WINONA, Minn. – Five words marked the Winona State University football team win over the University of Mary on Saturday; "
Ty Gavin on the carry."
For the second week in a row, Gavin was a Warrior workhorse, helping WSU win their home opener as Winona State battled back for a 25-17 victory at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium on Saturday.
Gavin – a sophomore from Niles, Ill. - registered 27 carries, rushing for 150 yards and a touchdown to help lead a WSU offense that controlled the line of scrimmage, time of possession and ultimately the final score. In week one, Gavin rolled to 159 yards at Minot State, a 24-10 WSU victory.
The way the game started looked much different than the way it evolved, with UMary scoring two touchdowns to open the first quarter. However, after assessing the situation after the first 15 minutes, WSU adapted their game plan and ground out a key NSIC victory.
Once UMary sprinted out to their 14-0 lead, Winona State responded through Gavin who scored on a 22-yard scamper, capping a four-play, 65-yard drive.
The tide began to turn in the second quarter, as the Winona State defense put together back-to-back three-and-out stops of the Marauders. Then, the WSU defensive line forced a bad exchange between UMary's All-American quarterback Logan Nelson and a UMary running back.
The ensuing fumble pin-balled between several players from both teams before coming to rest in the end zone, and eventually covered by a pair of UMary lineman. The safety for the Warriors were the only two points scored by either team in the second stanza and drew WSU closer to UMary at 14-9.
After the break, UMary was stopped short in their drive to open the half, settling for a 35-yard field goal to extend their lead to 17-9.
However, Winona State calmly continued the run-first approach and reeled off several clock-controlling drives in the third frame. Gavin garnered most of the carries, but
Sam Santiago-Lloyd offered WSU a change of pace in the backfield, and just as importantly, no rest for the Marauders defense. The fifth-year running back from Milwaukee, Wis. had 38 total yards on the day, but none were more key to the outcome than his two-yard plunge for a touchdown to draw WSU back within striking distance at 17-15. The Warriors were unsuccessful in their two-point conversion attempt, but the momentum of the score was key to the comeback effort.
As the third quarter wound down, WSU quarterback
Trevor Paulsen took a page from Gavin's book and scored himself on an eight-yard keeper to cap a seven-play, 42-yard drive. It was the first career rushing touchdown for the junior from Marion, Iowa. With the successful
Jacob Scott PAT, Winona State took the lead for the first time in the game at 22-17.
WSU's ball control offense and stingy defense owned the fourth quarter, keeping UMary off the scoreboard in game's final 15 minutes. Scott added a 26-yard field goal late, stretching the Warrior advantage to 25-17.
On offense, Gavin's 150-yard day paced WSU's ground game, while Santiago-Lloyd had 14 carries, 38 yards and a score. Paulsen was 8-of-17 passing for 84 yards, connecting most frequently with
Cooper Nelson, who had three catches for 53 yards.
Darryl Williams,
Jason Michael Young and
Jaylen Schleicher also had catches in the contest.
Gavin was just two carries away from cracking the Winona State top-20 in single-game rushes, with Paul Preston's 29 attempts against Augustana in 2016 holding the last spot on the list.
Defensively, WSU was led by
Vernon Porte with seven tackles, while
Clay Schueffner and
Myles Hawthorne each had six stops. Winona State held UMary's All-American wide receiver Danny Kittner to just 75 yards on six catches, and the Marauder team was held to under 20 total points for just the second time since the start of the 2021 season.
Kyjuan Vengrowsky,
Darius Manuel and
Nathaniel Wilcher each collected a sack on the day. As a unit, WSU had seven tackles-for-loss, while
Ben McCabe had two pass break-ups.
On special teams,
Jacob Scott was 1-for-2 on field goals, hitting from 26 yards out, missing from 31 and connected on both PAT's he attempted.
Darryl Williams had four kick returns for 95 total yards and Warrior teammate
Aarion Lacy added a 30-yard kickoff return.
Tristan Root punted three times for 129 yards, including a 51-yard effort.
As a team, Winona State earned 276 yards of total offense and won the time of possession battle at 31:57, compared to 28:03 for UMary.
With the win, Winona State moves to 2-0 overall on the season, while UMary falls to 0-2. WSU are set to travel to Bemidji State next Saturday, Sept. 17 in what could be a pivotal contest in the 2022 campaign for Winona State. BSU began the season nationally ranked but have dropped a pair of contests to start their year.
The Warriors (2-0 overall | 0-0 NSIC South) and Beavers (0-2 overall | 0-0 NSIC North) will kick off at 2 p.m. in Chet Anderson Stadium.
