Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. - MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State snapped a three-game losing streak with a hard-fought 28-14 victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday afternoon at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
SMSU finished the game with a school record 70 rushing attempts and closed the game with a season-high 312 yards on the ground. The previous single-game record was 69 rush attempts set during the 1973 season.
 
SMSU's Hudson Walton rushed for a career-high 145 yards and one touchdown on 26 carriers, with all coming in the second half. Walton replaced an injured Max Simmons, who gained 138 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries in the first half.
 
Walton, a linebacker during the first month and a half of the season, moved to running back in late September due to a rash of injuries to Mustang running backs.
 
SMSU (5-4, 2-3 NSIC South) finished the game with 434 yards of total offense with 23 first downs.
 
The SMSU defense was outstanding limiting CSP (2-7, 0-5 NSIC South) to just 284 yards of offense on 71 plays with just 13 first downs and also forced a pair of turnovers. CSP was held to 17 yards in the third quarter and just 90 yards total in the second half. SMSU also racked up a season-high four sacks.
 
Walton and Simmons are second SMSU duo to each rush for 100-yards in a game this season. Simmons and Divonte Beale each rushed for 100 yards in a victory over U-Mary on Sept. 17.
 
SMSU quarterback Blake Gimbel attempted just 17 passes, completing nine for 122 yards and one touchdown.
 
SMSU jumped on the board quickly scoring a touchdown on its opening drive of the game. Simmons capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes and 48 seconds remaining to finish off a 10-play, 62-yard drive, which included eight rushes by Simmons.
 
Following punts by both teams, the SMSU defense came up with the game's first big play, stuffing CSP on fourth-and-one from the CSP 35-yard line. SMSU was able to take advantage of the short field six plays later as Blake Gimbel scrambled for a 13-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 14-0 with 4:35 remaining in the first quarter.
 
CSP cut the lead in half just over a minute later as Darius Chapes scored on a 3-yard run with 3:12 left in the first quarter to make the score 14-7.
 
On the next SMSU drive, Gimbel connected with Raphael Lawson-Gayle on a 21-yard pass to open the drive and Simmons followed with runs of 11 and 25 yards to move the ball to the CSP 14-yard line. Two plays later Gimbel found Huot for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 2:10 left in the first to push the lead to 21-7. The touchdown reception was the 24^th for Huot in his career moving him into sole possession of sixth place in the school record book.
 
The game remained a 14-point cushion for SMSU until late in the second quarter. CSP booted a field goal with 1:23 remaining, but on the kick, SMSU was flagged for a personal foul for leaping giving the Golden Bears a first down at the 3-yard line. Following an offensive holding penalty and a pair of incompletions, Ron Johnson completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Gustaveson with 1:02 left in the half to trim the SMSU lead to 21-14 at halftime.
 
SMSU had a chance to add to the lead midway through the third quarter but failed to convert on fourth-and-four from the CSP 8-yard line.
 
The SMSU defense forced three punts in the third quarter before the Mustang offense was able to break through for another touchdown. Facing third-and-five from the CSP 19-yard line, Walton broke free for a touchdown run to push the lead to 28-14 early in the fourth quarter.
 
The Mustang defense would later force a punt, force a fumble on a strip sack and turned the Golden Bears over on downs to seal the victory.
 
Tyler Flud had a monster game for the Mustangs, recording 10 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, one sack and one interception. Elijah McGeehan also reached double figures with a career-high 10 tackles with one for loss.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will play its final road game of the season next Saturday, Nov. 5, facing Winona State for the second annual "Battle for the Sledge" with kickoff set for 1 p.m.