are now 7-1.
• With the loss, UND has now lost only four of its last 12 one-score games.
• SAC went 6-for-6 in the red zone, while UND went 5-for-5.
• It was a clean game, with only two penalties called in the contest.
• With one interception thrown, it was only the second time this season that North Dakota ended a game with a negative turnover margin.
• Malachi Buckner and C.J. Siegel paced the UND defense with eight and seven tackles, respectively. All seven of Siegel’s tackles were solo, with two of them going for TFL’s and he also broke up one pass.
• Kicker Brady Stevens recorded four touchbacks, bringing his career total up to 84 and breaking UND’s Division I record for kickoffs for touchbacks in a career. He broke the record of Zeb Miller (2009-13), who had 82 kickoffs go for a touchback in his career.
• With five grabs, Bo Belquist now has 206 in his career and has moved up to No. 2 in UND’s Division I history for receptions in a career.

How It Happened
First Quarter
11:55 – SAC | Kaiden Bennett scores on a one-yard rush. (Zach Schreiner kick). 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:05.
9:59 – UND | Gaven Ziebarth scores on a seven-yard rush. (C.J. Elrichs kick). 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:51.
5:51 – SAC | Bennet finds Anderson Grover for the 14-yard touchdown pass. (Schreiner kick). 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:08.
Second Quarter
12:51 – SAC | Coleman Kuntz scores on a one-yard score. (Schreiner kick). 13 plays, 84 yards, 5:24.
6:54 – UND | Ziebarth scores on a 14-yard rush. (Elrichs kick). 11 plays, 73 yards, 5:51.
2:49 – SAC | Kuntz scores on a one-yard rush. (Schreiner kick). 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:05.
Third Quarter
8:10 – UND | Tommy Schuster finds Bo Belquist for the seven-yard score. (Elrichs kick). 13 plays, 54 yards, 6:44.
2:07 – UND | Quincy Vaughn scores on a one-yard rush. (Elrichs kick). 9 plays, 56 yards, 4:31.
Fourth Quarter
11:52 – SAC | Marcus Fulcher scores on a four-yard rush. (Schreiner kick). 5 plays, 67 yards, 1:18.
8:10 – UND | Vaughn scores on a two-yard rush. (Elrichs kick). 7 plays, 76 yards, 3:37.
4:54 – SAC | Bennett scores on a four-yard rush. (Schreiner kick). 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:16.