Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Ashanti Payne rushed for a career-high 154 yards with a career-high three touchdowns on a career-high 30 carries to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a thrilling 28-20 Ag Bowl victory over Minot State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday night at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
Payne rushed for a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to rally the Mustangs from a 20-14 halftime deficit. Teammate Max Simmons added 124 yards rushing and one touchdown on 24 carries as SMSU improves to 2-1 on the season. SMSU closed the game rushing for a season-high 272 yards on 55 attempts and finished the game with 421 yards of total offense.
 
Minot State (0-3) was led by Larry Overstreet's 69 yards rushing and one touchdowns on 20 carries. Zac Cunha completed 15 of 33 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns but was also intercepted twice in the fourth quarter. MISU recorded 367 total yards of offense including 135 on the ground.
 
SMSU quarterback Blake Gimbel started the contest, completing 6 of 7 passes for 54 yards, but left the game in the first quarter with an injury and did not return. Connor Wilkie entered the game and finished 13 for 21 for 95 yards with one interception.
 
Michael Rivera caught a career-high seven passes for a career-high 72 yards to lead the SMSU receiving corps. Nate Huot had four receptions for 28 yards and now has amassed 203 career receptions, ranking third in NSIC history. He is seven catches shy of tying the conference career record.
 
The Mustang defense was led by Michael Griffin and Alex Ney who both recorded 10 tackles while Webb Bolstad added five tackles with two for loss and one sack.
 
SMSU took the game's opening drive and moved down to the MISU 1-yard, but Payne was stuffed on fourth-and-goal ending the scoring threat.
 
The SMSU defense forced a three-and-out on MISU's opening possession, setting the SMSU offense at the MISU 47-yard.
 
The Mustangs were able to take advantage of the short field, using nine rush attempts by Simmons, to score the game's first points. SMSU converted a pair of fourth-and-one situations, during the drive including a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line as Simmons plowed across with 4:46 left in the opening quarter to give SMSU a 7-0 lead following Skyler Crew's PAT.
 
MISU went three-and-out on its next drive, but on SMSU's first play from scrimmage, Wilkie's first pass of the game was intercepted near midfield.
 
The Beavers took advantage of the turnover as Cunha tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Leroy Arnold to tie the game late in the first quarter.
 
MISU took its first lead of the game early in the second quarter as Cunha completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Lavante Bushnell on third-and-seven to make the score 14-7 with 10:26 left in the half.
 
SMSU answered on its next drive with a nine-play, 55-yard drive closed off by a 6-yard touchdown run by Payne to tie the score at 14 midway through the quarter.
 
The game wasn't tied for long as MISU countered with a 10-play, 76-yard drive as Overstreet scored on a 2-yard run with 2:33 remaining to make the score 20-14, following a missed PAT heading into halftime.
 
The game remained 20-14 late in the third quarter before SMSU put together the go-ahead touchdown drive starting near midfield. Simmons picked up a key first down with a 13-yard run on third-and-five from the MISU 46-yard line. Following another Simmons first down run two plays later, Payne rushed four straight times capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 20-20. Crew booted the PAT through the up-rights and SMSU regained a 21-20 lead with 12:39 left in the fourth.
 
Both teams traded punts before the SMSU defense came through with a big fourth-down stop. Facing fourth-and-one from the SMSU 36-yard line, Overstreet was stopped short of the first down marker by Alex Werner giving the Mustangs the ball at the their own 36-yard line with 7:02 remaining.
 
On the ensuing drive, Wilkie found Rivera for a 25-yard reception on third-and-11 moving the ball to the MISU 40-yard line. Payne then reeled off runs of 11, 4 and 5 yards, before breaking free on a 20-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 28-20 with 2:48 remaining in the game.
 
SMSU's Adam Elliott intercepted Cunha on the ensuing MISU drive, but SMSU was forced to punt with less than two minutes remaining giving the Beavers one more chance to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
 
MISU picked up four first downs, setting up first-and-10 at the SMSU 20-yard line with 35 seconds remaining. Following two incompletions and a nine-yard reception, moving the ball to the 11-yard with five seconds left, Cunha was intercepted at the 1-yard line by true freshman Lucas Fisher to seal the victory for SMSU.
 
Southwest Minnesota State closes action with NSIC North Division foes next Saturday, Sept. 23, taking on Bemidji State (1-2) at 2 p.m. in Bemidji, Minnesota.