Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State pushed its winning streak to three in a row with a 55-6 victory over Minnesota Crookston on Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
SMSU is now 3-3 overall, while UMC drops to 1-5 on the season.
 
The Mustang defense forced six turnovers and also blocked a pair of field goal attempts. SMSU has forced a combined 12 turnovers during the winning streak and has recorded three or more turnovers in four of six games on the season.
 
SMSU's Daniel Davis led the way tying a school single-game record with four touchdown receptions, while catching a game-high six passes for 134 yards.  He is the 10^th player in team history to record four receiving touchdowns in a game.
 
Mustang quarterback Blake Gimbel completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 280 yards and four touchdowns. During the contest he moved into sole possession of second in the SMSU career record book for passing yards. Gimbel, who ranks second in team history in passing touchdowns (74), has now passed for 8,754 yards. He is also the school's all-time leader in pass completions and completion percentage.
 
SMSU, which closed the game with a season-high 548 yards offense and also set a season-high with 28 first downs.
 
SMSU closed the game with 256 yards rushing with Hudson Walton finishing with a game-high 71 yards on 11 carries. Codie Meinen had 64 yards on three carries, which included a 52-yard touchdown run, while Max Simmons had 62 yards and one touchdown on 13 attempts.
 
UMC finished the game with 327 yards of offense and 18 first downs.
 
Tyshonn Woodard helped lead the Mustang defense with six tackles, including three for loss, while recovering a fumble and blocking a field goal. Alex Ney and Shane Ratkovich both finished with six tackles as the defense finished with three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.
 
The SMSU special teams made the first big play of the game as UMC's Jonattan Mudd fumbled a punt deep in UMC territory following SMSU's first possession and was recovered by SMSU's Dakota Jaeschke at the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Simmons plowed across for a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
 
UMC put together an impressive drive on its next possession, moving the ball down the SMSU 1-yard line. The SMSU defense came through stopping UMC on three straight plays, forcing a 24-yard field goal attempt. Jared McLemore's attempt was blocked moments later by Woodard stopping the Golden Eagles scoring threat.
 
SMSU used the momentum and drove 80 yards on 10 plays, with Gimbel completing an 18-yard pass to Davis to make the score 14-0 early in the second quarter.
 
Following punts by both squads, the SMSU defense came through as Lucas Fisher forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Jon Dicke at UMC 32-yard line. Just two plays later, Gimbel found Davis open again, this time for a 32-yard touchdown, to extend the lead to 21-0 at the 8:17 mark.
 
The Mustang defense made another big play on the ensuing Golden Eagles drive as Cory Hollowell intercepted UMC back-up quarterback Jeremy Neuman at the SMSU 31-yard and returned the pick to midfield. Five plays later, Gimbel once again found Davis for a 19-yard touchdown reception to push the lead to 28-0 with 4:40 remaining in the half.
 
UMC would make the score 28-6 on a 20-yard Neuman to Andy Groebner touchdown pass with 1:49 remaining in the half, but the two-point attempt failed to keep SMSU in the lead at 28-6.
 
SMSU wasn't finished in the half and moved to the UMC 11-yard line before Skyler Crew booted a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give the Mustangs a 31-6 halftime advantage. The key play was a 30-yard completion from Gimbel to Davis just moments before the field goal.
 
Gimbel started the scoring in the second half on its opening drive as Gimbel connected with Davis on a 30-yard touchdown to finish off an eight-play, 86-yard drive.
 
Woodard ended the first UMC drive of the second half recovering a fumble at the SMSU 27-yard line. The Mustangs then chewed up seven minutes off the clock with a 15-play, 64-yard drive as Crew closed it off with a 26-yard field goals with 3:02 remaining in the quarter to push the lead margin to 41-6.
 
Fisher added to the lead with a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make the score 48-6. He is the first Mustang to have an interception return for a touchdown since Hunter Cushman in the 2017 season opener.
 
SMSU finished off the scoring in the closing minutes as Codie Meinen broke free for a 52-yard touchdown run to help the Mustangs reach the 50-point plateau for the second straight week.    
 
Southwest Minnesota State returns to the road next Saturday facing No. 7 ranked and undefeated Minnesota Duluth (6-0) starting at 1 p.m.