Photos courtesy of UMD Athletic Communications/Elizabeth Hare Southwest Minnesota State University running back Jacob Honstetter (left) is tackled by Minnesota Duluth defensive lineman Mark Rendl during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football game in Duluth on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs defeated SMSU 62-0.

DULUTH — The Minnesota Duluth football team steamrolled its way through Southwest Minnesota State University on Saturday. The Mustangs lost 62-0 behind Duluth’s 48 first-half points, dropping SMSU to 0-4 on the season both overall and in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

The game got off to a rocky start for the Mustangs with a false start on the first play from scrimmage. Three plays later, SMSU quarterback Kendon Krogman’s pass attempt was intercepted by Jacob Mogensen to five the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs forced a 3-and-out on SMSU’s next possession and then scored on a 66-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Walljasper to DaShaun Ames. SMSU’s defense improved for the rest of the quarter, but a pair of field goals gave Duluth a 20-0 lead after the first.

Krogman completed seven of his 19 attempts for 58 yards and a pick for the Mustangs. He was sacked three times and rushed seven times for two yards before being relieved by true freshman Drew Kluender. In his first collegiate action, Kluender was sacked six times while completing three of his 10 passes for 15 yards. He rushed eight times for -19 yards.

Minnesota Duluth scored on an 11-yard run from Aiden Williams and a 64-yard touchdown pass from Walljasper in the first three minutes of the second half to make the score 34-0. They called the dogs off from there, putting in the backups, but continued to score. Quarterback Jacob Eggert ran for a five-yard touchdown, set up by a 50-yard punt return from Jimmy Durocher to the SMSU 11-yard line. He also connected with Chuck Gilbert III for a 53-yard touchdown pass to make the score 48-0 going into the locker room.

Walljasper completed five of his six attempts for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Eggert completed three of his four attempts for 60 yards and a touchdown. AJ Boarman and Austin Randall also attempted passes for UMD in the lopsided victory.

Jacob Honstetter led SMSU in scrimmage yards, carrying the ball 11 times for 14 yards and catching a pair of passes for 28 yards. Tryg Auten also caught three passes for 27 yards while Zander Wolf was the Mustangs’ second-leading rusher with six carries for eight yards.

Duluth scored on the first drive of the second half when Ben Vallafskey ran for a 61-yard touchdown. The Bulldogs added one more score in the fourth when Ben Lindley ran for a 44-yard touchdown on the first possession of the quarter.

Vallafskey was the game’s leading rusher, going for 124 yards on seven attempts for an average of 17.7 yards per carry. Lindley also had 63 yards on 10 attempts while Alex Riley ran six times for 38 yards.

Still, the game’s leader in scrimmage yards was Ames, who amassed 138 yards on just three receptions.

Avery Johnson recorded a pair of sacks for 18 yards for SMSU while Josiah Hedensten had another five-yard sack. Hedensten’s five solo tackles, eight total tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss were all team-highs. Logan Booth, Connor Shelton, Carter Schmitz and Johnson each had three solo tackles with Booth finishing second on the team with four total tackles.

For Duluth, Blake Goede led the team with 2.4 sacks. Allen Pearson Jr. recorded 1.5 sacks while Carter Landon, Drew Hennessey, Gavin Skelton, Preston McQueen and David Gauderman each had another.

SMSU will look to find its offensive rhythm when it hosts Nebraska-Kearney for the teams’ first-ever matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Lopers are 2-2 so far this season but lost each of their last two games against No. 17 Central Oklahoma and No. 12 Central Missouri .