BISMARCK, ND – The University of Mary pounded out 196 yards on the ground and held the ball for a quarter longer than 20
th -ranked Minnesota State University. Big plays proved the homestanding Marauders downfall in the season opener, however, as the Mavericks ran to a 35-7 win.
The Marauders possessed the ball for 37:30 of the contest to 22:30 for the Mavericks. UMary ran off 70 plays for 286 yards, including 64 yards rushing by freshman
DeShawn Gay in his collegiate debut.
Sebastian Franck-Love added another 33 yards and
Michael Buster had 29 tough yards inside.
MSU made the most of its limited time, rolling up 420 yards of offense, including 273 yards on the ground. Nate Gunn ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Justin Taormina added 73 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Both teams committed two turnovers as each fumbled the ball away twice. Both times Minnesota State converted the UMary miscues into touchdowns. The Marauders, however, failed to turn the opportunities into points.
The Mavericks opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game. After recovering a Marauders fumble at the home 21 yard line Gunn scored from 1 yard out six plays later. MSU followed with scoring drives of 80 and 82 yards to move ahead 21-0 early in the second quarter.
Colton Farmer led the Marauders lone scoring drive of the day, capping a 65 yard march on 11 plays with a 2-yard run halfway through the second quarter, pulling within 21-7 at half.
Daniel Hudrlik gave the Marauders a chance to cut into the Mavericks lead, sacking the MSU quarterback on the opening possession of the second half. UMary, though, was unable to take advantage. The preseason favorites in the Northern Sun then put the game away, driving 82 and 48 yards for scores to build a 35-7 lead at the end of the third stanza.
Hudrlik posted a career-high two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss to led the Marauders defense.
Noah Krebs posted 10 tackles.
Cyrano Rayfield,
Casey Uhler and
Jarad Zittleman all added six stops for UMary.
Cade Johnson posted 10 tackles for loss for the Mavericks. Evan Perrizo had two tackles for loss.
The Marauders next travel to Wayne State College for a Northern Sun contest on Saturday, Sept. 8.
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