Box Score

MARSHALL, MINN. - Derek Townsend broke away from Northern State defenders on a slant and scored a 60-yard touchdown pass from Josh Shudlick with 1:38 left in the game to give Southwest Minnesota State a 39-32 win over Northern State on Saturday in Marshall.  The win for SMSU snapped a 16-game losing streak to NSU.  The Mustangs had not defeated the Wolves since 1991.

The win also brought SMSU back to .500 at 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the NSIC.  Southwest has not had a winning season since 1999.  The loss for Northern drops the Wolves to 1-9 overall and 1-8 in the NSIC.  The Mustangs travel to Minnesota State Moorhead next Saturday, Nov. 8 for that chance at a winning season.

The game was dominated by SMSU in the first half as the Mustangs scored on four of its first five possessions in taking a 28-0 lead with 4:17 left in the opening half.  

SMSU scored on the game's opening drive moving the ball 55 yards in nine plays with Zach Wysong finishing off the drive with a nine-yard run to give SMSU a 7-0 lead with 10:23 left in the opening quarter.

SMSU scored again on its next possession as Shudlick connected with Blake Wilson with an eight-yard touchdown pass and catch to push the lead to 14-0 with 4:29 left in the opening quarter.

The Mustangs then continued its offensive onslaught in the second quarter as Shudlick passed for two more touchdowns, one to Bret Ballantine and the other to Townsend to push the lead to 28-0 late in the half. 

Following another NSU punt with under a minute left in the first half, its fourth of the opening half, SMSU had the ball with 53 seconds left in the half looking to extend its lead but Northern State's Jim Green intercepted Shudlick at the SMSU 42-yard line to set up the NSU offense.  NSU responded in just two plays and scored on a 29-yard touchdown pass to trim the SMSU lead to 28-7 at halftime.

Northern State came out of the halftime break and scored again to cut the lead to 28-14 with 11:23 left in the third before SMSU answered back with a Scott Talcott 28-yard field goal to push the margin to 31-14 with 7:05 left in the third.

The Northern State offense though was unstoppable in its next three possessions scoring three more times and took its first lead of the game with 7:15 left in the fourth quarter on a John Migdal 17-yard pass reception on fourth and seven from quarterback Eric Ellingson.  The two-point try failed, the second time in the game NSU failed to convert on a two-point play, and the score remained NSU 32-31.

SMSU took over at its own 28-yard line with 7:07 left in the game and drove the ball down to the NSU 25-yard line but on fourth and five from the 25-yard line Shudlick had his passed tipped at the line of scrimmage and the Wolves took over with 3:14 left in regulation.

The Mustang defense then picked a great time for its first three-and-out of the second half as SMSU forced NSU to punt with just over two minutes left in the game.

SMSU took over at its own 29-yard line with 2:09 remaining and on second down Shudlick completed an 11-yard pass to Townsend to the SMSU 40-yard line.  Following an incomplete pass, Shudlick found Townsend open again across the middle and junior wide out raced down the middle of the field to score the go-ahead touchdown with 1:38 on the clock.  Shudlick then found Wysong open in the end zone for the two-point conversion to give SMSU a 39-32 lead.

NSU picked up back-to-back first down on its first two plays of the next drive and had first down at the SMSU 34-yard line but two pass completions, a rush for a loss of one and another incomplete pass ended the threat and gave SMSU the seven-point victory.

The win was SMSU's fourth this season when either tied or trailing in the fourth quarter.  SMSU also reached the 30-point mark for the fifth time this season becoming the first Mustang team to do so since the 1991 season.

Shudlick completed 31 of 42 passes for 415 yards and tied a career-high with four touchdown passes.  It was his second 400-yard passing game of the season and his 11th 300-yard plus passing game of his career tying him for the second most in school history with Steve Elzenga.  Jeff Loots holds the record with 19 300-yard passing games.

Wysong rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 24 attempts and caught six passes for 34 yards.  Brett Ballantine also had six receptions for 99 yards.  Wilson caught five passes for 77 yards and score while Townsend finished with four catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns.

Derek Klinkner recorded a game-high nine tackles for the Mustang defense including 2.5 for loss.  Aaron Diggs racked up eight stops including one sack.

The game was the final home game for 13 Mustang senior players.

SMSU will conclude the 2008 season and its winning season next Saturday, Nov. 8 at MSU Moorhead with kickoff at 1 p.m.  SMSU hasn't beated MSUM since the 2004 season.