Homecoming football: Mustangs defeat Upper Iowa

SMSU defeated Upper Iowa 59-41 on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Schwan Regional Event Center. Quarterback Blake Gimbel threw for 482 yards to lead the Mustangs to a win.

“The big plays were great, and they came at a time when we really needed them. I thought our o-line was the MVP of this game along with our two true freshman running backs Matt Simmons and Eisley [Carrington]. They came up so big in this game and it all starts up front and we kind of controlled the game and that’s what we needed and it allowed me to make big throws and big plays. It all carries off of what happens up front,” said Gimbel.

The Mustangs racked up 715 yards of total offense with 233 rushing yards to add to Gimbel’s yards in the air.

Head Coach Cory Sauter said about the big plays, “Any time you win, but especially homecoming, is pretty special. It’s good to see us come out and battle. We know that any time we come out and play Upper Iowa it’s gonna be a shootout and we came out on top. It’s good to just see the alums back and enjoy the performance here this evening and you know things aren’t going to get easier. We’ve got Sioux Falls on the road. We’ve got 24 hours to enjoy this one, and then we’re on to the next one, but it certainly feels good. Four-one start, but we definitely have plenty of things to work on. We had some struggles defensively stopping them, but Upper Iowa has a lot of weapons. We’ll have to take a look at it and see what things we need to adjust going forward.”

The Mustangs are in Sioux Falls in another conference game next week at 6 p.m. at Bob Young Field.