PORTALES, N.M. — Midwestern St. (9-2) used a 22-point unanswered run across three scoring drives to defeat Eastern N.M. (0-11) 57-32 on Saturday. The Mustangs ran for 460 yards and three touchdowns and finished with 33 first downs.
The Mustangs used two touchdowns and a fourth-down red-zone stop to finish the first quarter ahead 14-0. MSU turned its first possession into a 42-yard scoring drive, with
Joseph Dodds carrying for gains of 14 and 13 yards before his 6-yard touchdown at 11:20 and
Kohen Maroney's extra point. After ENMU moved from midfield to the MSU 11, the Mustangs held on fourth-and-5 at 3:50 to keep the score at 7-0. MSU answered with an 89-yard drive in 1:09, highlighted by Dodds' 40-yard run and
Oliver Jack's 25-yard gain before
Fabian Baez caught a 10 yard pass to find the end zone for a 14-0 lead. The Greyhounds reached the MSU 5-yard line on the final play of the quarter, but the Mustangs closed the segment with 125 rushing yards, six rushing first downs and the 14-point advantage.
MSU's defense made the quarter's closing stand, stopping ENMU at the MSU 1 as time expired after a 94-yard drive, and the Mustangs went into halftime ahead 14-3. Earlier, after the Greyhounds added a 21-yard field goal at 13:38, MSU answered with a ground-heavy drive from its 20 that included
Ace Traylor gains of 15, eight and nine yards and
Kenji Johnson's fourth-and-1 conversion at the ENMU 42, but two holding penalties pushed the possession back before a punt. The defense followed with
Ronald Manning dropping a run for a loss,
Trevor Brooks recording a sack and
Daylon Owens and
Tre'Von Bates combining on another sack to force a punt. The Mustangs then drove from their 38 to the ENMU 5 behind Dodds,
Kaden Brown and Johnson, but Johnson's 27-yard run ended with a fumble recovered by the Greyhounds; after another Owens/Brooks sack pinned ENMU at its 1, the final drive reached the MSU 1 before
Ethan Dishman made the tackle on the last play.
MSU controlled much of the third quarter, scoring on both completed possessions and carrying a 28-9 lead into the fourth. The Mustangs opened the half with a 13-play, 65-yard drive that included two penalty-aided first downs and ended with
Kaden Brown's 1-yard touchdown pass to
Aanjay Feliciano at 9:37, followed by Maroney's extra point for a 21-3 lead. After ENMU answered with a 44-yard touchdown pass and failed on the rushing try, MSU responded in five plays as Dodds broke runs of eight and 19 yards before Brown found
Dominic Cox for a 25-yard touchdown at 5:56. The Mustangs then forced a turnover on downs near midfield, and although a penalty and sack backed up the next drive, Brown converted fourth-and-5 with a 10-yard run to the ENMU 5 as the quarter expired.
The Mustangs finished the fourth quarter with 29 points, 200 yards of offense and no punts, closing out a 57-32 win over ENMU. Earlier,
Kaden Brown hit
Brock Temple for a 5-yard touchdown at 14:55, and after Manning recovered a Greyhounds fumble at the ENMU 29,
Kenji Johnson capped a two-play drive with a 24-yard touchdown run to make it 43-9. ENMU answered with touchdowns that cut the score to 43-24, including one after Brown was intercepted in the red zone, but MSU responded from its own 31 with a drive finished by Brown's 30-yard touchdown pass to
Davian Watson at 2:17. After the Greyhounds used a 74-yard kickoff return to set up another touchdown and two-point conversion, the Mustangs moved 75 yards in 1:40, with
Sean Jastrab completing a 20-yard pass to
Malakai Matthews and
Alton Henderson adding runs of seven and 21 yards before Jastrab found
Jose Rangel for a 9-yard touchdown with eight seconds left.
Kaden Brown completed 16 of 25Â passes for 150 yards and five touchdowns and added 33 rushing yards. Dodds rushed 24 times for 196 yards and a touchdown.
Kenji Johnson added 126 rushing yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and caught a two-point conversion.
Trevor Brooks recorded six tackles and 1.5 sacks. Brown set new single-season records for passing touchdowns (36) and passing yards (3,338), while the Mustangs posted the 7th most rushing yards during a single-game, and the most since 2013.
Clifton Cooper completed 14 of 23 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns and rushed 27 times for 74 yards and a score. Mekhi Norris caught four passes for 104 yards and a touchdown and completed his only pass for 14 yards. Trei Kibbles added three receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown. Matthew Quartieri finished with 14 tackles.
The Mustangs are 9-2 overall and 8-1 in conference play. ENMU is 0-11 overall and 0-9 in conference play. Midwestern State now waits for its postseason fate to be announced, as the Mustangs hope to here their name called during NCAA DII Football Selection Show. The online selection show can be seen at NCAA.com at 5 p.m. (CT).
