ABERDEEN, S.D. — Northern State took advantage of three Southwest Minnesota State turnovers and used 308 passing yards and three touchdowns from Hunter Trautman, to pull away for a 30-13 victory in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference on Saturday night in the inaugural game at the new Dacotah Bank Stadium on the NSU campus.

NSU, which lost to nationally-ranked Minnesota State in week one in overtime, improves to 1-1 on the season, while SMSU drops to 0-2.

NSU finished the game with 424 yards of offense and 20 first downs, while SMSU closed with 287 yards and 16 first downs.

NSU’s Dewaylon Ingram, a transfer from Sam Houston State, caught a game-high eight passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Trautman, who also led the NSU rushing attack with 53 yards on 17 carries, completed 21 of 30 pass attempts.

SMSU amassed 153 yards on the ground with Jesse Sherwood pacing the squad with 72 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Andrew Haidet added two rushing touchdowns and closed with 44 yards on 11 carries, while Duce Reynolds chipped in with 34 yards on six attempts.

Haidet completed 11 of 22 passes for 134 yards and was intercepted twice. Zeke Robinson caught a team-high three passes for 22 yards for the Mustangs with teammate Adrian Tolbert finishing with two catches for a team-high 45 yards.

NSU opened the game with an on-side kick, but SMSU was able to recover and took over at the NSU 46-yard line. The Mustangs were able to take advantage of the field position and moved down the field in seven plays with Haidet scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run with 11:34 remaining in the first quarter. Carter Dicker had the PAT blocked to keep the score at 6-0.

NSU was forced to punt on its first possession of the game and SMSU followed by moving the ball to the NSU 30-yard line, but the offense stalled and turned the ball over on downs late in the quarter.

The Wolves then struck quickly on their first play of the next drive as Trautman connected on a 70-yard touchdown pass to Ingram. The PAT was good and NSU moved in front at 7-6 with 3:41 remaining in the opening quarter.

Neither team could sustain much offense in the second quarter, but NSU put together a major scoring threat late in the half. Starting at its own 39-yard line, NSU moved the ball down to the SMSU 7-yard line and had first-and-goal. The SMSU defense stepped up in a big way and held strong, stopping NSU short of the goal line on four straight plays to keep the deficit to 7-6 at halftime.

NSU opened the second with its second scoring drive of the game as Payton Eue booted a 32-yard field goal at the 12:15 mark of the third quarter to push the lead to 10-6.

SMSU fumbled on its ensuing drive, setting up NSU at the SMSU 30-yard line. Once again, the SMSU defense forced a NSU field goal attempt with Eue connecting on a 40-yard kick to make the score 13-6.

Following another SMSU turnover, NSU added to the lead as Trautman connected on a 22-yard touchdown pass on third-down to Ingram to push the lead to 20-6 with 6:10 left in the third quarter.

SMSU answered in a big way with its most impressive drive of the season, moving 72 yards in nine plays, all via the ground attack, with Haidet capping the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the third. Dicker booted the PAT to cut the deficit to 20-13.

NSU responded on its drive and added to the lead as Trautman tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass with 10:08 left in the fourth to make the score 27-13. It appeared the Wolves were stopped at the 2-yard line and had to settle for a field goal, but the Mustangs were called for off-sides, giving NSU a first down. Moments later, Trautman took advantage with the short touchdown pass to take a 14-point lead.

Following an SMSU punt on its next drive, Eue drilled another field goal, this one from 29 yards out, to give NSU a 30-13 advantage.

Onte Burns led the SMSU defense with 14 tackles with Gage Roberson adding seven tackles.

Southwest Minnesota State returns home next Saturday, Sept. 18, facing UMary (0-2) for the annual Ag Bowl–presented by Ralco–with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. at the Schwan Regional Event Center.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications