The SMSU Mustangs defeated No. 19 UMD Bulldogs 42-38 on Thursday, Sept. 3 in a thrilling come from behind victory at Mattke Field. There were many great plays in this game but the play that turned the tables for the Mustangs was senior defensive back Michael Everett’s interception with roughly three minutes left in the third quarter. It was a play that took the wind out of UMD’s sails. Instead of UMD scoring to go up by two touchdowns, Everett helped make it a one score game.

“I got the call from the sideline which was man (coverage) and I just played off-step in my technique and trusted my speed,” Everett said. “When he broke on the ball, I got some of the ball in the air. I jumped, used my hops and caught it. I caught it and stumbled a little bit, but I just kept running.”

The interception set up a six-play 61-yard scoring drive for SMSU. The drive was capped off with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Davion Shelton with 37 seconds to go in the third quarter making the score 35-28 UMD.

In the fourth quarter, UMD scored a field goal to make the score 38-28 in their favor. With 3:11 left in the game, SMSU’s Divonte Beale scored on a one-yard touchdown run. The extra point made it a three point game at 38-35 UMD. With 23.1 seconds left on the clock, SMSU’s Ty Stephenson scored on a 14-yard pass to win the game 42-38.

SMSU Head Coach Cory Sauter was proud of his football team.

“They fought their tails off,” Coach Sauter said. “It wasn’t looking good early. In the first half we had a touchdown pass I think was dropped, so we had a lot of things we had to battle the second half. It was good to see us stay with it and never say die, so I’m really proud of this group. We always tell our guys, ‘Never look at the scoreboard,’ so we wouldn’t play any differently if we’re up by ten or down by ten.”

Coach Sauter gave credit to Quarterback Blake Gimbel.

“That kid’s a competitor, every time he takes a snap he gives us a chance,” Sauter said. “[We’re] really proud of how he battled back, we missed a few things early, I’ll tell you what, [Gimbel] had a great second half and got us back in the ball game.”