Mustangs look for second straight win at UMary
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MARSHALL - The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (1-1, 0-0 NSIC South) returns to the road Saturday, facing the University of Mary (0-2, 0-0 NSIC North) with kickoff slated for 2 p.m. at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, N.D.
SMSU is coming off its first victory of the season last Saturday night defeating Concordia-St. Paul, 14-6. The victory snapped a 12-game home losing streak that dated back to the 2018 season. The victory was also the first at SMSU for Mustang head coach Scott Underwood.
UMary, which finished 4-7 a season ago including a victory at SMSU, is 0-2 on the season with a home loss to Wayne State and a road loss to Winona State.
Broadcast info
•Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with 10th-year SMSU play-by-play voice Ryan Rohlik.
•Live stats, radio broadcast and video can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.
Sherwood honored by NSIC
•SMSU senior running back Jesse Sherwood was honored Monday as the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week after leading SMSU to a victory over Concordia-St. Paul.
•Sherwood rushed for a career-high 196 yards and one touchdown on a career-high 32 carries. The 196-yard effort tied for the 14th highest single-game total in program history. He also caught a team-high three passes for 29 yards.
Opening drive tidbits
•Senior linebacker Onte Burns, a two-time All-NSIC South honoree, has led the NSIC in tackles the past two seasons (2019 and 2021). Burns, who has started all 35 games of his career has amassed 168 career solo tackles ranking fourth in team history. He is one shy from tying Joe Stupka (2009-12) for third all-time and just five away from tying Tyler Reed (2005-08) for second. Nate Rudolph (1996-99) holds the school record with 199 solo tackles. Burns also ranks eighth in team history in total tackles with 285.
•Burns has notched back-to-back double-digit tackle performances to open the season. His 23 tackles is tied for first in the NSIC and ranks 13th in Division II.
•Jesse Sherwood leads the NSIC in rushing at 176 yards per game and ranks third in Division II. He is also sixth in Division II in all-purpose (199.0).
•Sherwood's 32 rushing attempts in last week's victory was the highest total by a Mustang player since Max Simmons' 30 carries versus Upper Iowa on Sept. 22, 2018.
•Redshirt freshman wide receiver Eric Lira scored his first career touchdown last week with a 52-yard run.
•Senior defensive back Alan Giron tied a career-high with seven tackles, which included two for loss and also forced a fumble in last week's victory.
•Redshirt freshman cornerback Jalani Jefferson recorded a season-high six tackles, recovered a fumble and had two pass break-ups in last week's victory.
•Redshirt freshman linebacker Josiah Hedensten racked-up a career-high six tackles versus Concordia-St. Paul.
•The last time SMSU held an opponent to less than 10 points came during its previous home victory over Northern State on Oct. 20, 2018. SMSU also limited CSP to a pair of field goals on Saturday, which marked the first time since the 2015 season at Wayne State, a Mustang opponent was held to zero touchdowns.
•SMSU's home victory last Saturday snapped a 12-game home losing streak that dated back to the 2018 season.
•Justus McComb is the first SMSU redshirt freshman or true freshman to start at quarterback since Tony Rislov started all 11 games in 2005.
SMSU vs. UMary
series notes
Southwest Minnesota State and UMary meet for the 11th time on Saturday with UMary holding a 6-4 advantage in a series that started on Sept. 4, 1999 … the series is tied 2-2 all-time in games played in Bismarck … UMary earned a 45-23 victory last season in Marshall, snapping a two-game win streak by SMSU in the series … SMSU earned a 54-24 victory on Sept. 29, 2018, in the last game played in Bismarck … UMary won the first three games in the series in 1999, 2006 and 2007.
The last time
The University of Mary scored 17 unanswered points from the final play of the second quarter and in the opening two-plus minutes of the third quarter to build a 28-point lead and earn a 45-23 victory over SMSU on Sept. 18, 2021. UMary was led by Logan Nelson, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns. David Small rushed for a team-high 130 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. The Marauders closed the game with 26 first downs and amassed 430 yards on offense. SMSU finished the game with 406 yards offensively and recorded 20 first downs. Andrew Haidet rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries and became the first SMSU quarterback to rush for more than 100 yards since Kyle Johnston in 1986. Haidet, who split time at quarterback with Steven Nava during the game, completed 4 of 12 passes for 80 yards and one touchdown. Nava finished the evening completing 9 of 20 passes for one touchdown and 124 yards but was intercepted twice. Albert Lemon caught four passes for the Mustangs. Onte Burns led the SMSU defense with a team-high 14 tackles, including 11 solo stops.