MORRIS, Minn. – It was defensive battle at Big Cat Stadium on Saturday afternoon with the Minnesota Morris Cougars (4-3, 4-2 UMAC) doing just enough to earn a hard fought 10-6 victory over the visiting Crown College Storm (3-4, 3-3 UMAC). A ten point fourth quarter, sparked by a fake field goal was the difference for Morris.
 
The two teams combined for 438 yards offense on the afternoon. Two Storm drives, their first and their last, accounted for 188 of their 255 total yards on the day.
 
Crown tried to establish their dominance early, going on a 17 play, 75 yard drive that took 8:31 off the clock. They would miss the extra point but took a 6-0 led and then forced Morris to go three and out. The Cougars defense stepped up to the challenge on the next Crown drive, forcing a three and out to give UMM the ball back.
 
Nothing materialized for either offense the rest of the quarter and the Storm held the 6-0 lead after one. Crown had the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the first quarter. After the opening drive Morris yielded just nine more yards of total offense to Crown.
 
The second quarter was extremely quiet in terms of the scoring. Crown did double their yardage in the second quarter but could not score. Morris was only able to rack up 29 yards of total offense in the first half. John Hoff missed his first field goal attempt of the year, as his 48 yard attempt went left.
 
Donnie Mavencamp took over the quarterback duties in the second half and quickly drove the offense down to the 18 yard line. Hoff attempted a 35 yard field goal but it went just wide left. The Cougar defense was able to force a three out and got the ball back on the Crown 35. Unfortunately Morris went backwards and was forced to punt. Once again Morris was able to stop the Storm and took over at the Crown 28 after a poor punt.
 
Minnesota Morris lined up to kick a 35 yard field goal as the fourth quarter got underway but they opted for a fake. Chandler Erickson rolled to his left and lofted a 17 yard touchdown to Kyle Petermeier. Hoff hit the extra point to give UMM the 7-6 lead.
 
With 11:16 on the clock Crown took over on their 41 yard line. Their offense got nothing going and punted after three plays. The snap went over the punters head and Morris took over at the Storm 26. The Cougars drove the ball down to the three yard line after just two plays but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Hoff.
 
Crown's next drive was stopped after a fourth down play to take over at the Storm 37. Mavencamp was heading for the end zone to put the game away but he was stripped at the six yard line giving Crown another chance. The Storm would need to go 98 yards in 4:16 in order to pick up a victory.
 
The Storm offense came alive late in the game, just when they needed it. After 15 plays Crown had the ball on the Cougars five yard line, facing a fourth down with seven seconds left in the game. The Storm quarterback threw to his right but senior linebacker Jake Wirz was there to knock the pass down and secure the win for Morris.
 
The average starting field position for UMM on the day was at their own 42 yard line but unfortunately the Cougars managed just ten points. Morris was just 2-13 on third downs in the game.
 
Wirz finished the day with 15 tackles, one interception and pass breakup. The Cougar defense totaled six tackles-for-loss on the day.
 
The Cougars will travel to Duluth next week to take on St. Scholastica, who are battling Northwestern in the UMAC Game of the Week on Saturday night.