FOREST CITY, Iowa --- Better mudders they truly are.

For the second time in two years, University of St. Francis played the role of pigs to perfection registering a shutout victory on a less-than-stellar field defeating Waldorf College (Iowa) 19-0 in a Mid-States Football Association - Midwest League contest Saturday afternoon.

One year ago, the Saints (3-6, 2-3) did much the same in the mud at Joliet Memorial Stadium posting a 21-0 season-opening victory over Valparaiso University (Ind.) at the end of a day-long storm that dumped four inches of rain on the field.

A drainage-tile problem, along with heavy rains over the previous 48 hour-period, left an over-saturated David Bolstorff Field turf on Saturday and all but grounded USF's aerial attack, which came into the contest ranked second in the league (259.5 yards per game).

Connor Krisch, however, could not be grounded.

Despite sinking into the field with each step and not being able to employ his patented east-west maneuverability, the 5-11, 224-lb. Krisch (Northern Illinois University/Plainfield, IL) still mushed his way to his second collegiate 200-yard rushing game in four weeks and his first three-touchdown game on Saturday.

"I played on some muddy fields, but nothing ever like that," said Krisch, who finished with an even 200 yards on 32 carries.  "That was like a swamp."

Krisch and company went right to work before the field conditions began to deteriorate marching 72 yards in seven plays on the their first possession with Krisch doing the brunt of the work.  He got the call on six of the plays for 63 yards, including a run of 33 yards to cap the drive.

Two series later, Waldorf (1-7, 0-4) had a golden opportunity to dent that deficit with a 43-yard punt return followed two plays later by a 13-yard quarterback scramble to set up a first-and-goal situation for the Warriors at the St. Francis five-yard line.  Waldorf never got any closer and then had its 25-yard field goal attempt sail wide right.

USF's defense also came up big early in the second quarter when Waldorf was on the march again with its triple-option attack only to have Guy Dragonetti (Rock Valley C.C./Waukesha, WI) pounce on a fumbled pitch deep in St. Francis territory. 

"Muddy fields are great equalizers and they were one play away from the game being tied," said USF head coach Mike Uremovich, whose team only led 7-0 at the break against a team that was allowing 39.0 points per game.  "When a game is like, the defense has to play perfect and our defense did.  We put them in a couple of difficult situations, but they came through."

The shutout was the first of the year for the Saint defense, which limited Waldorf to 119 yards on the day and stopped the Warriors twice in the red zone.  Defensive coordinator Joe Curry's group also gained three turnovers on the day, including Stan Pheteau's (Rolling Meadows H.S./Arlington Heights, IL) first career interception. 

USF's offense took some of the pressure off its defense to start the second half opening with a quick four-play, 55-yard drive keyed again by Krisch with a near-identical run of 40 yards to his first-half touchdown followed by an eight-yard touchdown burst.

"At halftime, we just talked about executing better in the second half and our guys upfront just got it done, " continued Krisch.  "It all came down to the o-line with the conditions the way that they were and I just took the seam that they gave me and hit it running north and south."

Krisch added his third touchdown from two yards out late in the third quarter when the Saints used 10 plays and 5:34 of the clock to slosh 53 yards downfield.

"Our offensive line played well today," added Uremovich, whose team finished with 325 rushing yards on 56 carries leading to a 15-minute time-of-possession advantage.  "They played nine guys upfront with a cover zero knowing that we were going to run today and we were still able to rush for better than 300 yards.  That talks about the job our o-line did today."

The victory gave the Saints back-to-back wins for the first time this year.

"That's two down with a tough game against Quincy next week," said Uremovich, whose team is hoping to finish strong after a tough 1-6 start.  "We want to end the season on a good note with a chance at our first winning conference season."