St. Cloud State's season has been disappointing. The Huskies are 1-5 in the North Central Conference and 3-6 overall, quite a drop from their previous two seasons in which they totaled 16 wins and appeared in the 2004 NCAA Division II playoffs.
The reason for the disappointment comes down to a play here or a play there, said St. Cloud coach Randy Hedberg.
"We're 32-12 over the last four years," Hedberg said. "We've averaged 8-3 records the last four years. This year, we have a good football team. We just haven't been able to put teams away when we've had the opportunity.
"I'd like to say that's because of inexperience, but I just don't know."
St. Cloud could ease a lot of that disappointment with a win against UND on Saturday in a North Central Conference game that means plenty for the Sioux, who are 5-1 in the league (7-1 overall) and are closing in on another trip to the Division II playoffs.
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With the exception of last season's 37-14 win, UND has not had easy games against St. Cloud since 2000. No more than seven points had separated UND and St. Cloud in the five prior games to last season's meeting.
Last week's game at Nebraska-Omaha was typical of St. Cloud's season.
"We're leading 17-14 late in the third quarter and we have the ball at the Omaha 20," said Hedberg, a former Sioux offensive coordinator. "Then we throw an interception in the end zone. That's just a mistake we made. Then we had a punt blocked in the fourth quarter. They only scored one offensive touchdown."
Omaha rallied for a 21-17 win. Another stinging loss came when Augustana quarterback Tommy Flyger threw a game-winning 51-yard touchdown pass with three seconds to play for a 27-24 win.
The week before, Western Washington scored 21 fourth-quarter points for a 24-17 win.
"We could easily be 6-3 or 7-2, but the reality is that we're 3-6," Hedberg said. "Our league is so balanced. It's more balanced this year than it's been for a while. Last week, South Dakota was undefeated and gets beat by (last-place) Mankato.
"We played South Dakota earlier this season and a had a pretty good chance to win."
Instead, the Coyotes won 20-10 in Vermillion.
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Against South Dakota, St. Cloud lost its starting quarterback -- Mike Hammerseng -- to a dislocated shoulder. He's since returned, but the Husky offense is now run by sophomore Jon Quesnel, who has completed 129 of 233 passes for 1,509 yards and nine touchdowns. But he's been intercepted eight times.
The Huskies returned only two offensive starters from last season. They've struggled offensively, averaging 16.2 points in league play, which ranks them eighth.
Michael Graham is their top running back with 472 yards. And Anders Johnson leads the receivers with 37 catches for 378 yards.
But St. Cloud is all about defense this season.
The Huskies rank fourth in NCC scoring defense, allowing 19.8 points per game. But UND's top-ranked defense is only three points better (15.5).
St. Cloud leads the league in total defense (291.8 yards per game). The Huskies held Omaha to 202 yards last week.
Mitchell Denne, Aaron LaPointe, Philip Hedlof and Tate Wheeler are the core of the St. Cloud defense.
Denne, a senior, has intercepted a pass in three straight games. He has 15 for his career and ranks second all-time. LaPointe leads St. Cloud with 55 tackles.
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The defense has held up, but the offense has struggled.
"We knew coming into the season our defense would be solid," Hedberg said. "Of offense, we thought we'd improve week to week. But the first month of the season, we didn't see a lot of improvement."
He's seen improvement in recent weeks and hopes the Huskies have improved enough to derail UND's conference and postseason plans.
"When you play the Sioux, it's always a challenge," Hedberg said. "They're very consistent and they seem to win all of the tight games."
Nelson reports on sports. Reach him at 780-1268, (800) 477-6572 ext. 268 or wnelson@gfherald.com.
