Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State racked up 715 yards of offense—the second highest in school history—while two SMSU players tied or set a school record in earning a 59-41 homecoming victory over Upper Iowa on Saturday night at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
SMSU true freshman running back Isley Carrington, playing in his first career game, rushed for a game-high 181 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries, setting a school single-game record for average yards per rush at 16.5. SMSU quarterback Blake Gimbel tied his own school record with 42 pass completions on 53 attempts, while passing for 436 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Gimbel set the record of 42 completions last season which also came versus Upper Iowa.
 
The 715 yards of offense (482 passing-233 rushing) ranks second all-time behind the team's school record of 828 set versus Sioux Falls in 2013.
 
SMSU picked up its third straight win tonight and improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in NSIC South Division play. UIU drops to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC South.
 
SMSU's Nate Huot caught a team-high 11 passes for a career-high 182 yards and two touchdowns, while Ty Steffensen finished with eight receptions for 48 yards.
 
The SMSU defense forced five turnovers in the game, including four interceptions. It was the first time the team had four interceptions since the 2009 season versus Black Hills State. Michael Everett racked up a career-high 12 tackles for the Mustangs tonight and also had one tackle for loss and one interception. Tyler Flud added 11 tackles, while Gene Germain had nine stops and one interception.
 
UIU's Dimitri Morales completed 42 of 64 pass attempts for 388 yards and four touchdowns, but was intercepted four times. Jalen Amis caught a game-high 13 passes for 134 yards for the Peacocks, while teammate Derrick Portis rushed for 143 yards and two scores on 20 attempts.
 
The teams put together an explosive opening quarter combining for 35 points and more than 300 yards of offense.
 
SMSU opened the scoring on the game's first drive moving 74 yards on seven plays with Max Simmons closing the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 12 minutes and 59 seconds remaining.
 
UIU followed the score with an 83-yard kickoff return setting up the Peacock offense at the SMSU 14-yard line. Just two plays later Portis scored on a 1-yard run to tie the score at 7-7 with 12:16 left in the first.
 
Following punts by both teams, SMSU used some trickery to regain the lead. Simmons took a backwards toss from Gimbel and threw a perfect pass to Nate Huot for a 46-yard touchdown pass making the scoring 14-7 midway through the first quarter.
 
SMSU's Kevin Rubin forced a fumble near midfield on UIU's next drive and the ball was recovered by SMSU's Caleb Leichtnam. Just three plays later, Gimbel completed a 36-yard touchdown strike to Huot to push the lead to 21-7.
 
UIU answered on its next drive with a 27-yard pass from Morales to Skyler Lehman to cut the SMSU lead to 21-14 with 4:10 remaining in the quarter.
 
SMSU would add to the lead in the second quarter, moving the ball to the UIU 3-yard line, but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Austin Wells. The drive consumed six minutes and 27 seconds—the longest time of possession scoring drive by SMSU this season.
 
SMSU would look to add to the lead later in the half, but was stopped on fourth-and-one from the UIU 44-yard line with 2:00 remaining. UIU took advantage of the stop on downs and trimmed the deficit on a 32-yard touchdown run by Portis with 1:09 left sending the game into halftime with SMSU on top 24-20.
 
The Mustang defense started the second half with two huge turnovers to spark a pair of SMSU touchdown drives. Germain intercepted a Morales pass near midfield on the first drive of the half, and six plays later Gimbel found Gabriel Galamue on a 19-yard touchdown pass to make the score 31-20.
 
Morales was intercepted on the next drive—this time by Caleb Leichtnam—setting up the Mustang offense at the Peacock 37-yard line. Following a pair of completions to Raphael Lawson-Gayle down to the UIU 7-yard line, Carrington plowed through for a touchdown run to extend the margin to 38-20.
 
UIU would score late in the third quarter to make the score 38-27, but SMSU countered with its own touchdown drive, keyed by a pair of third-down conversions to keep the drive alive. Gimbel finished out the drive on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Davion Shelton to give SMSU back an 18-point lead at 45-27 early in the fourth.
 
Carrington would later add a pair of long touchdown runs—one from 64 yards and another from 55 yards—to close out the SMSU scoring.
 
SMSU has now scored 35 or more points in all five games this season and has reached 42 or more in four of five games.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will next face undefeated and nationally ranked University of Sioux Falls next Saturday, Oct. 8, in Sioux Falls with the showdown starting at 6 p.m.