WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University football team was excellent in all three phases of the game, and extra special on special teams, in a 40-7 Warrior win over Minnesota State - Moorhead on Saturday, September 24 in Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium. 

WSU placekicker Jacob Scott hit four field goals - each over 40 yards - and the Warriors scored a pair of touchdowns on special defensive plays to overwhelm the Dragons in front of 4,223 fans on a beautiful fall day for football at Maxwell Field. 

Scott's field goal attempts came courtesy of a Winona State offense that produced the best-balanced outing yet of 2022, as the Warriors ran and threw the ball with equal effectiveness. A major aspect of the ball-control offense was a two-headed monster at quarterback that offensive coordinator Isaac Fruechte used the slay the Dragon defense.

Trevor Paulsen and Kyle Haas both saw significant time under center and the multi-faceted approach kept the MSU Moorhead defense unbalanced for much of the game.  Adding to the equation was a running back rotation that saw Ty Gavin and Sam Santiago-Lloyd each offer outstanding carries across all four quarters. 

The Paulsen - Haas duo combined for 267 yards passing, with Paulsen going 11-for-16 and Haas 9-for-14 on the day. Each QB suffered a pair of sacks but both found the short and mid-range passing lanes offered by the Dragons to their liking.  Winona State's longest passing play of the day was a Paulsen pass to Cooper Nelson for 37 yards and Haas had the only WSU passing score of the day when he hit Nick McCabe from seven yards out.  The Warrior quarterbacks spread the wealth to ten different receivers, led by Nelson who had four catches for 67 yards.  Haas also added 29 yards on the ground, scrambling on several occasions when the opportunity presented itself. 

The Winona State ground game was led by Gavin with 77 yards on 12 attempts while Warrior teammate Santiago-Lloyd had 43 yards on ten tries. The Winona State offensive line anchored a unit that accrued 439 yards in total offense in the game, the highest output so far this year. 

On defense, Winona State's Clay Schueffner scored on an 23-yard interception return in one of a handful of plays that turned the contest in the Warriors' favor. Schueffner's pick-six was the second in two games for WSU - Brian Corbins, Jr. had a 52-yard pick-six in week three at Bemidji State - and the senior from St. Cloud, Wis. added his first touchdown of the year to an already-impressive 2022 campaign in which he leads his team in tackles with 43 so far this season.

Mitch Snitker patrolled a Warrior secondary that contained an MSU Moorhead passing attack to just 203 yards on Saturday. Snitker had seven tackles in the game and was one of several WSU defenders that leveled hard hits on Dragon receivers and ball carriers which sent a message to the opposing sideline. Luc Leszczynski had back-to-back sacks for the Winona State defensive line in the second quarter, two of four tackles-for-loss that Winona State had in the game. Senior standout Corrie King collected the the other two TFL's for Winona State, including a sack for a six-yard loss. WSU collapsed the pocket early and often on Dragon quarterback Jack Strand who went 28-of-47 with one TD and three interceptions in the contest. 

In a game where the Winona State offense and defense stepped up to the plate in impressive fashion, the WSU special teams unit was just that: special. 

WSU punter Tristan Root had four kicks on the day for 122 yards but made his mark on the stat sheet by also scoring a touchdown on punt coverage. Root also lines up on defense for the WSU secondary and defensive special teams and latched onto a blocked Dragon punt at 3:53 in the second quarter becoming perhaps the first punter to also score on punt coverage in NSIC football history.

Root's kicking compatriot, Jacob Scott, had a historic day with the field goal unit, going 4-for-4 on field goal tries from 42, 48, 43 and 48 yards, respectively.  Scott becomes the first kicker in WSU history to hit four kicks from more than forty yards in a game and is just the sixth Warrior kicker ever to hit four attempts in a contest.  Three of Scott's kicks were from the left hash mark and the right-footed kicker was 4-for-4 on PAT's as well, staying perfect on the year at 10-for-10.  Dmitri Shpak handled kickoffs for special teams coordinator Pete Menage and collected 452 yards on eight efforts. 

In addition to the blocked punt by Chance Backer for the Root touchdown in the second quarter - a play that ignited a strong student section crowd - and the WSU punt return unit saw returner Darryl Williams return four kicks for 60 yards. Williams had 119 all-purpose yards, a season-high effort.

As a team, Winona State rolled to 439 total yards on offense, the highest-single game output since the Warriors' 47-6 win over Concordia St. Paul last season. On the defensive front, WSU held the Dragons to 260 total yards and just 57 yards on the ground. 

Winona State moves to 3-1 overall under head coach Brian Bergstrom, while MSU Moorhead falls to 1-3 on the year. Bergstrom and WSU will welcome Wayne State College to Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium next week on Saturday, Sept. 30 in the NSIC South Division opener for both teams. The Warriors and Wildcats are set for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Maxwell Field.