MARYVILLE, Mo. --- #13 Minnesota State's fast start proved to be the difference Thursday evening in Maryville as the Mavericks bested #22 Northwest Missouri State 36-22 in the Show Me State Showdown.

With the win, MSU improves to 1-0 on the season, while NWMSU drops to 0-1. This marks the 12th consecutive season that the Mavericks have won their season opener.

"I thought that we had a lot of early motivation and we were all about the team early in the game," head coach Todd Hoffner said. "I thought we were in good shape back from halftime. Northwest Missouri State capitalized on a few of our errors but our resiliency and resolve proved to be the difference down the stretch."

On its first drive, the Maverick offense went 71 yards in 10 plays to jump out in front 8-0. Senior Hayden Ekern completed two passes and rushed for 23 yards, including the six-yard touchdown carry. Senior Joey Goettl then connected on a pass with junior Jake Cicero for the two point conversion.

After their second drive ended with a blocked field goal, the Mavericks took over on their own 23 with 13:14 to go in the second quarter. Ekern started the drive with a 32-yard pass to junior TreShawn Watson, before five straight rushes brought the Mavericks to the end zone. Ekern finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown carry to put MSU ahead 15-0.

Freshman Sam Backer started MSU's fourth drive of the game with a 42-yard carry that set the Mavericks up on the Bearcat 11. Minnesota State worked its way up to the Northwest one yard line, before Ekern notched his third rushing touchdown of the game to put the Mavericks ahead 22-0 before halftime.

While the Maverick offense scored on three of its first four possessions of the game, the defense allowed just four first downs through the first 30 minutes as the Bearcats mustered 95 total yards of offense compared to MSU's 234. The Mavericks forced a trio of three and outs and forced a fumble in the red zone that was recovered by senior Max Lommel to end Northwest Missouri State's scoring chance.

Leading 22-0, MSU started the third quarter with the ball. The Mavericks drove down to the Northwest Missouri 31. Looking at a fourth and three, Ekern connected with senior Gabe Hagen on a 31-yard touchdown pass to increase Minnesota State's lead to 29-0.

Northwest Missouri State reached the scoring column late in the third quarter as a Maverick snap rolled out the back of the end zone for a safety. On their following drive, the Bearcats reached the end zone via 43-yard touchdown pass from Chris Ruhnke to Andrew Bradley to bring the score to 29-9.

In the fourth quarter, the Bearcats took advantage of a pair of MSU turnovers that set up a pair of touchdowns which cut MSU's lead to 29-22 with 10:53 to go in the game. Ruhnke connected with Luke Matthews on an 8-yard touchdown pass, before hooking up with Tank Young on a 13-yard touchdown pass.

With their lead cut to seven, the Mavericks responded with a 13-play, 74-yard drive that took 7:01 off the clock. MSU's drive was capped by Ekern's fourth rushing touchdown and MSU went back ahead by 14 with 3:46 to go. Both teams kept each other off the scoreboard in the closing minutes as MSU claimed the 36-22 win.

Ekern finished his day with 56 rushing yards and four touchdown carries. He also threw for 205 yards and a touchdown, while Backer notched his first 100-yard rushing performance as he led all rushers with 104 rushing yards.

"I'm proud of the way Hayden played," Hoffner said. "I'm also proud of his leadership and his performance during big plays down the stretch."

Hagen led the Maverick receiving corps with six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.

In total, the Mavericks notched 423 yards of total offense, while the Bearcats managed 251, including 268 through the air. As a unit, the Maverick defense held the Bearcats to -17 rushing yards, -27 yards shy of the team record of -44 rushing yards allowed vs. Minot State back in 2012.

Senior Cody Brown led the Maverick defense with seven tackles and two sacks, while senior Antonio Alzheimer notched five tackles and a sack.

Minnesota State hosts No. 25 Bemidji State in its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Blakeslee Stadium.