Photo by Jake McNeill Peter Osman trucks his way through a defender for some yards after the catch in the second quarter of SMSU’s loss to Winona State in the 2022 iteration of the Battle of the Sledge.

MARSHALL — Special teams errors were the difference for the Southwest Minnesota State football team in their 43-7 home loss to Winona State in the Battle of the Sledge.

Winona State scored three times on SMSU punt attempts. The Warriors returned a punt for a touchdown, tackled the Mustang punter in the end zone for a safety following a high snap, and returned a blocked punt from the SMSU 2-yard line for a touchdown. The safety came on a 42-yard loss on the play.

The Warriors also scored a touchdown on a short field following the safety when a shanked SMSU punt gave Winona State starting field position within the SMSU 40-yard line. The punt, said SMSU head coach Scott Underwood, was intended to be a sky kick to force a fair catch, but the ball was instead shanked out of bounds, giving the Warriors a short field.

“Other than snapping, that’s really the only issue we’ve had on coverage up to this point,” Underwood said of the two punt return touchdowns. “we need to punt the ball better, certainly we need to snap the ball better, and our coverage unit was a little lacking. There are a lot of pieces that fall into the puzzle. It certainly doesn’t fall all onto your punter, so as a special teams coach, we’ve got to work on that and see if we can get better.”

The Mustangs scored first in the game when Marcus Martin hit Peter Osman in stride on a fly route in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown. Osman finished the game with a career-high five catches for 62 yards and was awarded a sledgehammer trophy as the SMSU game MVP.

“[Osman’s] working hard within the receiver routes. He’s got the speed, he gets in and out of his cuts, so he gives us a promising target out there when we operate at that level,” Underwood said.

Freshman quarterback Marcus Martin made his collegiate debut for SMSU, throwing for 139 yards and a touchdown. The deep touchdown to Osman was the first pass of his NCAA career, and he continued to show flashes throughout the game, but also appeared rattled under pressure at points.

“It’s just experience,” Underwood said of the highs and the lows in Martin’s first start. “Throwing him into the first game and trying to run some of the difficulties we have with our offense–motions, movements, and play calling–that’s a lot for anybody. I think the key there for him is that we’re proud of the effort he gave today. You hope that he only continues to get better as he gets more snaps.”

Jesse Sherwood returned to action after missing the Mustangs’ previous two games due to injury. He tallied 78 yards on 20 carries, marking season-lows in yardage and efficiency.

Marquise Ogletree forced the lone turnover of the game for SMSU. Following the Mustangs’ opening-drive score, Winona State marched right down the field and was gaining momentum just outside the red zone. On an out route to the left sideline, Ogletree was able to jump the route and dive forward to make the grab just before the ball hit the ground, delaying Winona State from getting on the scoreboard.

After trailing 7-0, Winona scored on a deep pass early in the second quarter. Ogletree tried to jump up and swat the ball away, but the pass went over his fingertips and into the arms of the Warriors’ receiver. After the failed attempt to ball hawk, Ogletree was left in a position where he couldn’t adjust to make the tackle, giving the Warriors a 44-yard touchdown to start a 43-0 run for WSU.

Winona state added an extra insurance score on a 65-yard touchdown with two minutes remaining. After bursting through the line of scrimmage, there was nothing but green pastures ahead of the Warrior running back, as he coasted into the end zone to make the score 43-7.

Southwest Minnesota State University (4-3) will try to right the ship on the road Saturday at noon when they travel to Nebraska to face off against the Wayne State Wildcats.

Winona State 43, SMSU 7

WSU 0 26 3 14

SMSU 7 0 0 0

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

SMSU: Peter Oman 30-yard pass from Marcus Martin (Dicker kick)

Second quarter

WSU: 44-yard pass (kick good)

WSU: 62-yard punt return (kick good)

WSU: 42-yard safety

WSU: 2-yard run (kick good)

Third quarter

WSU: 30-yard field goal

Fourth quarter

WSU: 2-yard blocked punt return

WSU: 65-yard run

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing (Att-Cmp-Yds-TD): SMSU (Martin 11-28-139-1)

Rushing (Att-Yds-TD): SMSU (Sherwood 20-78; Donald Austin 13-43)

Receiving (Rec-Yds-TD): SMSU (Osman 5-62-1; Nathan Stearns 2-32; Dustin Pampel 2-25; Zeke Robinson 1-17)

Defensive (total tackles-TFL-Sacks): SMSU (Thomas Mergen 0; Jalani Jefferson 8; Austin Moore 5-1-1.5; Joe Buelow 3-1.5)