Box Score
MARSHALL, Minn. – St. Cloud State rallied from a 26-17 halftime deficit with 24 unanswered points in the second half to earn a 41-26 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Thursday night at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
SCSU dominated time of possession, finishing with a 40:20 to 19:40 advantage and ran 82 plays compared to 58 for SMSU. SMSU was limited to just 107 yards of offense in the second half and had just three plays of offense in the third quarter.
 
SCSU used converted a huge fourth-down conversion late in the third quarter to key the comeback victory.
 
Joe Blando paced the Huskies with 163 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 38 carries. SCSU finished the game with 211 yards rushing on 53 attempts.
 
SCSU's Dwayne Lawhorn completed 18 of 29 pass attempts for 210 yards and one touchdown. John Solberg caught a team-high seven passes for 103 yards.
 
SMSU quarterback Blake Gimbel completed 25 of 39 passes for 285 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Nate Huot caught six passes for 111 yards and one touchdown, while Max Simmons finished with seven receptions for 71 yards and one touchdown.
 
SCSU closed the game with 421 yards of offense and 28 first downs, while SMSU finished with 319 yards and 19 first downs.
 
SMSU started the game's scoring on the opening drive of the game moving 87 yards on nine plays. Gimbel capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Simmons to give SMSU a 6-0 lead following a missed PAT.
 
SCSU cut the lead to 6-3 on a 38-yard field goal by Adam Stage with 4:03 remaining in the first quarter.
 
SMSU countered with another scoring drive—highlighted by a huge third-down conversion—from Gimbel to Nate Huot. Facing third-and-10 from the SMSU 36-yard line, Gimbel tossed a 51-yard strike to Huot down to the SCSU 13-yard line. Following an off-side penalty, Gimbel lofted an 8-yard touchdown pass to Huot to extend the lead to 13-3 late in the first quarter.
 
SCSU trimmed the lead to 13-10 early in the second quarter on a Lawhorn to Sam Hartman 16-yard touchdown pass.
 
After the SMSU offense punted on its next possession, the Mustang defense came through to add to the lead. Facing a third-and-24, Lawhorn was intercepted by Hunter Cushman at the SMSU 32-yard line and the junior cornerback, making his first career start, sprinted 68 yards to the end zone to make the score 19-10 midway through the second quarter. It was SMSU's first interception return for a touchdown since last season when Tyler Flud returned a pass at Minnesota Crookston.
 
SCSU answered on its next drive with an 86-yard, 12-play drive, closed off by a Blando 2-yard touchdown run with 1:42 remaining in the half, cutting the SMSU lead to 19-17.
 
SMSU was not finished and quickly answered with another touchdown drive to build a nine-point halftime lead. On the second play of the drive, Gimbel found Simmons for a 26-yard pass and catch to midfield. Following the play, SCSU was called for a personal foul, moving the ball to the 35-yard line. Just a few plays later, Simmons plowed across for a 1-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left in the half to make the score 26-17.
 
The SCSU comeback started in the third quarter as Stage booted a 30-yard field goal at the 8:57 mark to cut the deficit to 26-20.
 
The Huskie defense forced a three-and-out by the Mustang offense and took advantage to take its first lead of the game. SCSU moved the ball on the ensuing drive down to the SMSU 18-yard line, but a bad snap caused an 18-yard loss back to the SCSU 36-yard line. Two plays later, SCSU faced a fourth-and-22 from the 30-yard line, but Lawhorn fired a 27-yard completion to Solberg down to the 3-yard line. Three plays later, Blando scored on a 2-yard run to give the Huskies a 27-26 lead one play into the fourth quarter.
 
SMSU picked up one first down on its next drive, but again the SCSU defense stiffened and coaxed another punt by the Mustangs.
 
SCSU added to the lead eight plays later as Gregory Lewis scored on a 2-yard run with 9:33 remaining in the game to push the lead to 34-26.
 
The SCSU defense then came through in a big way on SMSU's next drive as Gimbel was pressured on third-and-5 and was intercepted by Carvel Graham, who returned the ball 42 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 41-26 and seal the victory.
 
Alex Ney led the SMSU defense with 20 tackles, including 11 solo stops.
 
Southwest Minnesota State hits the road next Thursday, Sept. 7, taking on MSU Moorhead for a 7:05 p.m. kickoff.