Box Score Mankato, Minn. --- It was a promising start for Minnesota State in the NCAA Division II Football Championship Semifinal game Saturday at Blakeslee Stadium against Valdosta State. The Mavericks jumped out to a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter, but it was all Valdosta from that point on. The Blazers outscored the Mavericks 35-9 the rest of the way as MSU’s historic season ended with a 35-19 defeat.
 
MSU had a big advantage in time of possession in the first quarter holding the ball for just over 11 minutes. Junior quarterback Jon Wolf was the catalyst especially on a 14-play, 67-yard drive which led to a 29-yard field goal by junior kicker Sam Brockshus. Wolf finished the drive with 53 yards of rushing on the drive.
 
Wolf rushed for 127 yards on the afternoon on 20 carries. He was 11 of 24 through the air for 195 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
 
The Mavericks didn’t to possess the ball long on their next scoring drive though. Wolf began with a 25-yard rush to the Valdosta State 45 and then ran for 18 yards down to the 32 on a third-and-16. 
 
An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty then moved MSU in the red zone.
 
Two plays later, Wolf used his arm to get the Mavericks in the end zone when he hit senior Adam Thielen for a 17-yard scoring strike to give MSU a 10-0 lead with 12:17 left in the second quarter.
 
Thielen finished his final game as a Maverick with six catches for 128 yards, marking his fourth 100-yard game of the season and the fifth of his career.
 
From that point on, it was all VSU. The Blazers countered MSU’s score with a 10-play, 82-yard scoring drive culminating in an 8-yard Gerald Ford touchdown reception from Cayden Cochran.
 
After holding MSU to a three-and-out, the Blazers found the end zone again when Cochran hit Seantavious Jones in the back corner of the end zone giving Valdosta State a 14-10 lead late in the first half.
 
Time of possession was reversed in the second quarter as the Blazers held the ball for over 11 minutes.
 
“I thought we did a great job of dominating time of possession and running the football in that first quarter, but the second quarter was completely different,” said acting head coach Aaron Keen. “I thought their offense did a great job responding against the challenge we threw out.”
 
Valdosta State used the momentum they had going into halftime and continued in the opening drive of the second half as Cochran ended a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run giving the Blazers a 21-10 lead.
 
After a Brockshus 39-yard field goal closed the gap to 21-13, the Blazers opened up the lead more when Cochran scored again, this time a yard out, giving Valdosta State a 28-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.
 
The Mavericks showed no signs of quitting getting in the end zone quickly. Sophomore Andy Pfeiffer rushed it in from a yard out which culminated a 6-play, 75-yard drive, taking 3:19 off the clock. Brockshus missed the extra point meaning the Mavericks still trailed by two scores, 28-19.
 
MSU drove deep into Blazers territory on their next drive, but Brockshus missed a 30-yard field goal wide left with 3:35 left.
 
Austin Scott scored from 31 yards out on the next drive, putting the game out of reach for the Mavericks.
 
The loss ends the Mavericks season at 13-1 and one win away from playing in the national championship game.
 
“To even get to this point was unbelievable,” said Thielen. “We had bigger goals than this, but we’re definitely happy with the way the season went.
 
We’re excited the younger guys for next year and we’re excited for the coaches, because they did a heck of a job this year.”
 
Defensively, sophomore safety Nathan Hancock recorded nine tackles while sophomore linebacker Isaac Kolstad, junior defensive end Chris Schaudt, senior safety Earl Brooks and sophomore linebacker Kris Fleigle all had six stops. What the postgame press conference here: