Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State cornerback Parker Knutson (3) celebrates with teammate Aiden Planer after making one of his two interceptions during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football game against Minnesota State University–Moorhead on Saturday at Mattke Field in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Second-quarter struggles doomed the Southwest Minnesota State University football team in its season opener against Minnesota State University-Moorhead in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday. The Dragons found a spark before halftime and never let go, closing the game with 38 unanswered points to hand the Mustangs a 51-3 loss in the Ag Bowl.

Parker Knutson had a big day in the secondary against the NSIC’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Moorhead quarterback Jack Strand. Knutson picked off Strand at the SMSU 33-yard line with five minutes left in the first quarter, and came up with another pick in the back of the end zone on fourth down halfway through the second quarter. He also broke up a pair of passes on the day.

“I think of it as, still, some of our players played at a high caliber,” SMSU head coach Scott Underwood said. “You look at what Parker Knutson was able to do today, he probably could have three, maybe even a fourth [interception], so again, he played at a high level from what my initial evaluation is.”

The Mustang defense suffered a key loss in the first quarter when senior defensive end Avery Johnson was carted off the field with his arm in an aircast after making a tackle along the sideline. Johnson led the Mustangs in sacks last season with 5.5.

“Certainly it lingers for a quarter or two, or a couple of downs, but you’ve still got to reach back and overcome those,” Underwood said. “Avery’s probably one of our best pass rushers, and in that game we need him.”

The Dragons marched their way down the field on the opening drive, with a 25-yard completion to Brady Perryman and a 15-yard completion to Carson Elbert setting the Dragons up in the red zone. From there, Strand found Perryman again in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown, though the Dragons missed the ensuing extra point.​

SMSU’s offense inspired confidence early in Macloud Crowton’s first drive as the Mustang signal caller when a 17-yard catch by Tryg Auten and a pass interference penalty on another deep ball to Auten set SMSU up at the 9-yard line. Yet, Adam Kallenbach came up with a third-down interception in the end zone to abruptly end the drive.

Crowton finished his Mustang debut completing 17 of his 38 attempts for 177 yards and three interceptions. He also ran the ball nine times for six yards, gaining a total of 24 yards but giving some back on sacks. Despite the turnovers, he had several deep pass attempts that were close to becoming big plays but falling short either due to a drop or a slight overthrow.

“I thought he operated our offense with a good rhythm. Certainly know that he’d like a couple of throws back… a couple down here toward the zone on our side that he’d like to keep in play and not overthrow them and stuff like that,” Underwood said. “Probably some first-time jitters or whatever, he hasn’t played college football for a while in the transfer route of being a starter or getting into game action.”

Colin Maher led the SMSU receiving corps with five catches for 66 yards while Sam Campbell added another three receptions for 47 yards. ‘

For the Dragons, Birrenkott, Perryman and Lill each caught a pair of touchdowns. Perryman and Lill each finished with 77 receiving yards on six and three receptions, respectively, Birrenkott finished with three catches for 101 yards and Kalen Lucas added another five catches for 70 yards.

As a team, SMSU finished with 203 yards of total offense after finishing the game with -2 rushing yards. Excluding a 38-yard loss on a fumbled snap, the Mustangs’ ground offense took 21 carries for 36 yards. Moorhead, meanwhile, finished the day with 557 yards of total offense, including 126 rushing yards on 28 attempts and 319 passing yards from Strand on 34 attempts. Strand had 297 passing yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone.

“You can’t put yourself behind the chains all the time,” Underwood said, noting that SMSU had some chances to get the Dragons off the field on third-and-6 or longer but Moorhead continued to make plays offensively. “We’ll look at that tomorrow and try to see what we need to do to be better on those downs, but again, not our best performance.”

Gideon Ervasti tallied five solo and eight total tackles in the game, as well as 1.5 sacks, while Malachi Kohls added another sack. Josiah Hedensten’s six solo and nine total tackles were both team-highs.

Moorhead’s momentum continued to build when Strand connected with Gavin Lill for a 16-yard gain on the first play of the next drive. After Johnson was injured on the second play, Strand found a wide open Lill downfield on the drive’s third play for a 55-yard touchdown and a 13-0 lead.​

SMSU’s lone scoring drive of the day came halfway through the first quarter. A 38-yard completion to Colin Maher flipped the field for the Mustangs, setting them up at the 10-yard line, but a pair of incompletions and a run stuffed at the line of scrimmage forced the team to settle for a field goal, trimming the deficit to 13-3.​

“We have to put points on the board during those possessions, and then the other part is we have to get off the field,” Underwood said, adding that he was particularly disappointed in the SMSU defense’s inability to get Moorhead’s second unit off the field in the second half. “​

After claiming a 10-point lead through the game’s first 15 minutes, the Dragons’ offense only continued to ramp up in the second with 21 unanswered points. Lill caught his second touchdown of the day 90 seconds into the quarter. SMSU punter Mason Carver then fumbled a snap to set up the Dragons at the 16-yard line before Strand found Perryman for another touchdown with three minutes left in the half, and Strand lofted a deep pass to Carter Birrenkott in the final minutes, with Birrenkott shedding a tackle along the sideline for a 43-yard touchdown and a 34-3 halftime lead.​

Strong play from the Mustangs’ defensive line forced the Dragons into a fourth-and-6 situation with six minutes left in the third quarter. Yet, back up quarterback Timmy Guler — taking over for Strand with the game well in hand — found an open Kalen Lucas streaking down the middle for a 33-yard touchdown. Guler also threw a 24-yard touchdown to Birrenkott two plays into the fourth quarter to bring the score to 48-3.

Drew Kluender played the final drive for SMSU with the game out of hand, completing three of his eight attempts for 28 yards. He also carried the ball twice for a team-leading 15 yards. Underwood said he thought Drew got the ball out of his hand nicely and accurately, and that the team will continue to evaluate both quarterbacks to see what adjustments they need to make.​

SMSU falls to 0-1 on the season with the loss and will look to end its 12-game losing streak on Saturday at 1 p.m., when it goes on the road to take on Jamestown (N.D.) at Charlotte & Gordon Hansen Stadium. This is the first year at the Division II level for the Jimmies, who joined the NSIC from the NAIA level this season.​

“It’ll certainly be a different thing in probably the skillsets and the quarterback, but… we still need to raise our level,” Underwood said.