On the scoreboard it was Northern State’s most dominant football victory of the season. In the film room, it will not appear as the team’s most complete performance, according to the Wolves.

NSU won its fourth consecutive game with a 41-7 win over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football action at Dacotah Bank Stadium. Unlike most of Northern’s games this season, there wasn’t much drama down the stretch with the game well in hand.

“I’m really happy with our guys, the way they came out. It’s nice to get one of these ones where it doesn’t come down to the wire, like the way it has been, or a loss the way it was before,” said Wolves coach Mike Schmidt. “It’s nice to be on this side of it this time, winning that thing and pulling away.”

That said, there were plenty of things to fix throughout the contest.

“A lot of stuff that I really like to see, and I also think we didn’t play our best game,” Schmidt said. “There’s a lot of stuff that we left out there. … We really haven’t had big plays up this point. I don’t want to be negative about that, but I also would have liked to seen us sustain some drives. We just kind of lacked some focus at times.”

Northern did not lack any focus in the opening half, exploding for 31 points in the first 30 minutes.

Hank Kraft ran for a touchdown and caught a pass for a TD, while Kegan Mountain intercepted a pass that he returned for a score to highlight the opening half.

Daniel Britt then scored on a 68-yard run on a broken play to open the third quarter.

“Stepped up, moved out, saw two guys in my vision and made them miss. I did that. And then I just saw green grass the whole way,” Britt said. “Once I hit about the 20-yard line I was shot. My legs gave. I couldn’t go anymore. Cade Kaiser was coming from the left side and I kind of figured if he could get this last block, I could get it.”

Britt led the Wolves in both passing (126 yards) and rushing (71 yards).

Meanwhile the NSU defense had another strong outing, led by Charlie Larson with eight tackles.

“Everybody is having fun right now,” said Northern defensive captain Logan Grossinger. “A lot of the guys are flying around, having fun at practice, and enjoying the process.”

While the Wolves have climbed back to .500 after four consecutive losses to start the season, there is still much work that needs to be done, according the Schmidt.

“We have a lot of stuff that we have to get better at,” Schmidt said.

The players understand that while the Wolves have momentum heading into the final three games of the season, they are still a work in progress.

“I don’t think we played our best game by any means. … I don’t think we’ve played a complete game this year,” Grossinger said.

That will be key for the last stretch of games as Northern plays at Concordia-St. Paul next, followed by games against one-loss foes, Minnesota State at home and Wayne State on the road.

“We know what we’re up against these next three games,” Schmidt said.

So while the Wolves were pleased with a lopsided home victory, they are far from satisfied as they look ahead to their next three opponents.

“Really, the message in the locker room was we’re going to have to play our best game to win these next three games,” Schmidt said.

To see a complete box score of Saturday’s contest, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/football/stats/2024/southwest-minnesota-state/boxscore/13619