Football extends its winning streak to 9 games over Concordia-St. Paul
The Mavericks move on to 3-0 after an away win over the Golden Bears
Andrew Neururer
Sports Editor
Football extends its winning streak to 9 games over Concordia-St. Paul
The Mavericks move on to 3-0 after an away win over the Golden Bears
The Minnesota State Mavericks are still perfect on the season after beating Concordia-St. Paul this past weekend.
MSU moves to 3-0 after winning 29-3. It was the team’s second away game this season, the first being against Southwest Minnesota State. In this game, the Mavericks had a little more control, never letting the Golden Bears to gain any sort of momentum.
Much like the last few meetings between these two teams, the Mavericks won by a controllable lead. Coming into the game, MSU won by an average of about 30 points and they did just about that. Mankato increases its winning streak against CSP to nine.
MSU used its usual two quarterback combo of JD Ekowa and Ryan Schlichte. However, being up so big towards the end of the game allowed sophomore Brevin Kaiser to get some playing time. Ekowa was the most effective quarterback, going 10-for-12, 88 yards and a touchdown.
Kaiser performed well in limited time, going four-for-five and 56 yards.
Schlichte struggled in Saturday’s performance, completing 30 percent of his 10 attempts and one interception. He’ll look to get back on track at home against Winona State.
MSU found success on the ground behind senior Nate Gunn and junior Justin Taormina. Gunn averaged 7.4 yards per carry, gaining 103 yards on 14 attempts.
Taormina’s rushing touchdown was a 13-yard run. He ended the game with 54 rushing yards on 13 attempts.
Redshirt freshman Kaleb Sleezer was the other player to reach the endzone for the Mavericks rushing attack.
Senior Justin Arnold led the Mavericks in receiving, gaining 50 yards on five receptions.
A familiar suspect in Mankato’s receiving game, Shane Zylstra, found 48 yards on just three receptions. His longest reception was 34 yards in the fourth quarter.
Senior Tyler Schmidt gained just 20 yards on two receptions in the win over CSP, but he was the lone Maverick to reach the endzone on a passing play.
Seniors Garret Jansen and Cheyenne Bradford, both forced a fumble for the Mavericks defense. Seniors Zach Robertson and Alex Goettl both recovered the two forced fumbles.
Junior Cole Schroedermeier found success once again, collecting his third interception in three straight weeks. He also added three solo tackles in what was another great performance.
Junior Jack Leius led the way in tackles for the Mavericks, finishing with seven tackles. Four and a half of those were tackles for a loss, creating the Golden Bears to lose a total of 14 yards.
The Mavericks will return home to take on Winona State. That game will be at 1 p.m., Saturday at the Blakeslee Stadium.
Header photo by Mansoor Ahmad | MSU Reporter.