Box Score

MANKATO, Minn. – No. 4 ranked Minnesota State used several big plays on offense, defense and special teams in the third quarter, leading to 21 points and an eventually 54-7 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Thursday night at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
MSU, which improves to 8-0 overall, 4-0 NSIC South, finished with 541 yards of offense, including 347 on the ground. The Mavericks entered the game with the second ranked rush offense in Division II while also ranking fifth in total offense and sixth in scoring offense.
 
SMSU dropped its fifth straight game and is now 2-6 overall, 0-4 NSIC South. SMSU has failed to reach double figure scoring in three straight games—the first time since the 1995 season.   
 
SMSU quarterback Boyer Bouman made his first career start and completed 22 of 38 pass attempts for 133 yards. He is the third Mustang quarterback to start a game this season.
 
Max Simmons gained 73 yards rushing and one touchdown on five attempts for the Mustangs while Nate Huot caught a game-high eight passes for 53 yards.
 
SMSU closed the game with 240 yards of offense with 12 first downs.
 
Justin Taormina rushed for a game-high 154 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries to pace the Mavericks offensive attack. Ryan Schlichte completed 9 of 18 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
 
MSU took the opening drive of the game and moved 63 yards on 13 plays before the SMSU defense forced the Mavericks to settle for a Casey Bednarski 19-yard field goal with 9:46 left in the first quarter.
 
Following an SMSU punt on its opening possession, MSU put together a 54-yard, seven-play with Schlichte closing the drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Shane Zylstra on third-and-18.
 
SMSU used a 27-yard kickoff return by Chris Bain on the ensuing kickoff to set up the Mustang offense at the MSU 40-yard line. SMSU picked up a pair of first downs but eventually stalled at the 17-yard line. Sklyer Crew missed a 34-yard field goal—his first miss in seven attempts this season—to keep MSU with a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play.
 
The SMSU defense came up big on the next MSU drive as Alex Ney forced a fumble and eventually recovered the ball setting up the Mustang offense at its own 41-yard line. The Mustang defense entered the game ranked 24^th in the country with 16 turnovers gained. SMSU couldn't take advantage of the turnover and was forced to punt four plays later.
 
The MSU offense, which entered the game with the second ranked rushing attack in Division II, put together an impressive 16-play, 71-yard drive to add to its lead. The SMSU defense held strong again and forced MSU to record a 27-yard field goal by Bednarski.
 
Following punts by both teams, the SMSU offense put together a pair of first downs moving the ball inside the MSU 40-yard line. The drive stalled however as facing fourth-and-two from the MSU 39-yard line, Bouman was stopped short of the first down.
 
MSU quickly countered with a five-play drive and made the score 16-0 as time expired in the half on a 51-yard field goal by Bednarski. Bednarski, who has now made 12 field goals this season, booted a 63-yard field goal earlier this season.
 
MSU finished with 287 yards in the opening half while SMSU was limited to 75 yards.
 
SMSU opened the second half with a strong drive, picking up four first downs and facing first-and-goal at the MSU 10-yards line. Following an incomplete pass and a pair of runs to the 1-yard line, SMSU was stopped on fourth-and-goal keeping the Mavericks with a 16-point lead.
 
Just one play later, Taormina broke free for an 89-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 23-0 with 9:40 left in the third quarter.
 
Following an SMSU punt, Justin Arnold connected on a 39-yard pass to Zylstra down to the SMSU 2-yard line. One play later, JD Ekowa found Zylstra for a touchdown pass to extend the margin to 30-0.
 
On SMSU's next drive, Austin Wells' punt was blocked and recovered by MSU at the SMSU 4-yard line. Three plays later Schlichte found Tyler Schmidt for a 3-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal to make the score 37-0.
 
Later in the third, the Mavericks blocked another punt and took over at the Mustang 1-yard line. Jace Franklin scored moments later to build a 44-0 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.
 
Following an Ekowa 38-yard touchdown run with 11:52 left in the game, SMSU answered with its lone touchdown of the game. Simmons rushed five straight times for 73 yards including a 15-yard touchdown with 9:01 left in the quarter.
 
Ney racked up a game-high 15 tackles including two for loss to lead the Mustangs defense.
 
Southwest Minnesota State returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 28, taking on Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa, starting at 2:07 p.m.