Mavericks enter Dragons’ den, remain undefeated
Aaron Young
Staff Writer
The Minnesota State Mavericks football team continued their successful season with a victory on the road in Moorhead, MN over the Minnesota State University, Moorhead Dragons, 42-20.
The Mavs came out strong, scoring 21 points in the first quarter.
Quarterback Ryan Schlichte threw for two touchdowns on the game, the first to junior wide-out Justin Arnold, and the second to Shane Zylstra.
Ryan ended the game with 203 passing yards and 2 TD’s.
Running back Nate Gunn also ran in for a 10-yard TD.
In the second quarter, the Dragons gave the ball away on their first play of the drive. As a result, Gunn ran the ball in again to put the Mavericks up 28-0.
MSU-Moorhead responded with two rushing TD’s of their own before halftime.
However, their effort wasn’t enough to prevent the Mavericks from putting more points on the board and taking the victory.
Gunn continues to shine this season, as he rushed for another trio of touchdowns on the evening, with his final touchdown of the evening putting the Mavs up 35-14.
Gunn ended the game with 90 yards and 3 TD’s on 15 rushes. He continues to be a fixture for this team.
Not only was the offense and defense contributing to the victory, so was the special teams. The only time the Mavericks scored in the second half was a kick return.
Senior Trevor Nissen sprinted 82 yards for the touchdown. Even better, he is the first Maverick to go house on a kick return since 2011. What can’t this team do!?
All the action and scoring happened before the fourth quarter, because neither team found the endzone late.
Instead, the last TD came from the Dragons, as RB Ty Jochim ran the ball 15 yards for six points.
The combo of WR’s Zylstra and Arnold was once again a force on the team, combining for 9 catches, 181 yards and two TD’s.
On defense, junior Alex Goettl led the Mavericks in tackles with seven, including a tackle for loss.
Sophomore Jake Schaper was the only one who got a sack for the Mavs on the day.
With that being said, the football team is riding the wave of success this year, now 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference. Moorhead didn’t seem like too much of a challenge, unlike earlier this year when the Mavericks faced Augustana. Either way, the NSIC conference hasn’t found a way to stop the Mavericks.
Next week, Minnesota State football returns to Mankato to face Minot State on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Blake.
Feature Photo: Tailback Nate Gunn (pictured) ran for 3 TD’s on the day for the Mavericks last Saturday. (Mansoor Ahmad | MSU Reporter)