MSU football looks to take down U-Mary
Andrew Neururer Sports Editor
After another dominating game for the Minnesota State football team, the Mavericks will return home to take on University of Mary on Saturday.
The MSU defense has continued to hold its opponents to under 10 points in every game, besides week one against Southwest Minnesota State. Last week against Northern State, they held them to just a touchdown.
The defense will be looking to push that streak to six games. This season, the U-Mary Marauders are just 1-5 and will be coming into Mankato after earning their first win on Oct. 13 against Upper Iowa. Beyond that win, U-Mary has been inconsistent on both sides of the ball.
On Sept. 28, they scored 32 points and lost. The week after that, they lost after scoring zero points – which has been a consistent trend of offense for the Marauders. On defense, they have given up 30 or more points every week, beyond their first win against Upper Iowa.
U-Mary will be led by quarterback Logan Nelson. He has 733 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions this season.
Most of his passes end up in the hands of wide receiver Danny Kittner. He has 26 receptions for 449 yards and two touchdowns on the season. The next guy on the list is wide receiver Leonardo Vecchi, who has gained 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Rushing wise, Bryan Lumsden has taken the bulk of the carriers for the Marauders. This season, he has gained 281 yards and two touchdowns, averaging only 3.8 yards per carry.
On the Mavericks’ side of things, running back Nate Gunn failed to reach 100 rushing yards for the first time this season last week. However, he reached the endzone twice on 14 carries. Each week he has dominated defenses and should see the same success again this week.
Senior Ryan Schlichte is emerging this season as his former self. In recent years, he has been productive throwing the ball and has started to heat things up in the last few weeks. He and junior quarterback JD Ekowa will be looking to command the aerial attack.
Senior wide receiver Shane Zylstra has been the main offensive weapon for the receivers. He has 696 yards and eight touchdowns, a sizeable lead over senior wide receiver Justin Arnold, who has 245 yards. MSU will look to get someone other than Zylstra in the endzone, as he has eight of the 11 touchdowns in receiving this year.
The Mavericks have been great on both sides of the ball and that should be no different as they gear up to play the Marauders at the Blakeslee Stadium this Saturday.
Header photo: Minnesota State running back Nate Gunn (23) runs with the ball during the second half of a football game against Minnesota-Duluth at the Blakeslee Stadium Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 in Mankato, Minn. (Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter)