WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University delighted its Homecoming crowd Saturday afternoon at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium with a 54-13 drubbing of the University of Mary that saw the Warriors put up 14 points in under two minutes before halftime to take a 34-point advantage into the locker room.
Winona State (4-2) cruised to its second straight win with a season-best 530 yards of total offense while keeping the University of Mary (0-6) out of the win column once again this year. It marked the second straight meeting in which the Warriors hung at least 50 points on the Marauders.
UMary was at the mercy of WSU for the entirety of the contest, yielding 211 yards on the ground and 319 yards through the air – both season-highs for the Warriors. While depth has been an issue for Winona State early this season due to injuries, the Warriors showed plenty of life throughout their arsenal in a game that featured a multitude of potential future WSU stars.
Starting quarterback Owen Burke matched his career-high with three touchdowns as the sophomore went 13-16 under center. One of his three misfires was a first quarter interception, but it did not come back to harm the home team. Burke connected with Tanner Gran in the opening possession of the game for a six-yard pitch-and-catch and the rout was on from there.
With the score, Gran temporarily took over the team lead with his fourth receiving touchdown of the season, only to see teammate Isaish Frandsen haul in his fourth score later in the first half.
Early in the second quarter, Sam Santiago-Lloyd scored the first of two WSU rushing touchdowns to stake the Warriors to a 14-0 lead. Five plays after the ensuing kickoff, Kenneth Sanders stepped in front of a Jason Hoekstra pass and returned it 65-yards for another Winona State score.
With time winding down in the first half of action, the Warrior offense refused to take its foot off the pedal. Following a first down throw by Burke as WSU received the ball with 3:10 left on the clock, Javian Roebuck exploded for a 52-yard scamper into the Mary red zone. Two plays and 21 rushing yards later, Roebuck found pay dirt to extend the lead to 27-0.
The Marauders were resigned to run out the first half clock, but the WSU defense had other plans as Corrie King popped loose a Mary fumble which was recovered by Trey Telez at the enemy 30-yard line. This time, the Warrior offense needed only one play to capitalize with Burke finding a wide open Frandsen in the end zone for a 30-yard scoring catch.
The second half featured a strong showing by John Rumpza at quarterback and a heavy dose of Miguel Benjamin at running back as the Warriors continued to pour it on offensively. Paul Ortiz also got a confidence boost with a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter after having one blocked earlier in the contest.
Burke's third and final touchdown of the day came on a 29-yard screen pass to Roebuck in response to Mary finally put points on the board after the second half kickoff. The Marauders posted one final third quarter score before the Winona State change under center occurred.
Rumpza went 4-4 for 85 yards and hit Elliot Cox with a 30-yard scoring pass in the third quarter. The junior went 2-2 on the drive for 61 yards and took less than a minute off the clock. Of the Warriors' six offensive touchdowns Saturday, not one lasted longer than four minutes.
Jace LaBuda and Isaiah Ramsey each took snaps under center in the second half which saw Benjamin rush 19 times for 71 yards in his first collegiate game.
Aikan Major led the defense with six tackles and one sack. David Munson recorded his first career interception in the second quarter as one of the Warriors' three takeaways on the day.
Winona State continues its current slate against the NSIC North with a road contest at Minnesota Crookston next Saturday. Following that tilt is another matchup against a nationally-ranked foe opposite No. 7 Minnesota Duluth in Winona on October 20th.
