Johnson, Karschnik lead Cougars to UMAC road win
Pictured right-Taylor Johnson
For Immediate Release: October 8th, 2007 Morris, MN – Sophomore running back Taylor Johnson (Lakeville, MN) rushed for 173 yards and three touchdown’s and senior quarterback Jeff Karschnik (Windom, MN) threw for two more scores and 268 yards as the University of Minnesota, Morris defeated Maranatha Baptist 48-18 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) football action on a warm, and muggy day in Watertown, Wisconsin.
The Cougars scored 35 of their 48 points in the first 30 minutes of action and rolled up a season high 618 yards in total offense, while the defense limited the Crusaders to just 250 yards in total offense, second to the 233 against Principia College.
Minnesota, Morris got on the scoreboard first as Karschnik tossed a 63 yard scoring pass to matt Fragodt (Jr. Becker, MN) with 8:17 left in the first half and UMM took a 7-0 lead.
Maranatha Baptist wasted little time to get back in the game as they scored on their very next possession, but missed the extra point with 6 14 left in quarter number one to make it a 7-6 game.
UMM took the ensuing kickoff and went 62 yards in seven plays and took a 14-6 lead on Matt Throngard’s (So. Grantsburg, WI) five yard TD plunge with 3:38 to play in the first quarter.
The Crusaders second touchdown of the game came on a fumble recovery late in the quarter, but the two-point conversion attempt failed and UMM led 14-12.
In the second quarter, the Cougars scored on three of their five possessions and took a 35-18 lead into the locker room at the half.
The first score of the second quarter for UMM came on a Karschnik to Fragodt 52 yard pass play with 10:53 remaining until halftime to give the Cougars a 21-12 lead.
Taylor Johnson then scored the first of his three touchdowns with 5:06 left in the half, on a second down and six play, he took it in from 37 yards out and that made it 28-12 and capped a six play 80 yard drive.
Maranatha went 54 yards in 1:28 for their third and final score of the day and cut the Cougar lead to 10 at 28-18 with 3:36 to go in the half.
On the next possession for UMM, the Cougars kept the ball on the ground for seven of the 10 plays in the drive and Johnson finished it off with a six yard scoring run with: 52 seconds to go in the second quarter to put Minnesota, Morris on top 35-18.
Andrew Shay (Jr. Minneapolis, MN) recovered a Crusader fumble just two minutes into the third quarter to set up the Cougars first score of the second half.
Johnson’s third touchdown of the day was a nine yard run that put the Cougars in front by a score of 41-18.
Minnesota, Morris then closed out the scoring with a 10 play, 84 yard drive that took 3:59 as Michael Terrell (Sr. Tracy, CA) took it in from four yards out and UMM led 48-18 with 1:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota, Morris finished the game with 350 yards rushing and 268 yards passing.
The 173 yards on the ground for Johnson is second to the 196 he had against Principia College earlier this year. It is the third time this season he has rushed for 100 yards or more in a game and the eighth in his career.
Johnson now has 606 yards rushing for the seson in five games. In 2006, he had 85 yards in 10 games. The last Cougar running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season was Donnay green in 2005 when he had 1,528 yards rushing.
Michael Terrell added 64 yards rushing, Matt Throngard 44 and Jon Koeckeritz (Sr. New Ulm, MN) 43.
Jeff Karschnik was 15-27 passing for 268 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 11 TD passes on the seson and 52 in his career.
Matt Fragodt caught just two passes for 115 yards, but made the most of those with the two scores. Brady Rose (So. Morgan, MN) had three receptions for 63 yards and Ryan Stoick (Sr. Morris, MN) caught three for 41 yards.
On defense, the Cougars were led by Andrew Shay who finished with 13 tackles, eight solo. He also had one tackle for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Defensively, UMM held the Crusaders to 116 yards on the ground and 134 through the air.
Minnesota, Morris also scored on four of their five possessions in the red-zone and 6-for-10 on third down conversions.
The Cougars (3-2, 3-1 UMAC) are on the road this weekend again in UMAC conference play as they travel to New Ulm, Minnesota to take on Martin Luther College. Kick-off is set for 1:00.
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| Minnesota - Morris | 14 | 21 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Maranatha Baptist | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
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Box Score
