> Game Box

BISMARCK, N.D. – Jake East caught a 16-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lift the University of Mary to a come-from-behind 19-18 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday at the MDU Resources Bowl. It was the season opener for both teams.
 
The touchdown capped a furious rally by the Marauders in the fourth quarter after trailing 18-3 early in the fourth quarter. The key play on the winning drive was a 25-yard pass completion by Zac Roberson to VaShawn Pope on fourth-and-five from the SMSU 41-yard line. On the next play Roberson connected with East for the winning score to give SMSU its fourth straight opening season loss.
 
SMSU finished with 385 yards of offense, including 118 on the ground. Tyler Tonderum led SMSU with 82 yards rushing on 24 carries and one touchdown. Charlie Kern completed 28 of 44 passes for 267 yards and also rushed for one touchdown. Kevin Parks, playing in his first game at SMSU, caught six passes for 156 yards.
 
U-Mary, which was held to just 257 yards of offense through three quarters, came to life in the final quarter with 176 yards, including scoring drives of 70 and 80 yards.           
 
The SMSU offense struggled in its first two drives of the game, going three-and-out on both possessions. Following the second punt, U-Mary took over at its own 44-yard line. The Marauder offense picked up three first downs, moving the ball down to the SMSU 6-yard line, setting up first-and-goal. The SMSU defense held strong and forced U-Mary to settle for a Brody Riggs 20-yard field goal with six minutes and eight seconds left in the first quarter.
 
The SMSU offense picked up a first down on its ensuing drive, but once again was forced to punt. U-Mary also failed to move the ball on its next drive and following a punt, SMSU took over from its own 42-yard line. SMSU then produced its first scoring drive of the season, moving 58 yards on six plays with Charlie Kern closing the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run on third-and-five to give SMSU a 7-3 lead with 1:27 left in the first quarter.
 
U-Mary moved the ball down to the SMSU 28-yard line, but the Mustang defense forced the Marauders to turn the ball over on downs, setting up the next SMSU touchdown.
 
On the SMSU's first play on its next possession, Kern connected on a 47-yard pass to Kevin Park to move the ball down to the U-Mary 25-yard line. Tyler Tonderum picked up a key 8-yard run on third-and-one from the 16-yard line to keep the drive alive. Moments later, Tonderum broke free for a 9-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 13-3 with 12:18 on the clock, following a missed PAT.
 
Neither team was able to move the ball for much of the second quarter as both defensive units came up with big plays – but none bigger than the SMSU stop in the closing seconds of the half. U-Mary took over from the SMSU 28-yard line with 28 seconds left in the first half with one timeout. The Marauders moved the ball down to the 3-yard line following a 25-yard pass, to set up first-and-goal. Following a 2-yard rush, U-Mary was forced to call its final timeout with six seconds remaining with the ball at the 1-yard line. SMSU then stuffed U-Mary quarterback Zac Roberson for no gain on the final play of the half to keep SMSU with a 10-point lead into halftime.
 
SMSU had two great chances to add to the lead in the third quarter, but came up twice inside the U-Mary 20-yard line.  SMSU's first drive of the half ended with interception at the U-Mary 14-yard line, while on its second drive SMSU was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to keep the score at 13-3.
 
Following the stop at the 1-yard line, the SMSU defense held U-Mary to just one yard on the ensuing drive forcing a punt from the end zone. The SMSU special teams came through as the punt attempt was blocked with the ball rolling out of the end zone for a safety to push the lead to 15-3 with 3:46 left in the third quarter.
 
SMSU added to the lead euarly in the fourth quarter as Mike Wenk booted a 35-yard field goal to extend the lead to 18-3.  
 
U-Mary needed a big play to get back into the game and it received it on the ensuing kickoff as Elby Pope broke free for a 47-yard kickoff return setting up a short field for the U-Mary offense. The Marauders took advantage four plays later as Nick Jolliffe caught a 20-yard touchdown pass with 12:13 remaining. The hold on the PAT attempt was dropped keeping the score at 18-9.
 
SMSU moved the ball on its next drive down to the U-Mary 23-yard line, but a rush for no gain and three incomplete passes turned the ball over midway through the quarter.
 
U-Mary answered on the its next drive, moving the ball to the SMSU 3-yard line, but again the SMSU defense held strong and forced a 25-yard field goal by Riggs with 4:52 remaining to make the score 18-12.
 
SMSU picked up a huge third-down conversion on its next drive, with Kern connecting on a 47-yard pass to Parks on third-and-five from the SMSU 30-yard line, giving the Mustangs a first down at the U-Maryh 23-yard line. But for the second straight drive, SMSU failed to capitalized and was forced to setup for a field goal attempt from 41 yards out. SMSU attempted a fake field goal, but Adam Olson was stopped short of the first down marker, giving U-Mary the ball at the 20-yard line and setting up the game-winning drive.
 
Wenk had a big day on special teams, finishing with seven punts for a total of 346 yards and a 49.4 average, including a 64-yard punt. He also had three punts inside the 20-yard line.
 
Tyler Flud and Casey Hertz led the SMSU defense with 13 tackles apiece.   
 
Southwest Minnesota State opens its six-game home season next Saturday night taking on Minnesota Crookston (0-1) with kickoff set for 6 p.m. at the Schwan Regional Event Center.