WICHITA FALLS, Texas - BeeJay Mathis has made a name for himself as a punt returner during his collegiate career at Midwestern State.

Mathis was at it again in Saturday night's season-opening 41-0 whitewashing of New Mexico Highlands at Memorial Stadium.

The 5-9 senior Dallas who has ranked among NCAA Division II's 10 best punt return men in the last two seasons returned delivered the third-best return game of his career as he dashed 89 yards on three returns.

But the Mustangs proved the New Mexico Highlands' special teams had much more to worry about than Mathis' superb return ability as MSU's punt return unit played a direct role in Midwestern's first 24 points of the game before adding a score of its own late in the fourth quarter.

Mathis returned NMHU punter Vicente Gonzales' first offering of the night 29 yards to set the Mustangs up with a short field late in the first quarter.

Four plays later, MSU quarterback Zack Eskridge four Tyron Morrison in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard scoring strike to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.

The Midwestern defense, which limited the Cowboys to 124 total yards and forced three-and-outs on 10 of 14 possessions, put Gonzales back on the field three plays later, but this time it Mathis wasn't the concern.

Junior Austin McDaniel broke through to get a piece of the ball on a 15-yard effort to set the Mustangs up in New Mexico Highlands territory, but MSU settled on a 23-yard field from Jose Martinez to push the advantage to 10-0.

The rough night continued for Highlands later in the second quarter deep snapper Tyler Pollard's snap sailed over Gonzales' head. MSU sophomore linebacker Ty Duncan recovered the ball at the 12-yard line to set up a 5-yard strike from Eskridge to Andy Tanner to give Midwestern a 17-0 halftime lead.

The Mustangs kept the pressure on in the second half as Mathis broke for a 32-yard return to the NMHU 37-yard.

Eskridge connected with Tyron Morrison on a quick flat pass for 13 yards before floating a screen pass to Marcus Mathis, who raced 24 yards for a touchdown to push the MSU lead to 24-0 less than three minutes into the second half.

The Mustangs pushed the lead to 31-0 on a 1-yard scoring plunge by BeeJay Mathis before Martinez hit a 39-yard field goal five minute into the first quarter.

Duncan closed out the scoring when he scooped up a punt blocked by Jeremy McDonald and sauntered 8 yards for the final tally.

Eskridge piloted the MSU offense 331 total yards by connecting on 20-of-26 passes for 219 yards and three touchdowns. The junior from Rockwall hit nine receivers, but Tanner, who recorded career highs with nine receptions for 98 yards, was his favorite target.

Junior Marcus Mathis paced the MSU rushing attack with 49 yards on nine carries, while BeeJay Mathis closed with 34 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.

The MSU defense limited the Cowboys to 124 total yards including 50 rushing yards on 30 attempts.

Senior linebacker Emmanuel Bagley led the Mustangs with seven tackles, while Ryan Craven and Austin Shields added five each.

The Mustangs pressured New Mexico Highlands quarterback Narcisco Diaz into two interceptions (Craven, Antoine Cumby), three sacks (Kennedy Ezimako, Kevin Birdow, Stephen Turner) and hurried him on six occasions including twice each by Ezimako, Shields and Turner.

Midwestern State opens Lone Star Conference crossover play Saturday against Southeastern Oklahoma State at Paul Laird Field in Durant. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.