The Minnesota State football team had an interesting journey to Slippery Rock on Friday that featured an hour-and-a-half delay after a truck carrying team equipment bumped into the charter airplane it was scheduled to take.

The Mavericks had to wait for a new plane to arrive before taking off in Minneapolis, but once they touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport and made their way to Slippery Rock, they had very few issues.

Minnesota State put forth a dominant effort in snowy conditions on its way to a 58-15 victory over No. 8 Slippery Rock in the Division II semifinals Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

No. 4 Minnesota State (14-0) advanced to the D-II championship for the second time in program history and the first time since 2014. The Mavericks will try for their first championship when they face West Florida 3 p.m. next Saturday in McKinney, Texas.

Slippery Rock, in the semifinals for the first time in 21 years, finished 13-1.

“We got our butts kicked in every facet of the game today,” Slippery Rock coach Shawn Lutz said. “No excuses. I didn’t do a good enough job. Give credit to Minnesota State. They’re a great football team. We just didn’t play well. Minnesota State’s defensive line did a good job getting after us in the run game and put pressure on Roland (Rivers III). We weren’t used to seeing pressure like that.”

Minnesota State’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense held Slippery Rock’s top-ranked scoring offense to a season low in points, forced three turnovers and sacked Rivers III three times. The Rock had scored at least 31 points in every game entering Saturday.

“We knew coming in they were the top-ranked offense in the country, and we wanted to come out and make a statement that we could play against that type of offense,” Minnesota State linebacker Zach Robertson said. “I think we made that statement today. It felt really good. Their quarterback is really talented. He’s a special player.”

The Mavericks racked up 465 yards.

Slippery Rock held 1,600-yard rusher Nate Gunn to 54 yards on 15 carries, but Gunn scored three touchdowns. The Rock yielded several big plays that led to touchdowns, including a momentum-zapper in the third quarter.

One play after Rivers found Henry Litwin on a 5-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 30-15 early in the third, Mavericks quarterback Ryan Schlichte connected with Shane Zylstra for a 73-yard touchdown. Eric Glover-Williams, who had intercepted a pass that set up Slippery Rock’s touchdown on the previous possession, slipped on the snow-covered surface, leaving Zylstra wide open.

“That killed us right there,” Lutz said. “I thought when we scored, we were back in the game. It’s hard against a really good football team to play catch-up at that much of a deficit for that long.”

Minnesota State added two more touchdowns before the end of the third to salt away the game.

Rivers III, a Harlon Hill finalist, set two Division II single-season records: most total touchdowns (61) and most points (370). He finished two touchdown passes shy of tying the Division II record of 54.

Litwin, a senior, had two touchdown receptions and broke the Slippery Rock career record for touchdown catches with 29, passing Greg Hopkins (1994) and Marcus Johnson (2017).

Rivers III, a senior, was 21-of-50 passing for 199 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He had 92 yards on 16 carries. The Minnesota State defense hounded Rivers III throughout, forcing him to scramble on numerous occasions.

“Their defense did a great job of rallying to the ball,” Rivers III said. “They had a great gameplan and were well coached. They made plays out there, and based on how they played today they deserved to move on. I’m still proud this team and how hard we worked to get here. I loved every second of being on this team.”

Along with several individual records, Slippery Rock set a season high in wins with 13.

“I’m proud of everyone,” Lutz said. “We’re losing probably one of the best senior classes in school history. It’s hard to replace guys like that. We’re competitors right now, and we’re disappointed, so it’s hard to reflect and be happy with what we accomplished. I think it’ll sink in when more days go by.”

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