WINONA, Minn. – The No. 5-ranked Minnesota State football team outscored Winona State 24-6 in the second half, en route to a 34-16 victory Saturday afternoon, spoiling WSU's Homecoming and Hall of Fame Game.
MSU (7-0, 6-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) was pushed by the pesky Warriors, but never trailed in the game. The Mavericks finished with 403 yards of offense with 244 yards on the ground led by junior
Sam Backer who had 13 carries for 131 yards and two huge long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
The Mavericks had 159 yards passing as sophomore quarterback
Maximus Sims was 10 of 16 passing for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore
El Staley paced the team with four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown, while junior
Ishmael Emmanuel-Holloway had one catch for 11 yards and the first touchdown of the game.
Defensively, MSU held Winona State to 117 yards on the ground on 30 carries for just a 3.9 average per carry, while the Warriors had 207 yards through the air. MSU had two sacks for three yards and five tackles for loss for 16 yards. Senior
Nathan Drumm had a team-high seven tackles.
MSU won the toss and deferred as WSU (2-5, 2-4 NSIC) took the ball in front of a crowd of 3,513 and the Maverick "D" forced a three-and-out on the opening possession. From there, the Mavericks methodically moved down the field highlighted by a nice 33-yard diving catch from sophomore
Hudson Dillon, but was forced to kick a field goal for a 3-0 lead.
The defense continued to stand tall and forced another three-and-out. After punts by both teams, MSU took over at its own 47 and used two big penalties on the Warriors to move down to the WSU 14. Sims hit Staley for a 16-yard touchdown strike and a 10-0 lead with three minutes left in the opening quarter.
The Warriors found their footing offensively and garnered their first, first down of the game early in the second quarter and found success through the air as WSU quarterback Jacob Sampson moved the team down the field and hit Jake Schultz in the end zone for a touchdown and a 10-7 MSU lead with 10:17 remaining in the first half.
Both defenses stood tall the remainder of the half as Winona State ending up tying the game with a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the half for a 10-10 score. It marked the first time the Mavericks had not held the lead at halftime in a game this season.
For the half, MSU had 130 yards of offense, while WSU had 144. The Mavericks had 86 yards passing and 44 rushing, while holding Winona State to 65 yards passing and 79 on the ground. MSU had seven first downs, while WSU had nine.
The Mavericks used arguably one of its best drives of the game to begin the third quarter as Sims found junior
Ishmael Emmanuel-Holloway on a 3
rd and 10 from the WSU 11 for a touchdown and a 17-10 lead with 8:24 left in the third.
WSU moved down to the MSU 11, but Sampsons' pass was incomplete as the Warriors kicked a field goal for a 17-13 score. On the ensuing drive, Sims hit Staley for 26 yards on a 3
rd and 16 to keep the drive alive late in the third quarter and junior
Connor Fournier hit his second field goal of the game for a 20-13 lead with 13 minutes remaining.
The Warriors would not go away quietly, however, as Mathias Yaggie kicked his third field goal just 1:45 minutes later trimming the MSU lead to 20-16. From there, the experienced Mavericks took over and Sims went over the top of the pile on a 4
th and 1 right before Backer broke a 51-yard touchdown run for a 27-16 lead with 8:51 to play.
MSU forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing possession and then the Mavericks put the game away as Backer went 44 yards this time for a touchdown and a 34-16 lead with 1:50 to go.
The Mavericks have their bye week and then return to action on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. versus Wayne State at Blakeslee Stadium.
