MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University football team opened the 2026 season on Thursday night with a hard-fought 10-7 victory over Valley City State (N.D.) at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
The SMSU offense racked up 363 yards and recorded 23 first downs, but converted just 2 of 5 scoring chances in the red-zone to keep VCSU in the game.
The SMSU defense was outstanding all game long limiting the VCSU offense to 12 first downs and 285 yards. VCSU had three big passing plays in the game, converting plays of 43, 41 and 33 yards to amass 117 of its 285 yards of offense. VCSU was held to 3 for 15 on third-down conversions and rushed for just 26 yards on 21 attempts.
Josh Lancifort led the SMSU rushing attack with 67 yards on 19 carries in his first collegiate game, while
Tryg Auten caught a team-high six passes for 66 yards.
SMSU's
Macloud Crowton completed 22 of 38 pass attempts for 250 yards with one interception.
SMSU finished the victory with 113 yards rushing on 42 attempts.
SMSU held a 10-0 advantage late in the game before VCSU rallied with a 90-yard drive to score its first points of the game with 3:23 remaining to cut the deficit to 10-7.
SMSU was forced to punt on its ensuing drive to give VCSU one last chance with 55 seconds left at its own 37-yard line. The Vikings picked up one first down, but the Mustang defense held strong forcing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-2 from the SMSU 31-yard line with 17 seconds left in the game.
The SMSU defense forced a pair of turnovers with
Keegan Patterson and
Aiden Planer each recording an interception.
Hunter Hanegraaf paced the SMSU defense with 10 tackles including 2.5 for loss.
Jack Meier and
Avery Johnson both added six tackles for the Mustangs with Johnson closing with 2.5 for loss.
SMSU opened the scoring late in the first quarter with
Shaun Walrath capping a 68-yard, 10-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 4:07 on the clock.
Early in the second quarter, Patterson recorded the first turnover of the game with the interception setting up the SMSU offense at the VCSU 24-yard. However, the SMSU offense failed to convert a first down and
Landon Hubbard missed a 35-yard field goal to keep the game at 7-0.
Following a turnover on downs by VCSU, the SMSU offense countered with a 58-yard scoring drive with Hubbard booting a 24-yard field goal with 4:55 left in the half to build a 10-0 lead.
SMSU had several chances to add to the lead in the second half but four drives came up empty despite the offense moving the ball inside the VCSU 30-yard line.
SMSU will continue action on Saturday, Sept. 5, opening conference play with a road match-up versus Bemidji State University with kickoff set for 3 p.m.
