SIOUX FALLS, S.D. --- It came down to the final minute Saturday afternoon in Sioux Falls, but it was #1 Minnesota State that was able to come away with the 27-23 win at #13 Sioux Falls.
With its win, MSU finished its regular season with an 11-0 record and an outright NSIC Championship. With the loss, USF finished its regular season with a 9-2 record.
The first quarter proved to be a defensive struggle as both teams only managed to get a field goal. USF opened the scoring with 5:14 left in the quarter as Stuart Vanden Heuvel connected on a 26-yard field goal. The Mavericks answered right back on their next drive as they drove 46 yards in eight plays to set up a 39-yard field goal from junior
Casey Bednarski.
The game remained tied through the early part of the second quarter but a timely interception by freshman
Cade Johnson set the Mavericks up with great field position at the USF 17. The Cougar defense managed to keep MSU out of the end zone, which forced the Mavericks to send in Bednarski, who put the Mavericks up 6-3 after a 27-yard field goal.
Trailing 6-3, USF responded on its following drive as it went 82 yards in 3:38 to go up 10-6. A 54-yard run by Jason Towns got the Cougars inside the Maverick 10 yard line. Ian Fieber finished the drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Michael Maxwell.
After both teams were forced to punt on their next drives, MSU took over on its own 40 with 1:30 to go in the half. A pair of rushes by freshman
Justin Taormina and a personal foul by the Cougars set the Mavericks up on the USF 32. Sophomore
Ryan Schlichte then connected with freshman
Nyles Williams on a 32-yard touchdown pass to put MSU up 13-10 heading into halftime.
The third quarter belonged to the Cougars as they scored 10 points to take 20-13 lead. On its second drive of the third quarter, USF went 67 yards on eight plays to go up 17-13. Fieber finished the drive with his second touchdown pass of the game, this time a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ty Smith. USF increased its lead to 20-13 after a 35-yard field goal from Vanden Heuvel with 4:41 to go. A fumble recovery by Noah St. Pierre on the MSU 24 set up the field Vanden Heuvel's field goal.
The start of the fourth quarter saw USF extend its lead to 23-13 with 7:39 to go in the game. Vanden Heuvel capped off the Cougar drive with his third field goal of the game, this time from 32 yards out.
MSU answered on its following drive as Schlichte hooked up with sophomore
Shane Zylstra on a 61-yard touchdown pass. MSU's 81-yard touchdown drive took just 2:15 off the clock.
USF started its following drive with 5:09 on the clock, but just three plays in the Maverick defense forced a fumble that was recovered by Johnson with 3:47 to go. On their ensuing drive, the Mavericks failed to convert on fourth down as the Cougars took over on their own 41 with 1:57 remaining.
USF ran the ball three times and MSU was forced to use all three of its timeouts as USF lined up to punt. On the snap, the ball hit one of the USF blockers and was recovered freshman
Lukas Burrington on the USF 29 with 1:39 left. Four plays into MSU's final drive, Schlichte hooked up with Zylstra on a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Mavericks a 27-23 lead. MSU prevented any chance of a comeback on USF's final drive as sophomore
Jack Curtis recorded his fifth interception of the season to end the game as the Mavericks recorded their fourth 11-0 regular season record in the last six last six seasons.
As a team, MSU tallied 270 yards of offense against USF, including 181 passing yards. Sioux Falls tallied 390 yards of offense, including 255 passing yards.
Schlichte finished his game completing 10 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Zylstra finished with 102 receiving yards and two touchdown catches. His 102 receiving yards marks the third time this season he has tallied more than 100 receiving yards in a game. Taormina finished with 50 rushing yards and now sits at 976 rushing yards on the season.
Senior
Jerry Nash III led the Maverick defense with 11 tackles, while senior
Evan Perrizo tallied seven tackles and two sacks. The MSU defense also recorded two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Johnson notched and interception and a fumble recovery, while Curtis recorded his team-leading fifth interception of the season.
Minnesota State will learn its NCAA Tournament fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. The selection show can be viewed on NCAA.com.
-30-
