The Northern State football team is back to .500 heading into its final three games of the season.

The Wolves won their fourth straight game in a dominant fashion defeating Southwest Minnesota State 41-7 last Saturday night at Dacotah Bank Stadium. The Wolves scored 38 straight points before the Mustangs found the endzone in the fourth quarter.

Jeremy Caruso started off the scoring with a 34-yard field goal on the Wolves’ opening drive of the game, followed by a 11-yard receiving touchdown from Hank Kraft, his first of two on the night.

The Wolves scored 21 points in the span of 4 minutes and 11 seconds, started by a 3-yard Colton Hackel rushing touchdown. On the following drive, Kegan Mountain reeled in his fourth interception on the year, this time finding the endzone for a 55-yard pick six. Kraft walked into the endzone untouched on a 32-yard run as the first half was closing out.

Opening up the second half, Daniel Britt scored on the third play of the drive, a 68-yard rushing touchdown. The Mustangs found the endzone after gaining possession on the Wolves 3-yard line after recovering a fumble from Hackel. Jeremy Caruso closed out the night with a 40-yard field goal.

A perfect night from Jeremy Caruso earned him another NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week, a second week in a row.

Britt threw for 126 yards, and gained 71 yards on the ground. Noah Smith had 10 rushes for 69 yards and also 40 return yards. Wyatt Block had 10 rushes for 66 yards and also had three catches for 62 yards, and Kraft had four rushes for 43 yards, with two catches for 19 yards.

Charlie Larson led the way defensively with eight total tackles. Gabe Gutirrez had three sacks on the night, which earned the redshirt freshman NSIC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Max Van Landingham, Kayden Turnbow, and Kai Rigdon also brought in a sack each.

Currently, Jake Adams leads the conference in tackles with 100, which also leads all of NCAA Division II, Gabe Gutierrez is tied for the lead in the NSIC for most sacks with five, and Kegan Mountain is tied in the league for the most interceptions with four.

Wolves volleyball opened up their three matches in six days with a sweep over MSU Moorhead last Thursday 25-19, 25-23, and 25-18 at Wachs Arena. Natalia Szybinska had 15 kills, and Hanna Thompson had 11 while hitting .455. Abby Meister led with 18 digs, Keri Walker had 17 digs, 34 assists, and 2 blocks.

Last Saturday, the Wolves traveled to Minot State and recorded another sweep 25-16, 25-19, 25-11. The Wolves were efficient at the net with 39 team kills while also tallying nine aces on the night. Abby Brooks and Hanna Thompson led with eight kills each, and Mia Hinsz had with three aces, followed by Reese Johnson and Sara Moberg with two aces each.

This past Tuesday at Wachs Arena, the Wolves closed out their series with a third sweep in a row, 25-22, 25-11, and 25-19 over Mary. It was a total team effort attacking with five girls having eight kills or more. In the span of the three matches, Keri Walker totaled 111 assists, with Abby Meister collected 52 digs.

Wolves soccer had a road trip last weekend defeating Minnesota-Duluth 2-1 on Friday and losing to St. Cloud State 1-2 on Saturday.

Against the Bulldogs, a scoreless first half led to Megan Fastenau finding the back of the net in the 67th minute. The Bulldogs answered back in the 78th minute to tie the game up. The tie was broken in the last five minutes of the match with another goal from Fastenau, her sixth on the year, which is tied for third in the NSIC. Alexus Townsend had two saves on three shots on goal.

On Sunday, the Wolves struck first with a goal by Kailyn Poppen in the 51st minute, her first in her collegiate career. The Huskies followed it up with two goals in less than two minutes striking at the 66th minute and the 68th minute. Townsend recorded three saves on five shots on goal.

The Northern State swim and dive team competed in a duel against MSU Moorhead and University of Sioux Falls and dropped both matches. Jacie Flockhart secured the win in the 1 meter dive with a score of 228.60. Abbegael Nynas took second place in the 1000 free with a time of 11:26.82. Haley Osbourne took home third in the 200 free with a 1:59.84 time.

Coming up this week, the volleyball team will host third-rated St. Cloud State on Friday at 6 p.m., and then host 25th-ranked Minnesota Duluth, at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The cross country teams will compete in the NSIC Championships on Saturday in Minot. Also taking place on Saturday, the Swim and Dive team will host Mary in a dual at noon at the Aberdeen YMCA.

Wolves football look to grab their fifth win in a row against Concordia-St. Paul. The Golden Bears are 2-5 in conference play, but are led by the leading rusher in the NSIC, Jaylin Richardson.

Wolves soccer has one game this weekend traveling to Minnesota State. The Mavericks are first in conference with an 8-0-2 record.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams will both see their first action of the year for “Retro Night” at the Aberdeen Civic Arena. The women’s team will tip off at 5:30 p.m. against Dakota State, and the men will follow that game with tip off at 7:30 p.m. against Dickinson State.