WINONA, Minn. – It may have been Senior Day at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium, but it was junior backup quarterback John Rumpza who provided the thrilling finish for Winona State as the Warriors came from behind to defeat Concordia-St. Paul in the season finale, 24-20.
Rumpza produced a storybook ending to WSU's 8-3 season while also capping his personal journey in heroic fashion on a frigid Saturday afternoon. The junior, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer, underwent successful surgery and chemotherapy to rejoin his teammates midway through spring practice earlier this year. Rumpza had seen limited action prior to having his number called when starting quarterback Owen Burke was hit hard on a sack late in the third quarter.
The Warriors trailed the Golden Bears 17-14 when Rumpza entered the game, but evened the score on a 34-yard field goal by Paul Ortiz to send the teams into the fourth quarter deadlocked at 17-17.
CSP tacked on another field goal in its first drive of the final frame before the defenses took charge over the next 10 minutes of action. The Golden Bears carried their 20-17 advantage late into the quarter and arrived at fourth-and-two at the WSU 37-yard line. Instead of opting for a long field goal, CSP went for it on fourth down which yielding a huge sack by sophomore Carter Duxbury to give the ball back to Rumpza and the Warriors with 2:49 remaining.
Rumpza answered by engineering a seven-play 53-yard that resulted in the game-winning touchdown pass to Connor Schulz with 36 seconds left on the clock. Schultz caught eight passes for a career-best 92 yards on the day.
With time winding down on the ensuing desperation drive by CSP, senior Josh Hawes sealed the victory with his first interception of the season at midfield.
Hawes' interception was one of seven total in the tilt with the Warriors pulling down a season-high five. Isaiah Hall picked off two for the second straight week and Romario Gayle added one to match his teammate with a team-best five on the year. Cole Monckton tallied one interception, one pass breakup and led the WSU defense with eight tackles.
Prior to exiting the game, Burke threw for 242 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the first half of action. He connected with Isaiah Frandsen late in the first quarter, and needed just one play early in the second frame to hook up with senior Will Claussen for a 47-yard pitch and catch to the end zone. Frandsen turned in his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season. The senior concludes his two-year Warrior career with 1,360 yards receiving (18th all-time) and 16 touchdowns (15th all-time).
Eric Birth was among the 12 Warriors honored before kickoff and gained 39 yards on the ground to conclude his career with 1,572 rushing yards which rank 17th in program history. Veteran defensive end Michael Ferrante tallied one sack against CSP and concludes his career with 17.5 (ninth all-time).
The four-year members of the Winona State senior class compiled an impressive 31-14 record while reaching the eight-win plateau in the finale for the 14th time in head coach Tom Sawyer's 23-year Warrior tenure.
