MARSHALL, Minn. – The Sledge stays home.
The Winona State University football team went on the road seeking to extend their five-game winning streak in the Battle of the Sledge traveling trophy annual showdown with Southwest Minnesota State University on Saturday, Oct. 15. WSU had captured and kept the trophy for the previous five seasons, but SMSU welcomed WSU to a windswept Schawn Regional Event Center in Marshall, Minn. with the Mustangs having won four of their last five games this year.
In the end, Winona State held on to the Sledge in a rout, capitalizing on several Mustang mistakes on special teams and dialing up a dominant defense to score a 43-7 Warrior win.
In the first half, host SMSU scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the game to go up 7-0 over WSU after just four minutes of play. Also in the opening quarter, SMSU effectively stymied Winona State, holding WSU to just two first downs and intercepting a
Trevor Paulsen pass to halt a promising drive.
After that, however, it was all Winona State.
In the second quarter, the Warriors scored in every way possible, on offense, defense, and special teams.
Darryl Williams hauled in a 44-yard pass from Winona State quarterback
Kyle Haas for the first Warrior touchdown of the day, and after the
Jacob Scott PAT, tied the game at 7-7 just one minute into the second quarter.
After the WSU defense held SMSU to a three-and-out possession starting at the 10-minute mark,
Aarion Lacy returned a Carter Dicker punt 62 yards for a touchdown to move the Warrior advantage to 14-7.
Winona State scored through standout special teams play again just a few minutes later, as a Mustang snap sailed over the head of punter Dicker and into the end zone. A host of hustling Warriors in pursuit saw Dicker fall on the ball just past the goal line, resulting in a safety for the Warriors and stretching the WSU lead to 16-7.
WSU kept their collective foot on the gas in the second quarter, scoring again when
Sam Santiago-Lloyd reached the end zone on a two-yard dive following a seven-play, 34-yard drive.
However, the Warriors were not done yet, as
Kyle Haas and the WSU offense put on a two-minute clinic, marching Winona State 75 yards and leading to a Scott 30-yard field goal as time expired in the half.
Heading into the locker room at the break, Winona State held a 26-7 lead, having scored the most points in a single quarter of the season so far.
After the break, Winona State shifted to a ball-control - and clock-control – approach on offense.
Receiving the ball to start the second half, WSU rushed 12 times, accumulating 47 yards total, but more importantly, owing a distinct advantage in the time of possession for the period. The only score for either team in the third was a
Jacob Scott 30-yard field goal, moving the scoreboard to 29-7 after three quarters of play.
If the third quarter was about controlling the game for Winona State, the fourth quarter was about putting an exclamation point on the 2022 Battle for the Sledge.
WSU again made a statement about special teams' superiority, with
Chance Backer blocking a Mustang punt that was recovered by
Andrew Goergen for the fourth Warrior touchdown of the day.
Then, with just over two minutes to play, Winona State running back
Nick McCabe broke a rush for 65 yards, scoring his first touchdown as a Warrior and WSU's fifth and final score.
The Winona State defense was dominant in Marshall, holding SMSU to 203 total yards, including just 64 yards on the ground, far below the Mustangs 246 yards-per-game average coming into the contest.
Winona State finished the game with 466 yards of total offense, led by Haas with 142 passing yards in a 12-for-17 day under center.
Trevor Paulsen added seven completions on 12 attempts for 77 yards and ran for 19 more.
Darryl Williams led WSU in receiving yards with 96, including a touchdown, while
Jason Michael Young had six grabs, the top Warrior reception mark. A balanced Warrior ground game saw three backs with solid days, as Santiago-Lloyd (73 yards),
Nick McCabe (69 yards) and
Ty Gavin (62 yards) combined for a pair of touchdowns and important Warrior tilt in terms of time of possession at key moments of the contest.
WSU was particularly effective on third down in the second frame, converting five times on six attempts. Haas completed five passes in a row on the WSU drive to finish the first half, including a 24-yard toss to
Jason Michael Young to start the drive and a 25-yard pass to Williams to pull the Warriors into field goal range with under ten seconds to go.
Warrior special teams yielded two touchdowns, a safety, and pair of field goals to pace the team. Lacy's 62-yard punt return is the second WSU punt return touchdown on the year, and the other two scores – a safety and a block for a touchdown – on punt block duty saw that unit account for 16 of the Warriors' 43 points in the game.
Jacob Scott was 2-for-2 on field goals, both from 30 yards, and hit all five point-after attempts for Winona State, stretching his perfect streak to 23-of-23 on the season.
Tristan Root punted five times for 189 yards, including a 52-yard longest effort.
As a team, WSU earned 19 first downs, scored three times on three opportunities in the red zone and averaged 5.7 yards per carry.
Winona State (5-2 overall, 2-0 NSIC South) will host the University of Sioux Falls next Saturday in a 2022 WSU Homecoming contest that contains significant Division championship considerations. USF sits at 7-0 on the year after a 41-27 win over UMary this week and both the Warriors and Cougars are unbeaten in the NSIC South at 2-0.
Winona State and USF will kick off at 2 p.m. on Maxwell Field in Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 22.
