MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Facing its second nationally-ranked team in three weeks, the Minnesota State University Moorhead couldn't overcome a rough start in a 73-21 Homecoming loss to No. 24-ranked Sioux Falls in action Saturday at Nemzek Stadium in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM fell to 1-3 overall and in the NSIC with the loss while the Cougars improved to 4-0 overall and in the conference.

The Dragons trailed 35-0 after one quarter as Sioux Falls capitalized on three MSUM interceptions to build the lead. MSUM fought back to within 35-14 at halftime but couldn't sustain the momentum as the Cougars pulled away in the second half.

"It was extremely tough to overcome the start we had," MSUM head coach Steve Laqua said. "We have to figure out how to start better."

Quarterback Jake Hodge rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown and was 12-of-29 passing for 143 yards and a touchdown, but was also intercepted five times. Junior running back Zayne Medhaug has 54 rushing yards while junior receiver Adam Jiskra had eight catches for 70 yards and a score. Redshirt freshman quarterback Demetrius Carr was 6-of-8 passing for 42 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Sheldon Jones had a career-high 15 tackles for the Dragons, while sophomore linebacker Aaron Bohl had nine. Junior cornerback Chris Binford had seven tackles and an interception. Sophomore defensive tackle Zach Drevlow had a sack.

Sioux Falls scored quickly on a 20-yard touchdown run by Luke Papilion after MSUM went three-and-out to open the game. On the very next Dragon offensive play, Hodge was picked off by Solomon St. Pierre at the MSUM 35-yard line, and moments later, the Cougars scored again to go up 14-0 less than six minutes into the game.

MSUM moved into Cougar territory on its next drive, thanks to a 10-yard run by sophomore Austin Stone and a 13-yard scramble by Hodge. But the drive stalled at the 41-yard line and MSUM punted. The Cougars took advantage of a big 72-yard run by Max Mickey and scored on a touchdown pass moments later to push the lead to 21-0.

The Cougars recorded another interception and converted that into a touchdown as they built the lead to 28-0.

The Dragons marched to the Sioux Falls 9-yard line on their next possession, with Medhaug accounting for 40 yards on the drive and Hodge accounting for 24 on a running play. However, an interception in the end zone ended that opportunity The Cougars added another touchdown to make it 35-0 late in the first quarter.

MSUM built some momentum in the second quarter, driving to the Sioux Falls 9-yard line again before turning the ball over on downs. MSUM's defense held and after a punt, the Dragons started to move again. Redshirt freshman Brock Kolander broke free for a 25-yard run to bring the Dragons deep into Cougar territory, and MSUM got as far as the 5-yard line before once again turning the ball over on downs.

MSUM finally got on the board later in the quarter when Hodge hit Jiskra for a 10-yard touchdown and with sophomore Michael Schwichtenberg's extra point, the Dragons were on the board at 35-7.

Binford intercepted a Papilion pass on the next possession and after a personal foul for a late hit, the Dragons had the ball at the Cougar 30-yard line.  Hodge hit Medhaug for a 15-yard pass, but was intercepted by St. Pierre on the next play in the end zone to end that threat.

"You can't beat many teams turning the ball over five times," Laqua said. "We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball."

The defense came up with another stop for MSUM and the Dragon offense responded with a 10-play, 71-yard scoring drive, capped off by a Hodge 3-yard touchdown run, to cut the lead to 35-14 after Schwichtenberg's extra point.

While the Dragons had some momentum going into halftime after scoring 14 unanswered points, the Cougars regained it in the second half, outscoring the Dragons 38-7.

"The kids continued to rally back after a poor first quarter," Laqua said. "We had three drives inside the 15-yard line and didn't get any points. We were only down three touchdowns; we weren't far away. We just weren't able to get any momentum going in the third quarter."

Carr hit sophomore Cory Ambrose for a 10-yard touchdown in the third to cap off the Dragons' scoring.

MSUM is at nationally-ranked Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 4 for its next contest.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Today's 21 points versus the University of Sioux Falls gives the Dragons a season total of 110. This is the 17th time that a Dragon team has hit the century mark for points in the first four games of a season. The 1990 Dragons have the most points at the four game mark with 161 (35-32 win vs. Concordia, 37-7 victory over Nebraska-Kearney, a 41-22 loss to Michigan Tech and a 67-31 trouncing of Winona St.).