ST. CLOUD — Southwest Minnesota State (3-4) earned, yet again, another dramatic victory as SMSU’s Boyer Bouman threw a career-high 328 yards, capped off by a 13-yard touchdown to Daniel Davis with 49 seconds remaining to claim a 42-38 comeback victory over St. Cloud State (3-4) on Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium.

SMSU coach Cory Sauter said he was proud of the way his team competed and fought to the end to be able to close out the game with a win.

“This was the first time where we were able to close out the game and we got a big-time interception from Lucas Fisher. After a couple of heartbreaking losses, it was nice to be able to make a play when we needed to,” Sauter said. “It was a much needed win and we’ve been on both ends of the spectrum now. In the history of Mustang football, there has only been a couple of times it (winning against SCSU) has happened, so I’m really proud of our guys and how they bounced back in the one-week cycle.”

The duo of Davis and Bouman accounted for three of the four Mustang touchdowns as Bouman threw four touchdowns, while Davis finished with 11 receptions for 127 yards and three touchdowns. It was the ninth career 100-yard receiving game for Davis in his two-year SMSU career.

The SMSU offense closed the game racking up 25 first downs and 423 yards of offense, while the Mustang defense forced four turnovers, including a game-sealing interception in the final seconds. The 42 points allowed by SCSU was its highest this season. SCSU hadn’t allowed more than 20 points in game all season and held four opponents to 16 or less points.

After falling in heartbreak last week in the final seconds at home to Bemidji State, the Mustangs rallied for a rollercoaster of a game, trailing 21-7 in the second quarter, before going for 28 uncontested points to gain a 35-21 lead after three quarters of play.

The Huskies rallied to tie the game at 35-35 midway through the fourth quarter behind a pair of Curtwan Evans rushing touchdowns.

Following SMSU’s third consecutive punt in the second half, SCSU regained the lead as Adam Stage connected on a 45-yard field goal that grazed its way in with 2:38 remaining in the game.

The Mustangs would then start their game-winning drive on their own 25-yard line as Bouman started the rally with a second down completion to Bailey Olson for 12 yards and followed that with a 13-yard pass to Davis setting up the Mustangs at midfield. Bouman would later find Davis for a 9-yard pass to put SMSU at the SCSU 35-yard line before finding Jalen Coleman for a 22-yard pass for another first down down to the SCSU 13-yard line. In fashion with the rest of the game, Bouman-to-Davis once again would seal the deal as Davis’ 13-yard catch with 49 seconds remaining would give the Mustangs the lead back.

SCSU mounted one last comeback attempt, moving the ball down to the SMSU 24-yard line following four first down pass completions. The SMSU defense them made another big play as Cory Hollowell tipped a pass and teammate Lucas Fisher made a diving interception to seal the victory.

Bouman finished the game completing 29 of 51 passes for 328 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Davis caught 11 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns, while Olson caught a career-high seven passes for a career-high 94 yards and one touchdown.

Both teams were scoreless to open the first quarter before the Huskies would break through early in the second quarter as SCSU’s Duane Lawhorn connected with John Solberg for a 12-yard touchdown pass.

The Mustangs answered on their next drive to tie the game as Bouman found Davis for a 24-yard touchdown pass to make the score 7-7 with 8:54 left in the second quarter.

The Huskies however responded in a big way as Stuart Hamann intercepted Bouman and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown and would later add a 17-yard Lawhorn to Joe Blando touchdown pass to make the score 21-7 with 4:27 to go in the half.

SMSU came right back in a big way a Bouman closed off an impressive 87-yard, nine-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Davis with 2:32 remaining to cut the lead to 21-14.

The SMSU defense came through on the next SCSU drive recovering a Lawhorn fumble at the Huskie 24-yard line. Just three plays later on third and 16, Bouman delivered a 30-yard touchdown to Olson to cut the SCSU lead to 21-20 at halftime following a missed PAT.

SCSU punted on its first drive of the second half and SMSU took advantage to take its first lead of the game. Max Simmons capped off an 80-yard, 11-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown run and following Bouman’s two-point conversion pass to Luke Narveson gave SMSU a 28-21 lead with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter.

SCSU’s next drive would end with another turnover as SMSU’s Davaeon Johnson, who led the team in tackles with 11, intercepted a pass from Lawhown and returned 44 yards to the Huskie 15-yard line. Two plays later, Trey Sachs found the endzone with a 1-yard touchdown to put SMSU in front 35-21 with 5:14 remaining in the third.

Southwest Minnesota State returns to the Schwan Regional Event Center to host MSU Moorhead on Saturday, Oct. 26, for 1 p.m. kickoff. Saturday’s game is senior recognition, sponsored by Avera.

Sauter said their biggest takeaway is to stay hungry and continue their momentum and try and earn their first win at home this year.

“We’re a team that has played well on the road, but haven’t won yet at home and we want to get that corrected,” Sauter said. “We need to be hungry and eager to get that momentum, so we need to be focused in on us. We’ll tweak some things in practice because as you get deeper into the schedule, things can get a little too routine, so we’re going to spice it up to keep our team activated and maintain our desire to improve and stay hungry for the next one.”

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications