The Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks continued to showcase why they are so deserving of our number one ranking Saturday, when they scored touchdowns on their first six possessions in a 47-13 rout of BR-22 Concord.
The Mavericks finished the day with 498 yards of total offense and held onto the ball for 15 more minutes than the Mountain Lions.
Although they only had four possessions in the first half, MSU-Mankato made them all count, scoring TDs in each while also going two-for-two on two-point conversions.
Their first scoring drive went 83 yards in 12 plays and Ricky Lloyd found Jeff Burns for the score from 21-yards away. Connor Thomas rushed for two to make it 8-0.
On their next possession, the Mavericks went 56 yards on 10 plays, and this time Lloyd hit Kyle Riggott from 20 yards away to make the score 15-0. After short Concord drive ended in a punt, the Mavericks went 80 yards in 11 plays on their third drive, which culminated in another Lloyd touchdown pass, this time to Thomas. Concord finally got on the board half way through the second on a six-yard touchdown run by Ben Nester.
Minnesota State-Mankato made sure to quell any hopes the Mountain Lions had of a comeback with yet another sustained touchdown drive. The offense chugged 75 yards in 9 plays, and Nick Pieruccini’s 11 yard touchdown run and two-point scamper made the score 30-7 going into halftime — basically out of reach.
The MSU-Mankato offense ended the day with 28 first downs, compared to just 15 for Concord. Thomas led all rushers with 123 yards on just 14 carries, part of 268 rushing yards for the Mavericks. Lloyd finished the day an efficient 14-of-18 for 177 yards and four touchdowns with completions to seven different receivers. Dorian Buford led all receivers with 99 yards on seven catches.
The offense was masterful on third down, converting 13-of-17 attempts. They even converted two of their three fourth down attempts.
Perhaps the most telling statistic on the afternoon was zero, as in: zero punts for the Mavericks.
“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage,” Minnesota State-Mankato coach Todd Hoffner said after the win. “We thought that was extremely important today. It was good to see the offensive line dominating the way they have the whole season.”
It was a different story on the other side of the ball. Concord QB Brian Novak was just 18 of 29 for 228 yards and two interceptions. He was also sacked three times on the day. The running game wasn’t much better, totaling just 88 yards on the afternoon.
The win sends Minnesota State-Mankato to Kansas City to take on BR-6 Colorado State-Pueblo who punched their ticket to the final dance with a 10-7 win over West Georgia. The December 20th matchup kicks off at 4:00 PM ET on ESPN2.
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