> Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – No. 4-ranked Minnesota Duluth, one of the top rushing teams in the country, proved it again on Saturday night, rushing for 462 yards to earn a 38-7 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football at Malosky Stadium. The game was played in a steady rain that started in the second quarter.

UMD (3-0 NSIC) finished the game racking up 504 total yards with 27 first downs. A trio of UMD players finished with more than 100 yards rushing.

The victory for UMD is its eighth straight over SMSU since 2000 and is now 15-1-1 all-time in games played Duluth. The Bulldogs have scored 35 or more points in each of the last eight games in the series. UMD is also an impressive 46-1 in NSIC games at Malosky Stadium since 2000.

Logan Lauters finished the game with a game-high 154 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries, quarterback Drew Bauer rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, while Austin Sikorski added 103 yards and one score on 16 attempts.

SMSU (1-2 NSIC) was held to 253 yards of offense, including just 23 yards rushing. It was the first time SMSU was held to less than 50 yards rushing since Sept. 24, 2011.

SMSU's Charlie Kern completed 18 of 33 passes for 177 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Davontay Stevens rushed for a team-high 33 yards on seven carries, while Tyler Tonderum was limited to 31 yards on 12 rushes.

Ty Steffensen led SMSU receivers with five receptions for 45 yards, while Nathaniel Huot caught four passes for 58 yards and one touchdown.

UMD took advantage of a big special teams play to open the game's scoring. SMSU was forced to punt on its first possession and on the ensuing kick, UMD broke free and blocked Mike Wenk's punt to take over at the SMSU 8-yard line. Two plays later, Lauters scored from four yards out to take a 7-0 advantage with 13 minutes and 22 second left in the first.

Following punts by both teams, SMSU tied the game up with an impressive seven-play drive. Kern started the drive with a 12-yard pass to Steffensen moving the ball to the 50-yard line. Later in the drive, facing third-and-four from the UMD 33-yard line, Kern connected with Huot on a touchdown pass – the first score of his career – to tie the game at 7-7, midway through the quarter.

UMD answered right back with an impressive 70-yard drive to regain the lead. The Bulldogs converted a pair of third-down conversions on the drive, including Bauer connecting with Nate Ricci on a 16-yard touchdown pass on third-and-eight. UMD converted the two-point conversion to make the score 15-6 with 3:41 on the clock.

SMSU picked up three first downs on its next possession, but the drive stalled near mid field forcing a punt. Wenk pinned UMD inside the 10-yard line, but the Bulldogs countered with a 12-play, 83-yard drive capped by a 25-yard field goal by Andrew Brees early in the second quarter to make the score 18-7.

Both squads struggled moving the ball the remainder of the second quarter with SMSU picking up just one first down in the quarter, while UMD had just three in its last three drives to take an 18-7 lead into halftime.

The SMSU defense forced a punt on UMD's first drive of the second half and took over at its own 37-yard line. Following a first down near midfield, Kern fumbled the snap and UMD recovered at the SMSU 46-yard line. Five plays later, the NSIC North Division Preseason Player of the Year, Sikorski, broke free on a 20-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 24-7 following a missed PAT.

SMSU countered with its longest drive of the game, picking up five first downs, moving 66 yards on 14 plays, down to the UMD 2-yard line. The UMD defense held strong and forced SMSU to turn the ball over on downs to maintain the 17-point lead.

UMD then put the game away with a 10-play, 96-yard drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by Bauer to make the score 31-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Casey Hertz recorded a team-high 10 tackles, with Tyler Flud and Jared Twedt each adding eight tackles apiece.

SMSU played the contest without the services of three starters on defense – AJ Page, Donovan Woods and Blake Pennock – who all missed the game with injuries.

Southwest Minnesota State returns home next Saturday, Sept. 27, to face Northern State (1-2) for the annual Ag Bowl, with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. at the Schwan Regional Event Center.