Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State put together a strong defensive performance and used a potent offensive attack to earn a 35-7 victory over Northern State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday night at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
SMSU, which improves to 4-4 overall, built a 28-0 lead late in the third quarter and held NSU (2-6) to 4 of 15 on third down conversions and 0 for 6 on fourth down. It's the second time SMSU held an opponent to less than 10 points in the last three weeks.
 
The Mustang offense rolled up a season-high 556 yards of offense with 29 first downs. Blake Gimbel completed 29 of 42 passes for 449 yards and two touchdowns for SMSU. Gimbel's top target was Daniel Davis, who finished with 10 receptions for a career-high 162 yards, while Connor Wilkie caught six passes for a career-high 85 yards and one touchdown.
 
SMSU, which amassed just eight yards rushing on 16 attempts through three quarters, finished the game with 110 yards on 34 attempts. Arthur Cox finished with a game-high 67 yards on nine carries—all in the fourth quarter. Hudson Walton added 49 yards rushing on 11 carries.
 
Mustang senior linebacker Shane Ratkovich led the SMSU defense with 13 tackles, including three for loss and one sack. Fellow senior linebacker Alex Ney recorded 12 tackles, with 1.5 for loss and one pass break-up.
 
NSU finished the game with 360 yards of offense, including 135 on the ground. Gerald Maxwell rushed for a team-high 53 yards on 13 carries for the Wolves. Quarterback Hunter Trautman completed 14 of 30 pass attempts for 185 yards and one touchdown.
 
SMSU put together an impressive drive to open the game to score the game's first points. The Mustangs moved 75 yards on 17 plays with Walton capping the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. SMSU converted a pair of third-and-long plays and also one fourth-down conversion to keep the drive alive. The key play was a Gimbel to Carter Kirk 25-yard completion on third-and-21 from the NSU 35-yard line.
 
Both defensive units took over the remainder of the half with the Wolves coming through with a big turnover to end a Mustang scoring threat. SMSU drove late in the half to the NSU 19-yard line, but on first down, Gimbel's swing pass was intercepted by NSU's T.J. Roberts.
 
NSU moved the ball on the ensuing drive to the SMSU 30-yard line, but a dropped pass on fourth down closed the scoring threat to keep the Wolves scoreless.
 
It was the first time SMSU kept an opponent scoreless in a first half since Oct. 8, 2011.
 
NSU opened the second half with a punt and the SMSU took advantage to add to the lead. The Mustangs moved quickly down the field, covering 82 yards in six plays, with Gimbel completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Wilkie to make the score 14-0 with 9:56 left in the third.
 
The Wolves turned the ball over on down on their next possession and just two plays into the next drive, Gimbel found Chance Nelson for a 60-yard touchdown to extend the advantage to 21-0 at the 6:05 mark.
 
The SMSU defense once again stuffed NSU on fourth-and-1 from the Mustang 31-yard line to give the ball back to the SMSU offense. Gimbel completed three straight passes—two to Davis and one to Bailey Olson—to move the ball to the NSU 3-yard line. On the next play, Olson took a direct snap and crossed the goal line for a touchdown to make the score 28-0 late in the third quarter.
 
The Wolves used their biggest play of the night—a 50-yard run by Dakota Larson—to set up their only score of the game as Trautman completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Streit with 1:23 left in the third to cut the deficit to 28-7.
 
SMSU was forced to punt on its next drive, giving NSU one more chance to stay in the game, but the Wolves were stopped on fourth-and-one from the SMSU 41-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
 
SMSU then put the game away with a 59-yard, 10-play drive, that took five minutes off the clock, with Olson once again taking the snap and sprinting four yards for a touchdown midway through the final quarter.
 
Southwest Minnesota State returns to NSIC South Division play next Saturday, Oct. 27, with a "Battle for the Sledge" trophy game at Winona State (5-3) starting a 1 p.m.