MOORHEAD, Minn. --- The third-rated Minnesota State football team kept its momentum up Saturday afternoon on the road as it trounced the MSU Moorhead Dragons by the score of 69-13.

With the win, the Mavericks improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Dragons drop to 0-2 on the season.

The Maverick offense clicked all game long against the Dragons as it posted 611 yards of total offense, including 350 rushing yards.

Junior Connor Thomas added 89 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while senior Andy Pfeiffer notched 68 rushing yards and one touchdown. Junior Anthony Lewis added an additional rushing touchdown as well.

Through the air, senior Dorian Buford proved to be a hot target as he notched 117 receiving yards and four touchdown catches. Senior Keyvan Rudd caught two passes for 59 yards as well.

MSU's sophomore quarterbacks in Ricky Lloyd and Nick Pieruccini each threw a pair of touchdown passes against the Dragons. Lloyd connected on 7-of-15 passes for 116 yards, while Pieruccini added 102 passing yards, while connecting on 4-of-6 passing attempts. Sophomore Neico Stokke also threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Austin Rieder.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Mavericks held the Dragons to a total of 13 points and 271 yards of total offense. 

Junior Jordan Campbell led the Maverick defense with 11 tackles, while junior Tyler Henderson added seven tackles and forced a fumble. 

Junior Josh Gordon and sophomore Colt Nero each posted a quarterback sack, with Nero also recovering one fumble. Senior Nathan Hancock recovered another fumble for the Mavericks as well.

The Mavericks opened the scoring on their first drive of the afternoon as Thomas ran in a 12-yard touchdown to give the Mavericks the early advantage. Junior Alden Haffar added to the MSU lead on its second drive of the game as he connected on a 22-yard field goal to put the Mavericks up 10-0.

MSU's fourth drive of the first quarter saw Pieruccini connect with Buford on a 38-yard touchdown pass to put the Mavericks up 17-0. Haffar added a 44-yard field goal in MSU's final drive of the first quarter to give the Mavericks a 20-0 lead heading into the second frame.

The Mavericks kept the pressure up in the second quarter as Pfeiffer notched a 26-yard touchdown run, before Thomas ran in a seven-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. The Dragons managed to get on the scoreboard as Jake Hodge threw a 15-yard touchdown strike to Cory Ambrose, as the Mavericks took a 34-7 lead into the second half.

The third quarter saw the Mavericks score on their opening drive as Pieruccini threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Buford to put MSU up 41-7. The Dragons answered with a touchdown pass of their own, but missed the extra point to bring the score to 41-13 in favor of the Mavericks. With 1:13 to go in the third quarter Buford caught his third touchdown pass of the game off a 21-yard pass from Lloyd to put MSU up 48-13. 

The Mavericks would add three more touchdowns to their stat sheet in the fourth quarter as they defeated the Dragons 69-13. Buford caught his fourth touchdown pass with 14:51 left in the fourth quarter, before Rieder hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Stokke with 7:56 left in the game. Lewis scored MSU's final touchdown of the game at the 2:45 mark of the fourth quarter on a seven-yard touchdown run.

The Mavericks return home on Saturday, Sept. 20, as they take on the Minot State Beavers. The opening kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

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