ST. PAUL, Minn. – Winona State University took care of business in its final regular season game of the 2019 campaign, doubling up Concordia-St. Paul, 20-10. The victory keeps the Warriors' postseason hopes alive as the remainder of Saturday's games play out.
Winona State (8-3) reaches the eight-win plateau for the fourth straight season as the Warriors, who were tabbed No. 10 in last week's Super Region Four rankings, will find out Sunday if they have enough on their resume for an NCAA Playoff berth. If Winona State doesn't qualify for the NCAA field, the Warriors could still receive a bid for the Mineral Water Bowl set for Saturday, December 7.
A pair of seniors, filling in for injured starters on Saturday, account for the first two scores of the contest as Winona State opened up an early 14-0 lead on the road. Running back Landon Jacobson was first into the endzone after the Warrior defense forced the Golden Bears backward on their opening drive and WSU quickly answered with a score on its first offensive possession.
Following another three-and-out that netted negative yards for CSP, quarterback John Rumpza engineered a six-play, 50-yard drive that resulted in a 23-yard touchdown catch by tight end Jaylen Schleicher. The sophomore recorded a trio of scoring receptions over the final three games of the regular season.
The Golden Bears got on the board with a field goal late in the first frame before being shutout over the next two quarters by the stout WSU defense. Senior kicker Paul Ortiz booted a pair of field goals in the second quarter to give the Warriors a 20-6 advantage at halftime.
Neither side scored in the third, and CSP tallied its lone touchdown of the day in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The teams were dead even in total yards, each recording 269, while Winona State owned a slight 97-95 edge on the ground. Jacobson rushed for 35 yards while Miguel Benjamin added 25 more with both Javian Roebuck and Sam Santiago-Lloyd sidelined with injuries. Schleicher also tallied 32 yards on a fake punt in the second quarter that prolonged a drive and led to Ortiz's first field goal.
Tyler Anderson paced the receiving core with six catches for 81 yards, while Jake Balliu hauled in four passes for 50 yards.
Clay Shueffner and Nick Pridgeon combined for 21 tackles and 2.0 TFL. Isaiah Hall and Cam Gavin each recorded interceptions, while Quinton Reed recorded the lone Warrior sack.
In the trenches on the other side of the ball, the Warrior offense line did a great job of containing the NCAA Division II sack leader, Chris Garrett, who was blanked as the Golden Bear defense collectively took down Rumpza just twice.
