WINONA, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State football team closed its season on Saturday afternoon suffering a 30-6 loss to Winona State in the 'Battle for the Sledge' trophy game played at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium.
 
WSU retains the 'Battle for the Sledge' trophy, presented by Game One and adidas for the eighth consecutive match-up.
 
SMSU ended its season losing its ninth straight game and finishes with a record of 1-10 overall, 1-9 NSIC, 0-6 NSIC South. WSU won its second in a row and closes at 6-5 overall, 6-4 NSIC, 3-3 NSIC South.
 
SMSU senior linebacker Josiah Hedensten earned team MVP honors racking up a career-high 20 tackles with one pass break-up. He started all 44 games in his career and closes his career with 369 tackles ranking second all-time in team history.
 
WSU's Jahmani Muhammad was named the Warriors' MVP, rushing for a game-high 142 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries.
 
WSU ended the game with 402 yards of offense and 18 first downs, while SMSU recorded 246 yards and 18 first downs. WSU rushed for 196 yards, while limiting SMSU to 22 yards on the ground.
 
SMSU's Drew Kluender, starting his second career game at quarterback and first of the season, completed 20 of 49 passes for 224 yards and one touchdown, while being sacked four times. Tryg Auten was his top target with six receptions for 88 yards, while Colin Maher and Jacob Honstetter each finished with four receptions.
 
Honstetter lead SMSU's rushing attack with 53 yards on 14 carries.
 
The SMSU special teams made the first big play of the game recovering a muffed WSU punt return just 90 seconds into the game. However, the WSU defense held strong and turned SMSU over on downs at the WSU 37-yard line. The key play was a 15-yard offensive pass interference called against the Mustangs to help stall the drive.
 
SMSU bounced back and was able to break the scoreless game with an impressive 80-yard drive with Kluender tossing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Honstetter with 1:44 remaining in the opening quarter. The PAT was missed keeping the score 6-0.
 
WSU countered with the tying touchdown as Muhammad scored on a 4-yard run early in the second quarter. The key play was a 52-yard pass completion from Jackson Flottmeyer to Joe Sikman to complete a reverse flea-flicker. The PAT however was missed to keep the game tied at 6-6.
 
SMSU picked up two first downs on the ensuing drive and faced second and short from the WSU 23-yard line, but two straight rushed for negative yards and then sack ended the scoring chance.
 
WSU took the lead just four plays later with Flottmeyer finding Sikma open for a 38-yard touchdown pass with 9:37 left in the first half.
 
Following a three-and-out by SMSU, the Warriors added to the lead with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive capped by a Flottmeyer 7-yard touchdown run to build a 20-6 halftime lead.
 
WSU racked up 235 yards and 10 first downs in the second quarter in building the 14-point advantage.
 
SMSU was held in check in the third quarter amassing just 19 yards and two first downs on 17 plays. WSU scored the only points in the quarter with Flottmeyer tossing a 1-yard touchdown pass to James Durst on fourth-and-goal to push the margin to 27-6. The scoring drive started at the SMSU 3-yard line following a 27-yard loss on a botched snap on a Mustang punt attempt.
 
WSU scored the final points of the game on a 34-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
 
SMSU had a great chance to cut into the deficit midway through the fourth quarter, but a fumble on first-and-goal from the 10, was recovered by WSU.  
 
Kaden Lunsford was the only other SMSU player in double figure tackles with 10, while Gideon Ervasti, playing in his final game, added nine tackles.
 
The Mustang defense recorded three sacks with Jojo Parham and Cam Enright closing with one each, while Logan Booth and Treverran Mack each were credited with a half a sack.