Football gives Miller first win at Hamline

Hamline (1-0) forced four Cougar fumbles and picked off two passes.  The defense set up the first Hamline score of the game early in the second quarter.  With Hamline trailing 6-3, sophomore linebacker Paul Klees forced and recovered a fumble at the Morris 15-yard line. Five plays later, Ganske rushed in from 2 yards out to give the Pipers a 10-6 lead with 11:58 left in the second quarter.

The scored remained 10-6 until late in the third quarter when the Piper defense set up another score. After recovering a fumble at the Morris 23-yard line, Ganske scored from 1 yard out. The extra point made it 17-6 with 3:29 remaining in the quarter.

Ganske added his third touchdown on the last play of the quarter - a 50 yard scamper - to make the score 24-6. UM-Morris (0-2) would add a safety in the fourth quarter for the game's final tally.

Ganske finished with 74 rushing yards on 13 carries. He also caught five passes for 16 yards. Junior running back Ben Dahmes rushed for 53 yards on 10 carries.

Sophomore quarterback Andrew Seymour, making his first career start, was 16 of 32 passing for 155 yards.  He also rushed for 64 yards.

Junior tight end Jeff Hanger caught four passes for 70 yards.

The Pipers fell behind early in the contest. On the second play from scrimmage, Jeff Karschnik found Ryan Stoick for an 83 yard touchdown.

But that turned out to be the Cougars best drive of the game. Hamline limited Morris to 201 yards of offense the rest of the way. Hamline outgained Morris 370-281 in the game. The -13 yards rushing for the Cougars is the fewest rushing yards allowed by the Pipers in school history.

Sophomore Chris Cushenberry and senior Tyler Schultz each led the defense with six tackles. Schultz also added an interception.

The Pipers will open up conference play next Saturday when they host Gustavus.  Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.