Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Duce Reynolds carries the ball during the Mustangs’ first day of fall camp on Monday.

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota State University opened its 53rd season of college football this past weekend with more than 125 players reporting for fall camp under the direction of 12th-year head coach Cory Sauter.

The team held various team meetings over the weekend before taking the field for the first time on Monday. The Mustangs will practice daily at various times the first two weeks of camp before practicing regularly at 4 p.m. once classes begin on Monday, Aug. 23.

The 2021 team will have a new look on both sides of the ball with just one returning starter on offense and four on defense from the 2019 squad that finished 3-8 overall, 1-6 NSIC South.

The lone starter on offense is sophomore right tackle, Brad Gould, who started the final nine games in 2019. Senior transfer, Andrew Haidet, will be a leading candidate to start at quarterback, after transferring from Northern Illinois in the spring of 2021. Another senior quarterback, Steven Nava, returns after playing in two games in 2019 with one start, combining to complete 24 of 39 pass attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the two games.

Sophomore running back, Duce Reynolds, is the team’s top returning rusher from 2019. He scored four touchdowns and rushed for 405 yards on 93 attempts in 11 games. He amassed 100 yards on 20 carries versus Bemidji State and also scored a touchdown and finished with 92 yards on 21 carries at Upper Iowa.

On defense, SMSU returns its leading tackler from 2019 in All-NSIC South first team honoree, junior linebacker Onte Burns. He led the NSIC with 108 tackles and also recorded 5.5 tackles for loss and had one interception.

Also back is senior linebacker, Gage Roberson, who amassed 69 tackles with 7.5 tackles for loss in 2019. Senior linebacker, Adihia Bell, is another returning starter who racked up a team-high nine tackles for loss and led the team with four sacks. Senior cornerback, Marshawn Reese, started all 11 games in 2019 and tied for the team-high with two interceptions and had four pass break-ups.

SMSU opens the season on Thursday, Sept. 2, hosting MSU Moorhead with kick-off slated for 7 p.m. at the Schwan Regional Event Center.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications