Photo by Jake Przytarski SMSU’s Blake Gimbel looks to pass during their game against Augustana University Saturday. Gimbel became the program’s all-time leader in passing yards in the Mustangs’ 28-18 loss.

MARSHALL - Closing the chapter on a historic career, Southwest Minnesota State University quarterback Blake Gimbel gave the Mustang fans a final performance for the ages in Saturday’s season finale against the Augustana University Vikings in which the fifth-year senior broke not one, not two, but three school records to further cement himself as one of the all-time greats in school history.

In the end, the unbelievable effort by Gimbel wasn’t enough to overcome the missed opportunities that plagued the Mustangs throughout the afternoon as they lost 28-18, but as a whole, coach Cory Sauter was proud of the way his team battled against a strong Vikings team.

“It was a gutty effort,” said Sauter. “I really thought our players fought with a ton of passion, (the) kids laid it on the line. We made some physical mistakes at times, mental mistakes, but ultimately we kept swinging and kept coming back.”

The aforementioned mental mistakes reared their ugly head early in the contest with the Vikings taking full advantage of broken coverage on their opening play on offense that resulted in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Saddler to Nickel Meyers that provided a quick 7-0 lead.

Unable to respond in the drives that followed, the Mustangs sputtered on offense but saw Gimbel break the first of three records on the day when he connected on a 16-yard pass to Quadri Busari that moved him into first in passing yards in program history. Glancing at the scoreboard with the record graphic on display, Gimbel was humbled by the recognition.

“I knew going into the game I only needed nine yards, so I figured it would be either the first pass or relatively the first couple,” said Gimbel. “I knew it’d be a cool moment and it was. I saw on the scoreboard they had a cool picture that had the stat-line so that was really cool, (I’m) definitely humbled by that and it’s just a cool thing to have and I’m honored to have with me.”

Gimbel’s record-breaking afternoon was just getting started, however, as the bulk of the fireworks were saved for the second half with the Mustangs trailing 14-3 and in need of a spark after an underwhelming offensive half of football. Unquestionably, Gimbel delivered with Sauter employing a highly-effective aerial attack in the second half of the game.

“To be honest our run game wasn’t quite where it needed to be so really the second half we threw it probably almost every down,” said Sauter. “He was able to get maybe into more of a rhythm that way. He’s just one of those guys that can get on fire, he can get into a rhythm, but that was really the biggest difference. First half we had a blend of plays, in the second half it was pretty one dimensional. We just threw it almost every down.”

Noticeably rejuvenated by the change, the offense began to move the football more effectively to start the second half but saw a promising drive come to an end with an interception in the red-zone that would have made it 14-10. Undeterred, the Mustang offense continued to challenge the Vikings secondary and broke through late in the third quarter with Gimbel finding Connor Wilkie for a 28-yard touchdown that made it a three-point game after a successful two-point conversion.

The three-point deficit would last into the early stages of the fourth quarter before the Vikings answered with a momentum shifting drive that began with a key third and long conversion from their own three-yard line and ended with a Saddler passing touchdown to Rudolph Sinflorant to push the lead to 21-11.

The Mustangs would strike back on their ensuing drive with Gimbel finding Gabe Galamue from 22 yards out to make it 21-18, but the Vikings would all but put the game away with a fourth and final touchdown that made it 28-18 that was enough to earn the road win.

Though the comeback attempt fell short, Gimbel finished the game with a program record 70 passing attempts with another program record of 43 completions for 423 yards. The explosive second half also pushed junior receiver Daniel Davis over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

In a season full of highs and lows, the Mustangs the 2018 campaign with a final record of 4-7. Reflecting back on the year, Sauter would have liked to have finished with more wins on their schedule but couldn’t be prouder of his team for remaining resilient after a tough start to the season.

“Well you know we’d love to have a winning season, there’s no question about that,” said Sauter. “That’s kind of a goal of any year is to win more than you lose, but I’m certainly proud of the way our guys battled back after being down 0-3 on the season. We’ve had some tight battles, some close games that we’d like to win, but regardless I am certainly very proud of the way the guys have practiced and prepared and giving every ounce of themselves to this program. Ultimately those are the traits that are going to help them be successful down the road.”