MANKATO, Minn. --- The third-ranked Minnesota State football team set a new school record for points in a game in a 74-17 win over the University of Mary Marauders Saturday afternoon at Blakeslee Stadium.
With the win, the Mavericks improve to 7-0 (7-0 NSIC), while the Marauders fall to 1-6 (1-6 NSIC). MSU has now won its last 31 NSIC games.
The Mavericks jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the second play of the game when junior safety Cade Johnson intercepted a U-Mary pass and brought it back 26 yards for a touchdown. The Marauders answered in the next drive with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Bryan Lumsden.
Senior quarterback Ryan Schlichte then connected with senior wide receiver Shane Zylstra for a 32-yard touchdown on MSU's following drive. The Mavericks then converted on a 2-point conversion to push the lead to 15-7 with 8:33 left in the first quarter.
Senior wide receiver Justin Arnold then scored on back-to-back drives to give the Mavericks a 29-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Arnold took the ball on a jet sweep and ran 41 yards for his first score before catching a 24-yard touchdown pass from Schlichte.
Senior cornerback Parrish Marrow increased the Maverick lead to 36-7 when he returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown with 13:22 to go in the first half. A six-yard touchdown run from Zyltra made it a 43-7 before a 58-yard touchdown run from senior running back Nate Gunn made it 50-7 and ended the first half scoring.
The Mavericks added four more scores in the second half, including a pair of touchdown runs from junior running back Justin Taormina from 41 and 26 yards outs, a one-yard touchdown run from freshman Kaleb Sleezer and a 20-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Ashton Garner as the final score read 74-17.
Garner's field goal set an MSU single-game record with 74 points, passing the previous record of 73 points set during MSU's 73-7 win at Upper Iowa on Nov. 16, 2013. MSU's 673 yards of total offense fell just short of its single-game record of 699 yards set against Northwest Missouri State during the 1993 season.
As a unit, the Mavericks tallied 460 rushing yards against the Marauders, with Gunn leading the way with 118. Taormina added 91 rushing yards as well, while Sleezer posted 67. MSU also tallied 213 passing yards, with Zylstra leading the way with 91 receiving yards.
Juniors Cole Schroedermeier and Lukas Burrington led the Maverick defense with five tackles each. Burrington, along with freshman Nic Dahlke, senior Garret Jansen and freshman Logan Josephson each recorded a sack as well. As a unit, U-Mary was held to 17 points and 226 yards of offense, including just 40 rushing yards.
Minnesota State concludes the northern portion of its NSIC schedule on Saturday, Nov. 26, as it takes on Minnesota Crookston at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
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