WINONA, Minn.. --- The second half of Saturday's game featured an exciting comeback from #1 Minnesota State as it scored 24 unanswered points to defeat Winona State 31-21 on the road.
With the win, MSU improves to 4-0 on the season, while WSU drops to 2-2.
The first half saw the Warriors build a 21-7 lea as it notched 237 yards of total offense, compared to 146 yards by the Mavericks. MSU rushed for 105 yards in the first half and converted on 2-of-4 third down attempts.
Winona State scored on its first two possessions of the game to go up 10-0. Nathaniel Gennrich put the Warriors up 3-0 as he connected on a 30-yard field goal. WSU's following drive ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Sam Santiago-Lloyd that put the Warriors up 10-0.
Trailing 10-0, the Mavericks responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass from junior
Ryan Schlichte to junior
Shane Zylstra to bring the score to 10-7 in favor of WSU.
The Warriors added two more scores in the second quarter, including a 27-yard field goal from Gennrich, and a 44-yard touchdown pass from Owen Burke to Isaiah Frandsen to increase their lead to 21-7 as the game went into halftime.
The Mavericks began their comeback on their opening possession of the second half. MSU opened the third quarter with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a 10-yard touchdown run from junior
Nate Gunn to bring the score to 21-14 in favor of the Warriors.
After MSU's opening score of the third quarter both defenses settled in as neither team scored for the remainder of the quarter. Winona States final drive of the third quarter spilled over into the start of the fourth an eventually ended up on the MSU 13. WSU then sent on the field goal unit but sophomore
Ty'Shonan Brooks was able to block the kick before, senior
Keyshawn Davis recovered the blocked field goal and returned it to the MSU 45.
After the blocked field goal, MSU marched down to the WSU 15, where senior
Casey Bednarski booted a 32-yard field goal to bring the score to 21-17 with 12:42 left in the game. On WSU's following drive, WSU rushed for no gain before a sack from junior
Alex Goettl put the Warriors back on their own 15 facing a third and 20. On the next play, junior
Parrish Marrow intercepted a pass from Burke and returned it to the WSU three yard line. Three plays later, Gunn ran into the end zone from two yards out to put MSU up 24-21 with 10:26 left in the game.
Both teams failed to score on their next possessions, and with 6:54 to go in the game, Winona State took over on its own 21. Five plays later, junior
Spencer Hermus intercepted a pass from Burke and returned it to the 50 yard line with 5:22 to go. MSU's following drive ate up 3:20 on the clock as it went 50 yards in eight plays that ended with a seven-yard touchdown run from Gunn to bring the score to 31-21 with 2:02 left in the game.
Winona's last drive saw sophomore
Chance Bowen record sacks on back-to-back plays as MSU finished the game with a 31-21 win.
MSU finished the game with 368 yards of offense, including 231 rushing yards. Gunn finished his day with 126 rushing yards and three touchdowns. This is the 13th time in his career that he has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game at MSU. Schlichte finished his game with 126 passing yards and a touchdown. Sophomore
Parker Gloudemans caught three passes for a team-best 82 yards.
Goettl led the Maverick defense with 11 tackles, including three for a loss and one sack. In total the Maverick defense recorded 13 tackles for a loss and five sacks, to go along with a pair of interceptions. Winona Sate, which finished the first half with 237 yards of offense, was allowed just 68 yards of total offense in the second half as they finished with 305 yards of offense.
Minnesota State returns to Blakeslee Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29, as it hosts St. Cloud State in its annual Homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
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