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All notes courtesy of SMSU athletics communications.
MARSHALL - No. 3/5 ranked and conference leading Minnesota State University built a 34-0 halftime advantage and went on to earn a 44-9 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday afternoon at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
MSU remained undefeated in improving to 9-0 overall, 8-0 NSIC, while SMSU drops to 1-8 overall, 0-8 NSIC. MSU is now 23-0 all-time versus SMSU.
The Mavericks closed the game with 461 yards of offense with a trio of quarterbacks combining to throw for 291 yards and three touchdowns. The MSU rushing attack was paced by Sam Backer, who closed with a game-high 63 yards on 10 carries, while Carter Henderson added 54 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.
MSU's Mitchell Thompson completed 9 of 13 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown but was intercepted twice. Maximus Sims passed for a pair of touchdowns, while completing 6 of 10 passes for 119 yards. Justin Silverstein closed the game for the Mavericks and finished 3 for 6 for 45 yards.
The Mustangs finished with 253 yards of offense while being limited to 13 yards rushing behind eight sacks by the Mavericks defense.
Tommy Hoffman passed for 174 yards while completing 14 of 26 pass attempts with one touchdown and two interceptions. Cooper Murphy caught four passes for 33 yards while Tryg Auten and Josh Lancifort each had three receptions. Auten finished with a team-high 46 yards receiving while Lancifort closed with 34 yards receiving including his first career touchdown.
Both squads forced a pair of turnovers with the Mustang defense earning interceptions by Brent Green and Keegan Patterson, who recorded his team-leading fourth INT of the season.
Hunter Hanegraaf paced the SMSU defense with a game-high 11 tackles with teammate Aidan Planer adding eight tackles.
MSU used a big special teams play on its first drive of the game to key the first scoring drive of the game. Facing fourth-and-10 from midfield, MSU punter Matt Maldonado, broke free for a 15-yard gain to give the Mavericks a first down. Four plays later, Henderson scored on a 9-yard run to make the score 7-0 with 11:29 left in the opening quarter.
MSU maintained the 7-0 lead late in the quarter before converting a pair of third-down conversions that eventually led to a 25-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Lebarion Gillmore on the first play of the second quarter.
Down 14-0 early in the second quarter, SMSU attempted a fake punt of its own, but Jacob Williams was stopped short of the first down marker to give the Mavericks first down at the SMSU 41-yard line. Two plays later, facing third-and-10, MSU made another big third-down play with Sims completing a 41-yard touchdown pass to Ishmael Emmanuel-Holloway to extend the lead to 21-0 with 11:26 left in the half.
SMSU would turn the ball over on downs on its ensuing drive with MSU stopping the Mustangs at the 31-yard line. MSU answered with a 9-play, 74-yard drive with Henderson scoring on a 5-yard run to push the advantage to 27-0 after a missed PAT.
SMSU put together a solid drive on its next possession with Hoffman completing a pair of passes on third down before connecting on a 19-yard pass to Sam Campbell down to the MSU 24-yard line with just under two minutes left in the half. However, on the next play, Hoffman was intercepted in the end zone to end the scoring threat.
MSU took advantage of the turnover in a big way moving 80 yards on just four plays with Sims finding Gilmore on a 23-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 34-0 at halftime.
Patterson intercepted Thompson in the endzone to end MSU's first drive of the second half, but on the ensuing SMSU drive, Hoffman was intercepted at the SMSU 34-yard and MSU's Antoine Johnson returned the pick to the endzone to make the score 41-0.
SMSU drove deep inside MSU territory on its next drive, setting up first-and-goal from the 5-yard line, highlighted by a 33-yard run by Emmanuel Diers. The MSU defense, however, which entered the game allowing just 11 points per game, stiffened and turned SMSU over on downs at the 4-yard line.
The SMSU defense came through moments later to score the Mustangs' first points of the game as Hanegraaf and Avery Johnson combined to force an intentional grounding penalty in the endzone to force a safety and put SMSU on the board. It was SMSU's first safety since Aiden Planer had one last season versus UMary.
After the freekick, the SMSU offense moved 55 yards on just five plays with Hoffman tossing a short pass to Lancifort, who broke free for an 8-yard touchdown reception to make the score 41-9 late in the third quarter.
Maldonado capped the scoring booting a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
SMSU will play its final road game of the season next Saturday, Nov. 7, with a 12 p.m. kickoff at Concordia-St. Paul.