K-Heart Sports – 12/17/22

K-HEART SPORTS – 12/17/22 – 0700
 
FARGO, N.D. (NDSU) – Kobe Johnson rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns and Dawson Weber intercepted two passes to lift No. 3 seed North Dakota State to a 35-32 win over seventh-seeded Incarnate Word in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on Friday at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. Weber’s second interception with 1:13 left in the game sealed North Dakota State’s 10th trip in 12 years to Frisco, Texas, for the FCS national championship game, where the Bison (12-2) will play either No. 4 seed Montana State or No. 1 seed South Dakota State on Sunday, Jan. 8.
 
Incarnate Word (12-2) jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter, but NDSU took a 17-16 lead before halftime with a 27-yard Griffin Crosa field goal, Johnson’s 4-yard touchdown run and Cam Miller’s 2-yard TD run. Johnson’s 49-yard TD run in the third quarter gave the Bison their biggest lead of the night, 24-16. UIW responded with a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by quarterback Lindsay Scott’s 1-yard run,a nd Scott added another 1-yard TD run on the Cardinals’ next drive to give UIW a 29-24 lead. The teams traded field goals with Crosa connecting from a career-long 47 yards and UIW’s Carson Mohr converting a 41-yarder to keep the Cardinals ahead 32-27 with 9:38 to play. Johnson’s 31-yard touchdown run put NDSU ahead with 8:11 left, and wide receiver Braylon Henderson tossed a two-point conversion pass to tight end Joe Stoffel for a 35-32 lead.
 
Johnson averaged 9.1 yards on 15 carries for the Bison and Miller finished with a career-high 18 carries and 132 yards on the ground. North Dakota State rushed for 328 yards and averaged 6.8 yards on 48 carries. Scott accounted for 362 of Incarnate Word’s 539 total yards. He went 30 of 46 passing for 282 yards and carried 21 times for 80 yards. UIW’s Marcus Cooper had 20 carries for 112 yards and Taylor Grimes made seven receptions for 77 yards. Safety Michael Tutsie and linebacker James Kaczor each made 13 tackles to lead the Bison defense, defensive end Spencer Waege had two sacks plus a third tackle for loss and one forced fumble, and cornerback Destin Talbert had two pass breakups. UIW linebacker Isaiah Paul made a game-high 14 tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and safety Kaleb Culp added 11 tackles for the Cardinals.
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HOT TOTS-SCHEDULE
 
MINOT, ND – The Minot Hot Tots have announced the schedule for their inaugural season. It begins at home on May 29th and 30th against St. Cloud. The Hot Tots first roadtrip is May 31st through Jun 3rd to Mankato and Duluth. The regular season concludes August 12th at Bismarck. The Minot Hot Tots are part of the Northwoods League and will play in the Great Plains Division. Home games will be at Corbett Field.
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WOLVES-THUNDER
 
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Naz Reid scored a season-high 28 points and the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-110 to snap a three-game losing streak. Austin Rivers had 20 points and Anthony Edwards added 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves. Minnesota was without injured starters Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and Josh Giddey added 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Thunder. Oklahoma City lost its fifth straight.
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WILD-BLACKHAWKS
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Mats Zuccarello had three goals and an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots as the Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 for their fourth straight win. Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Sam Steel added two assists as Minnesota’s top line continued its high-scoring ways. The trio has combined for 19 goals since the 24-year-old Steel was first matched with Kaprizov and Zuccarello on the top line 13 games ago. The Wild are 10-3-0 in that stretch. Jonathan Toews scored his 10th goal of the season and Petr Mrazek had 18 saves for Chicago, which has lost six straight — all in regulation — and 14 of 15 overall (1-13-1).
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TWINS-GALLO
 
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Joey Gallo and the Twins agreed to an $11 million, one-year contract, a deal that gives Minnesota another left-handed hitting outfielder. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical. A two-time All-Star with Texas, Gallo looked lost at the plate last year with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, who acquired him at the Aug. 2 trade deadline. He hit .160 with 19 homers and 47 RBIs, striking out 163 times in 350 at-bats.
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TWINS-VAZQUEZ
 
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Having won a pair of World Series titles, Christian Vázquez hopes to win another with the Minnesota Twins. The 32-year-old Vázquez, who gets annual salaries of $10 million, played for Boston from 2014 until Aug. 1, when he was traded to Houston. He won titles with the Red Sox in 2018 and with the Astros this season. He hit .274 with nine homers and 52 RBIs in 119 games this year and appeared in six postseason games, batting .235 with three RBIs. Vázquez was the catcher in World Series Game 4 when the Astros pitched a combined no-hitter.
 
 

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