Top-ranked MSU rallies late to defeat Sioux Falls

MANKATO – Each week during the football season, Minnesota State Mankato chooses a theme to guide its game preparations. The Mavericks picked "brotherhood" as their motto for Saturday's game against Sioux Falls, a quality that proved timely in a 27-14 victory at Blakeslee Stadium.

Top-ranked MSU staggered through the third quarter, turning the ball over three times as the No. 10 Cougars took a 14-10 lead. But on a frigid, windswept sideline, the Mavericks did not engage in any finger-pointing or panic. "It's very easy for a team, when you're down like that and you're expected to win, to crumble and fall apart," coach Todd Hoffner said. "We stuck together."

On their first play of the fourth quarter, sophomore quarterback Nick Pieruccini fired a 41-yard touchdown pass to Dorian Buford to restore the lead — and the Mavericks gained steam from there. They overpowered Sioux Falls with 17 fourth-quarter points to win a matchup of undefeated teams, earning sole possession of first place in the South Division of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings.

MSU (9-0, 9-0 NSIC) got a 70-yard TD run from Connor Thomas and a 27-yard field goal from Alden Haffar in the final eight minutes to seal its 31st consecutive league victory. The Mavericks defense also contributed big plays in the fourth quarter, stopping Sioux Falls (8-1, 8-1) at the MSU 17-yard line and forcing two Cougars turnovers.

With two regular-season games remaining, the victory gave a significant boost to MSU's pursuit of a third consecutive berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Mavericks entered the week ranked second in Super Region 3, with Minnesota Duluth first and Sioux Falls third.

"This is the second game in a row we've been [behind]," Hoffner said. "The resiliency of this squad, and the toughness they portray, they never give up. They're not quitters. They're fighters."

The game matched the NSIC's two highest-scoring offenses and its two stingiest defenses. The Mavericks scored first, taking a 7-0 lead on Pieruccini's 7-yard run midway through the first quarter. The touchdown came after Joshua Gordon blindsided Cougars quarterback Luke Papilion and forced a fumble that MSU recovered at the Sioux Falls 30-yard line.

In that rocky third quarter, Pieruccini — making his first career start — threw an interception on MSU's first drive. The Mavericks twice fumbled the ball away, and a 5-yard punt gave Sioux Falls the ball at the MSU 45. But the Cougars scored only once, on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Papilion to Josh Angulo that gave them a 14-10 lead with 9:34 remaining in the quarter.

Sioux Falls missed three long field-goal attempts — including two in the third quarter — and Papilion was sacked seven times. MSU defensive end Joshua Gordon, who leads Division II in sacks, improved his season total to 16½ with four sacks among his 10 tackles.

"This puts us in the driver's seat for the rest of the season, being our biggest challenge so far," said MSU linebacker Kris Fleigle, who stopped one fourth-quarter drive with an interception and another with a fourth-down sack. "We've just got to stay focused."