BISMARCK, N.D. – Jesse Sherwood rushed for a career-high 205 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries to help pace Southwest Minnesota State to a thrilling 31-28 victory over the University of Mary in NSIC football on Saturday at the MDU Resources Community Bowl.
 
SMSU, which earned its second straight victory under first-year head coach Scott Underwood, improves to 2-1 on the season. It is the first time SMSU has had a winning record during a season since 2017.
 
The Mustangs closed the game rushing for 301 yards and racked up 476 yards of total offense. It is the first time since the 2017 season the Mustangs have rushed for more than 300 yards in a game. Sherwood's performance was his third straight game to start the season rushing for more than 150 yards, while the 205 yards is the 13th highest single-game total in team history.
 
SMSU quarterback Justus McComb completed 16 of 30 pass attempts for 174 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 51 yards. Adrian Tolbert caught a team-high four passes for 53 yards and his first career touchdown to help the Mustang offense.
 
Onte Burns, who amassed 12 stops, including one for loss, led the Mustang defense. Alan Giron added five tackles and earned the team's first interception of the season to help set up a scoring drive.
 
UMary finished the game with 392 yards of offense with Logan Nelson passing for 307 yards and three touchdowns. All-American wide receiver Danny Kittner caught nine passes for 152 yards to pace the Marauders.
 
The SMSU defense came through with the game's first big play forcing a fumble on the Marauders' second series with Jizreel Jeudy recovering the ball for the Mustangs at the UMary 19-yard line. Following a personal foul that set the SMSU offense back to the 34-yard line, the Mustangs put up the first points of the game as McComb connected on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Tolbert to give SMSU a 7-0 advantage following Carter Dicker's PAT midway through the opening quarter. It was the first career touchdown pass for McComb and the first career touchdown reception for Tolbert.
 
UMary would tie the game later in the first quarter as Logan Miller connected on a 12-yard touchdown pass to Collin Gapen at the 3:42 mark.
 
The Mustangs answered minutes later with an impressive 71-yard drive capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Sherwood late in the first quarter to go back in front at 14-7.
 
SMSU had a great chance to add on to the lead late in the first half but Dicker missed a 32-yard field goal attempt to send the Mustangs into the break holding a 14-7 advantage.
 
The second half started with UMary gaining all the momentum by forcing SMSU to a three-and-out on its opening drive and then blocking the ensuing punt to take over at the SMSU 10-yard line. The Mustang defense however came through in big way with a goal line stand and stopping the Marauders inside the 2-yard line.
 
SMSU then produced one of its most impressive drives in recent years, moving 98 yards on 12 plays for nealy seven minutes with Sherwood closing the drive with a 3-yard touchdown at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter to extend the lead to 21-7.
 
UMary however answered with a big scoring drive that took just two minutes as Nelson made several big pass completions on the drive before connecting on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Riley Potthast at the 1:44 mark of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-14.
 
SMSU punted early in the fourth quarter, giving UMary a chance to tie the game, but the Mustang defense stepped up once again as Giron stepped in front a Nelson pass for the team's first interception of the season.
 
McComb would connect with Aiden Ferguson on a pair of passes on the ensuing drive before Sherwood broke free for a 20-yard touchdown run to give the Mustangs a 14-point cushion at 28-14 with 9:34 remaining.
 
UMary would not go away and quickly scored midway through the fourth to make score 28-21. The Marauders attempted an onside kick moments later, but Albert Lemon recovered the kick setting up the Mustangs near midfield. The lead would expand later in the drive as Dicker booted a huge career-long 42-yard field goal with 4:59 left in the game to make the score 31-21.
 
Nelson led UMary down the field one more time and tossed another touchdown pass with 2:47 remaining to cut the SMSU lead to 31-28.
 
Lemon would recover another onside kick and the SMSU offense would convert a huge third-and-short play with a Sherwood run to run the clock to under two minutes. SMSU would punt one final time with under 20 seconds left, but UMary was unable to move into field goal position and SMSU earned its second straight win in Bismarck.
 
SMSU returns home next Saturday, Sept. 24, taking on Minot State University (0-3) at The Schwan Regional Event Center with game time set for 5 p.m.