Keeping the streak alive: Minnesota state now 20-0 against Southwest Minnesota State overall

It only took the Minnesota State football team 10 seconds to get on the board Saturday against Southwest Minnesota State. And they never looked back.

The Mavericks blew out SMSU 45-24 to continue their historic win streak Saturday.

MSU sophomore Damian Chowaniec opened the game with the kickoff. SMSU Senior Austin Moore muffed the kick, resulting in Brock Galetich recovering the ball in the endzone. This gave MSU a very early touchdown making it 7-0 with only 10 seconds knocked off the clock.

SMSU head coach Scott Underwood angrily argued with the refs about the call because Moore claimed he never touched the ball. Because of the lack of replays, the call stood as a muffed ball and the touchdown was given to Gatetich.

“You never know what’s going to happen and how they’re going to make the call,” MSU head coach Todd Hoffner said, “but I thought it touched one of their players, and obviously their player thought he didn’t touch it.”

Following this, SMSU drove the ball down to the Mavs goal line and was stopped on a fourth down resulting in a turnover on downs. Mankato’s first offensive play of the game was an 85-yard receiving play bringing senior wide receiver Nyles Williams into the back of the endzone while the Mavs took a 14-0 lead in the first four minutes.

“Nyles got off to an electric start after the muffed or mishandled kickoff return by Southwest Minnesota State,” Hoffner said.

SMSU put its first points on the scoreboard with a 23-yard field goal from Carter Dicker. The next drive for Mankato started and ended as quickly as the last, but this time did yield a touchdown. Quarterback Hayden Ekern threw an interception to open his second drive. In two offensive plays, Mankato recorded one touchdown and one interception and still found themselves up by 11 in the first quarter. 

“We needed to take care of the ball better, throwing an interception right away isn’t going to help our defense at all,” Hoffner said. 

MSU’s defense saw the field for the majority of the first quarter due to the one-and-done plays by the offense. This allowed SMSU to wear down the Mavs and find a series of scoring opportunities. 

SMSU had two receiving touchdowns thrown to tight end Dustin Pampel in the first half. The first was an 11-yard pass and the second a 20-yard pass making the score 17-14. 

MSU matched these touchdowns with a 54-yard touchdown from Williams. The second touchdown came on the last play of the half when Ekern found DJ Barber open in the endzone for an 8-yard touchdown. 

“That was a gigantic nail in the coffin right?” Hoffner said, “The was only 21-17 prior to that and Hayden threw a touchdown pass with no time left on the clock. Think about the first and last plays of the half, both touchdowns.” 

This final touchdown for Mankato was the beginning of the end for Southwest Minnesota as the end score of the game was 45-24. The Mavs have never lost a game to SMSU and now hold a historic record of 20-0.

MSU is now in a four-way tie in the NSIC with a record of 8-2 with one game remaining. Mankato looks to face Winona State next which may decide who wins the NSIC. 

“I think we can play better and I think a lot of guys are looking forward to the next game,” Hoffner said.

Header Photo: Minnesota State Football team takes the win 45-24 against the SMSU Mustangs. Wide receiver DJ Barber (above) made a juggling catch to secure a touchdown just before halftime Saturday. (Dylan Engel/The Reporter)

Write to Luke Jackson at Luke.Jackson@mnsu.edu