Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University wide receiver Colin Maher (9) catches a pass before taking it in for a touchdown during the Mustangs' 35-14 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference loss to Sioux Falls at Mattke Field in Marshall on Saturday.

MARSHALL — Senior linebacker Josiah Hedensten tallied a career-high 16 tackles while senior wide receiver Colin Maher bested his career high in receiving yards to 124. Yet, the Southwest Minnesota State University football team suffered a 35-14 homecoming loss Saturday night against the University of Sioux Falls in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup. Both the Mustangs and Cougars entered the game looking to snap a three-game skid.

“When we have a great energy and crowd like that, we certainly expect [more] from us. [Like last week] we kind of let [the game] get out of our hand a little bit more,” SMSU head coach Scott Underwood said. “We had to come in and play our brand of football. You’ve got to be consistent in football. We still fell short a little bit … Kudos to them [USF] that they were able to find some places in our defense.”

Hedensten finished with two tackles for loss among his 16 tackles, and he forced fumble and broke up a pass. He beat his former-high of 13 tackles against Bemidji State in 2022.

Maher’s 124 receiving yards came on six catches with a pair of touchdowns, beating out his former record of 107 yards on eight catches against UMary earlier this season.

The Mustangs finished the night with 245 total yards, including a net-loss of 7 rushing yards and 12 first downs. The Cougars logged 618 total yards, including 234 rushing yards and 30 first downs. USF also had four sacks, while Hedensten had SMSU’s lone sack.

Macloud Crowton led SMSU’s offense with 252 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, with 18 complete passes on 37 attempts and no interceptions.

USF’s starting quarterback Bennett Brueck went down with a lower leg injury on the game’s first play, and Tate Schafer came in as relief and finished with 384 passing yards for a trio of touchdowns with 21 complete passes on 34 attempts with one interception. Schafer was the Cougars’ third-string quarterback before their first- and second-string quarterbacks got injured over the last two weeks.

“Not having seen [Schafer] and knowing exactly what his strength might be [offered challenges]. We knew he would be talented, we just didn’t know if he was a runner as well, and obviously, he proved that he could run with the football,” Underwood said. “We miscued a couple things on defense for that, but again, credit to them. We missed on assignment, and they were able to capitalize on it.”

Both of SMSU’s touchdowns came from a Crowton and Maher connection, in the second and fourth quarters on a 41-yard and 19-yard pass, respectively. USF scored in every quarter except the fourth.

SMSU saw moments of strong defensive pressure throughout the night, but faced offensive struggles beginning with just three first downs and 82 total yards, to USF’s 17 first downs and 316 yards in the opening half.

Parker Knutson also had a 9-yard interception in the first quarter, his team-high sixth of the season. He also leads the NSIC in interceptions.

“They [Hedensten and Knutson] are two really good football players on our defensive side. Josiah is just a really good, tough, hard-nosed football player that’s playing probably undersized, a little banged up from the start of the year, but he just gets the job done day in and day out,” Underwood said. “Parker kind of captains our defense back there, and it’s good to see him get another interception tonight. He’s a real smart football player for us, and plays hard.”

The Cougars scored one touchdown in the opening quarter, along with another two in the second, including a 43-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds to go in the half.

Prior to USF’s final touchdown of the half, Crowton found an open Maher sprinting down the middle of the field and into the end zone for a 41-yard receiving touchdown to bring the Mustangs within a score, down 14-6.

“We had a couple opportunities overall offensively, and that was one big one that we got the ball at the top for that play. We missed a couple too, so we got those opportunities and we got to capitalize on them,” Underwood said. “Colin went over 100 yards receiving again, and when you watch him, he has to go up and battle guys for the football in traffic … Macloud is still kind of finding his way through the offense, but certainly made some good throws as well.”

On USF’s first drive of the game, Knutson intercepted a pass on a Cougars’ first down to bring the Mustangs to their own 47-yard line.

SMSU however couldn’t fully take advantage of the turnover after USF forced a fourth down, who were able to score its first touchdown moments later following a 16-yard complete pass to the Mustangs’ 35-yard line, followed by a 27-yard rushing gain and an 8-yard rushing touchdown and a field goal for a 7-0 lead with 7:46 to go in the first.

The Mustangs’ defense took possession back of the ball to open the second quarter, including a broken-up pass by Gideon Ervasti, but USF returned the favor with a turnover on downs. Ervasti finished the night with 10 tackles.

USF’s Adonis Hutchinson extended the Cougars’ lead, 14-0, with a 24-yard receiving touchdown with a JT Frieders’ field goal.

Crowton and Maher’s touchdown followed two drives later to get the Mustangs on the board and electrify the crowd, as the Cougars also responded with their third touchdown of the night as the half came to a close.

USF put the dagger on its win throughout the third quarter with another pair of touchdowns, the second of which was another run by Hutchinson who caught a short pass from Schafer and ran 85 yards to the end zone to earn a 35-6 lead.

Crowton and Maher connected for their second touchdown of the night with 5:09 left of game play to go, with a 19-yard pass on fourth down. A 2-point conversion was also successful by David Ola-Kazeem, to cut into a 35-14 score, ultimately becoming the final score as the Cougars worked down the clock on their next and final drive.

“I think one of the ways that people are playing us a little bit, is you got to get the ball out. You got to get out in space, and got to make people pay a little bit,” Underwood said. “As you saw, that kind of happened to us a little bit. They were able to do that. We answered a couple of times with that, and hopefully we continue to get that connection page up and running. But, it’s good to see those two [Crowton and Maher] have some success.”

SMSU (1-5, 1-5 NSIC) will next have its first non-conference game of the season when it takes on Northern State (4-2) in Aberdeen, S.D., on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Wolves are coming off a 34-31 win over No. 10 Minnesota Duluth, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.