Box Score
In a battle of the only unbeaten teams in the NSIC Southern Division, No. 7 Minnesota State University, Mankato, defeated Augustana 36-6 Saturday at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato, Minn.
Augustana slipped to 4-2 overall, 3-2 in the NSIC and 1-1 in the NSIC South. Minnesota State remained undefeated at 6-0 overall, 5-0 in the NSIC and 3-0 in the NSIC South.
Minnesota State won the battle of the field position in the first half as the Mavericks outscored the Vikings 22-0 in the first two periods.
MSU scored on its first drive as Steve Pachan found Cameron Sprecher for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 9:29 left in the first quarter. It would be the Mavericks' longest-scoring drive of the afternoon.
The Mavericks made the score 13-0 early in the second quarter on an 18-yard pass from Pachan to Vincent Flury with 14:08 remaining on the clock to cap a 5-play, 54-yard drive.
After Sam Brockshus kicked a 31-yard field goal with 7:45 left in the half to make it 16-0, Minnesota State extended its lead right before intermission. Following a bad snap on fourth down, MSU took over at the Viking 17. On the next play, Pachan found Flurry for a touchdown with just 46 seconds remaining in the half. Flurry was flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the play and was ejected. One of the penalties was assessed on the PAT and Brockshus missed the attempt, leaving the score 22-0.
Flurry's ejection proved large as he had 4 catches for 109 yards and 2 scores in the first half.
On the ensuing kickoff,
Jordan Marshall gave Augustana excellent field position with a 50-yard return to the MSU 16. The Vikings appeared to have scored when
Luke Butler found
Tyler Schulte for a 24-yard touchdown with 9 seconds left in the half, but Butler was flagged for an illegal pass beyond the line of scrimmage. Andrew Behrens then missed a 44-yard field goal attempt.
The third quarter went back and forth until the Vikings got on the scoreboard with 1:25 left in the stanza. Butler connected with Schulte for an 18-yard score to cap an 8-play, 70-yard drive.
MSU added an insurance score when Pachan tossed a 28-yard scoring pass to Sprecher with 9:15 left in the game to make the score 29-6.
The Mavericks then intercepted Butler on Augustana's next 2 possessions to secure the win.
Augustana was held to a season-low 153 total yards, including only 42 yards rushing. Butler returned to the lineup after missing last week's game and threw for 111 yards on 19 of 39 passing. Schulte was the top receiver with 5 catches for 39 yards, while
Adam Diamond had a team-high 28 yards rushing.
Pachan finished the game 12 of 29 passing for 214 yards and 4 touchdowns. As a team, MSU amassed 389 total yards.
Defensively,
Andrew Keel collected a game-high 13 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss.
Brandon McMichael, making his first start since Week 2, added 9 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
Eric Bergman had 6 tackles, including 2 sacks and a fumble recovery.
Augustana remains on the road next week when the Vikings travel to Marshall, Minn., to face Southwest Minnesota State in a 7 p.m. contest.
