Athletic News

Minneapolis, Minn - In the annual football dome day hosted by the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference the Crown College Storm were selected along with MacMurray College to open the daily festivities with an 8:00am kick off.  In preparation for this early start the Storm practiced at 6:30 am most of the week to get their bodies ready for such an early start.  If you missed this early kick off because you overslept you missed one heck of a football game, especially if you like scoring.

Crown received the opening kick off and got the ball to the MacMurray 48 before an interception by MacMurray turned the ball over early in the first quarter.  The Highlanders than took their first possession 67 yards on 6 plays as Brian Clay would score from 1-yard out to give MacMurray an early 7-0 lead.

Crown would take their second possession and go 61 yards on just four plays with most of the offense supplied by freshman running back Tyler Hallblade (Prior Lake, Minn) including a 4 yard run to tie the score at 7-7 just four minutes into the the game.

MacMurray would continue the offensive assault as Garrett Starkey would complete a 64 yard pass to James Rollon on the second play of the drive resulting in another Highlanders touchdown and putting the score at 14-7.  Not to be outdown the Storm offense took the field and in classic form answered the Highlanders scoring drive with a 6 play 51 yard scoring drive ending in a 6 yard touchdown catch by tightend Callan McKinnley (Chester, Mont.) making the score 14-13 after a Matt Polding (Waconia, Minn) extra point attempt missed.

On the ensuing kickoff Dmetrius Suggs would take the kick from Polding and sprint 75 yards through the Storm defense for a kick off return giving the Highlanders a third consecutive touchdown and making the score 21-13 with over five minutes still to play in the first quarter.  A defensive stand by the Highlanders forced the Storm into the first punt of the day giving the ball back to MacMurray with three and half minutes to go in the half.  The Storm would get the ball back at the end of the first quarter as the Highlanders would turn the ball over on downs at the Crown 18 when Conrad Dewey (Clearbrook, Minn) would get his first sack of the game.

The Storm offense would start the second quarter with a 10 play 75 yard scoring drive as Hallblade would score his second touchdown of the day on a 24 yard run making the score 21-20 in favor of the Highlanders.

MacMurray would take the ball to the Crown 48 on the kick off and march in for their fourth touchdown of the day on 11 plays including a 14 yard touchdown pass from Starkey to Clay.  The extra point attempt was missed making the score 27-20.

On the next possession for the Storm starting at the MacMurray 49 the Storm would go 6 plays and quarterback Adam Hayes (Chester, Mont.) would find wideout Steve Boger (Cokato, Minn) on a 4 yard touchdown pass and tying the score at 27 all with just over 2 minutes to go in the first half.

The Storm would get just their second defensive stop of the day as they forced the Highlanders into their first punt of the afternoon giving the ball back to the Storm with 47 seconds left in the half.  The Storm would go 3 and out and have their punt blocked at their own 22 yard line but the Highlanders would not be able to capatalize at the end of the half and the score would remain 27-27 heading into the second half of action.

On the first play from the line of scrimmage in the second half the Highlanders would go up 34-27 on a 54 yard pass play from Starkey to Rollon in just 15 seconds.  The Storm would turn the ball over on downs on their first possession but the Storm defense would force the Highlanders into a change of possession on downs at the Storm 42 yard line.  The Crown offense would take advantage as Hayes would complete a 25 yard touchdown pass to Robert Yang (Clovis, Calif.) again evening the score at 34-34.

The Highlander offense would get right back on track driving the ball 70 yards in just four plays including a 21 yard touchdown pass from Starkey to Whitaker giving MacMurray the lead back yet again at 40-34 after a two point conversion would fail.

Robert Yang would take the kick off 74 yards to the Highlander 5 yard line setting up the Storm for a rushing touchdown by Adam Hayes and giving the Storm their first lead of the game at 41-40.  The lead would be short lived as MacMurray would go 76 yards on 12 plays and take up almost five minutes of clock time in regaining the lead 48-41.  The Storm would get the ball back just before the third quarter would end and begin their drive at the start of the fourth quarter.  After driving the ball to the Highlander 3 yard line Hayes would attempt to rush in for a touchdown but a fumble forced by MacMurray in the end zone would start a scramble for the ball and the Storm's Steve Boger would recover resulting in a touchdown by the Storm and creating another even ball game at 48-48.

After a 62 yard kick off return to the Crown 12 the Highlanders would again take the lead on a Starkey to Clay pass play but the two point conversion would again fail for the Highlanders giving them a 54-48 lead.

The Storm would not go away quitely as they would march 54 yards in 5 plays and Hayes would connect with Eric Chavoustie on a 15 yard pass play to even the score at 54-54 after a second failed point after attempt by Polding.

With 10 minutes still to go in the game the Highlanders would go 52 yards in 8 plays to take the lead again at 62-54 after a two point conversion was successful.

With six minutes to go in the game the Storm would go 71 yards on 9 plays and Hayes would connect with Boger for a 12 yard touchdown catch and Boger would rush in on the two point conversion to put the score at 62-62 with just over two minutes to go in the game.

The Highlanders would drive the ball to the Crown 27 yard line but be forced to turn the ball over on downs when the Storm defense held them two yards short of picking up the first down.  With 16 seconds left the Storm would get to their own 44 yard line before time would run out forcing overtime.  The two teams would fall three points short of setting the NCAA Division III record for total points in a game in regulation.

MacMurray would be the first team to have the ball at the Crown 25 and would score on a 20 yard pass play from Starkey to Whitaker giving them a 6 point lead after the 2 point conversion would fail.

The Storm had the ball at the MacMurray 25 and would be able to gain only three yards as the Highlander defense would smother the Storm to secure the wild 68-62 victory in overtime.

For the Storm quarterback Adam Hayes would go 27-39 for 287 yards and throw for 5 touchdowns.  Hayes would also rush 13 times for 93  yards and score a rushing touchdown.  Steve Boger would lead the team with 10 receptions for 70 yards and two touchdowns.  He would also carry the ball 2 times on the ground for 23 yards and score a rushing touchdown.  Running back Tyler Hallblade would take the ball 19 times and rush for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Defensively the Storm would collect 4 sacks including 2 by Mark Shea and he would force 1 fumble.

The Storm drop to 3-6 overall and finish up the season taking on Eureka College on the road on Saturday November 7th with a 1:00pm kick off.