MOORHEAD, Minn. --- #15 Minnesota State claimed fourth road victory of the season Saturday afternoon as the Mavericks bested MSU Moorhead 24-19.

With the win, the Mavericks improve to 6-1 on the season, including a 5-1 NSIC record. With the loss, the Dragons drop to 2-4, including a 2-3 conference record.

"It was great to see the players and coaches bounce back from last week to get a win on the road," head coach Todd Hoffner said. "We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball which allowed us to rush for more than 200 yards and get to a couple of sacks against MSU Moorhead. "We're looking forward to a week of improvement and then get back to Blakeslee for Augustana."

After stopping the Dragons on fourth down on the opening drive of the game, the Mavericks advanced down to the Dragon 24 yard line before junior Matthew Jaeger kicked a 40-yard field goal to give the Mavericks an early 3-0 lead.

"The start of the game was important for our defense to get a stop on fourth down and then get a score right away from Matt Jaeger," Hoffner said.

Early in the second quarter, the Dragons were able to go up 9-3 after a three-yard touchdown run by Flynn Ridgway and a 38-yard field goal from Max Watson. The Mavericks responded with a pair of touchdown drives of their own as a four-yard touchdown run from senior Hayden Ekern and a 10-yard touchdown pass from Ekern to senior Gabe Hagen put the Mavericks up 17-9. The Dragons managed another field goal as time expired in the second quarter as Watson connected from 33 yards out to bring the halftime score to 17-12.

After both teams failed to score on their first two drives of the third quarter, the Mavericks took over on their own 40 with 9:21 to go in the quarter. The Mavericks proceeded to march 60 yards down field on 12 plays to increase their lead to 24-12. MSU rushed on 10-of-12 plays during its scoring drive, including a one-yard touchdown by Ekern up the middle to reach the end zone.

The Dragons managed to drive all the way up to the Maverick five yard line on their next drive but junior Karson Dunn broke up the would-be touchdown pass on fourth down to end the Dragon scoring threat with 12:52 to go in the game.

The Dragons did manage to score a touchdown on their next drive to cut the Maverick lead to 24-19 with 1:54 to go, but the proceeding onside kick gave the Mavericks the ball on the Dragon 44. The Dragons forced a 4th and 1 on their own 35, but a 24-yard rush up the middle by Ekern sealed the 24-19 win for the Mavericks.

Ekern finished his day with 168 passing yards and a touchdown. Junior Isaiah Emanuel notched 65 receiving yards, while senior Grant Guyett tallied 48 receiving yards.

Freshman Sam Backer led the Maverick rushing attack with 130 yards, while Ekern tallied 59 rushing yards and two touchdown carries.

Junior Terrell Hall, sophomore Nathan Drumm and senior Antonio Alzheimer each recorded six tackles. Senior Maven Krecthe notched two tackles for loss, including one sack and forced one fumble. Junior Abe Hestdalen and sophomore Gage Tennyson each posted a sack as well.

Minnesota State is idle next weekend, but will return to Blakeslee Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26 as it hosts the Augustana Vikings. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.