Box Score

>SMSU's Davontay Stevens post game

MARSHALL, Minn. - Southwest Minnesota State rushed for 317 yards—including 217 in the second half—to earn a hard-fought 33-28 victory over Winona State in the inaugural "Battle for the Sledge" trophy game on Saturday at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
SMSU finished the regular season 8-3 NSIC, good for fourth place tie in the 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. SMSU (4-3 NSIC South), ranked No. 9 in this week's NCAA Super Region 3 rankings, will hope for either an NCAA playoff bid or a possible spot in the Mineral Water Bowl. The official announcements will be released on Sunday.
 
The eight victories ties the 1990 team for the second most wins in program history and is a new school record for wins at the NCAA Division II level (since 1995).
 
SMSU senior running back Davontay Stevens rushed for a career-high 184 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries to pace the Mustang offense. Stevens finished the regular season with 1,066 yards—ranking as the third highest in team history. He is just the sixth player in team history to reach 1,000 yards in a single-season.
 
The Mustang offense finished the game with 502 yards of offense and held a commanding 38:45 to 21:15 time of possession advantage. WSU had the ball for just four minutes and 53 seconds and recorded just 97 yards in the second half. It was SMSU's sixth game this season amassing more than 500 yards in one game. SMSU, which ranks first in Division II in first downs, finished with 29 first downs.
 
Ashanti Payne also had a big game for SMSU rushing for 122 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries.
 
SMSU quarterback Blake Gimbel completed 16 of 29 passes for 185 yards with one touchdown. His top target was Nate Huot, who finished with six receptions for 79 yards.
 
WSU (5-6, 3-4 NSIC South) quarterback Jack Nelson completed 25 of 36 passes for two touchdowns and one interception. Paul Preston rushed for 137 yards on 17 carries and also caught three passes for 19 yards. Cameron Johnson led all receivers with 10 catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Caleb Leichtnam recorded a team-high nine tackles for SMSU, including two for loss. Tyler Flud added six tackles with one sack and also recorded a fumble recovery and forced a fumble.
 
On the game's opening drive, Winona State wide receiver Josh Mikes fumbled at the SMSU 22-yard line and was recovered by SMSU's Tyler Flud.
 
The Mustang offense took advantage of the turnover moving the ball 65 yards on nine plays with Stevens breaking free for a 25-yard touchdown run to give SMSU a 7-0 lead with eight minutes and 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
 
WSU quickly answered with a four-play, 67-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Eric Birth to tie the game at 7-7.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, SMSU regained the lead as Andrew McReynolds took the kickoff one-yard deep in the end zone and returned it 100 yards to make the score 14-7. It was the second 100-yard kickoff return in school history, tying Josh Schleusner's return versus Minnesota-Morris on Sept. 16, 2000.
 
WSU cut the deficit to 14-10 early in the second quarter on a school-record 59-yard field goal by Carter McCauley.
 
Following an interception on SMSU's next possession, WSU moved the ball inside the SMSU 20-yard line. But on third-and-four, Flud stopped the drive with a sack of Nelson, forcing McCauley to boot a 42-yard field goal to make the score 14-13 with 6:30 left in the second quarter.
 
SMSU added to the lead on its next drive as Gimbel capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Tommey Steidler to make the score 21-13.
 
WSU tied the game in the closing moments of the first half as Nelson tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Johnson and following the two-point conversion the teams were tied at 21-21 at the halftime break.
 
SMSU put together the first of several impressive, time-consuming drives to open the third quarter. The Mustangs moved 77 yards on 16 plays, taking 6:23 off the clock, with Stevens scoring on a 7-yard touchdown run to make the score 27-21, after a missed PAT.
 
The SMSU defense forced a three-and-out and answered with another scoring drive to expand the lead. Payne started the drive with a 55-yard run and then reeled off five more straight rushes, closed off with a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 33-21 with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
 
WSU used a 78-yard kickoff return on the ensuing kickoff to put together a scoring threat on its next drive. But on second-and-goal from the 9-yard line, Nelson's pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage by SMSU's AJ Page and teammate Gene Germain intercepted the pass at the SMSU 5-yard line.
 
SMSU then countered with one of its most impressive drives in recent memory. The Mustang offense ran off nearly 11 minutes off the clock, covering 74 yards on 19 plays. The drive stalled at the WSU 19-yard line as SMSU turned the ball over on downs. SMSU ran 14 rushing plays on the drive and converted two third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion.
 
WSU cut the deficit to 33-28 with 5:05 remaining on a Nelson 15-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, but that was as close as the Warriors would come.
 
WSU attempted an on-side kick, but the ball was recovered by SMSU as the WSU 44-yard line. Following a first down rush of 14 yards by Stevens, SMSU later faced a fourth-and-1 at the WSU 21-yard line. Stevens kept the drive alive with a 3-yard rush and later broke off a 12-yard run on third-and-12 from the WSU 20-yard line to seal SMSU's third straight victory over WSU.
 
Saturday's game was the final regular season game for 13 Mustang senior players. The seniors include Davontay Stevens, Andrew McReynolds, AJ Page, Donovan Woods, Kevin Parks, Jonathan Cross, Jared Twedt, Alex Burton, Randolph Givens, Joe Grant, Alan McCaulley, Quinn Bullard and Nathan Tiede.