MOORHEAD, Minn. - The Winona State University football team plays on the road for the second successive week on Saturday, Oct. 28, traveling to Minnesota State, Moorhead for a noon kickoff against the Dragons on Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium in Moorhead, Minn.
Winona State (4-4, 4-3 NSIC) and head coach
Brian Bergstrom are looking to start a winning streak, having defeated the University of Sioux Falls last Saturday in exciting fashion, 42-35. Standing in the way of a potential Warrior late-season victory string is a much-improved Minnesota State Moorhead (5-3, 4-3 NSIC) team that has found victory in their last two games and are unbeaten at home.
Winona State – MSUM Notables
- Saturday's contest is the 9th meeting of the two schools since Sep. 11, 2010.
- The WSU - MSUM game in 2022 was won by the Warriors, 40-7, in front of 3,500 fans in Winona, Minn.
- Winona State is led in scoring by placekicker Jacob Scott. Scott has 55 total points this year, leading the team (10 FG's, 25-of-25 in PATs).
- Last week WSU saw Cair'ron Hendred turn in two TD runs of 75+ yards en route to a 178-yard rushing performance.
- Winona State's QB Cole Stenstrom is 136-of-237 with 13 TDs and 9 interceptions.
- Winona State has top-3 performer in tackles within the NSIC, with Clay Schueffner racking up 62 stops so far this year.
- The Warriors have one of the top multi-tool players in the NSIC, with Tristan Root ranking 21st in the league in total tackles (43) while leading the league in punts inside the opponents 20 yard line (15).
- WSU's Enrique (Rico) DeLeon has accumulated 4.5 sacks on the year, while Kyjuan Vengrowsky and Joseph Demro both have 3.5.
- On Saturday, Winona State will face the second-best offense in the league. MSUM scores 37.1 points per game. WSU is 9th at 25.9 points per outing.
- The Dragon's defense concedes 25.0 points per game, Winona State holds opponents to 27.8 points per game.
That's a Stat!
Last week,
Cair'ron Hendred averaged 22.3 yards per carry, racking up 178 yards on eight attempts.
That's a stat, too!
At 25-for-25, Winona State's
Jacob Scott has the longest perfect PAT streak of any kicker in the NSIC with 10 or more attempts. Scott and the PAT unit is 7th nationally in DII football in terms of a perfect PAT streak.
That's a stat, three!
With all six Winona State touchdowns coming on rushes by running backs, last week's win over USF marked the first time this season the Warriors tallied all their points from the line of scrimmage from a single team unit.
Dragon Deliverables
Minnesota State - Moorhead beat Southwest Minnesota State 34-17 last week in Marshall, Minn.
Dragon wideout Gage Florence caught 15 passes versus the Mustangs, including 13 in the first half. Gage has 86 catches on the year.
MSUM quarterback Jack Strand established new MSUM's single-season and all-time completions mark last Saturday against Southwest Minnesota State.
Defensively, the Dragons have four players in the NSIC Top 10; Josiah Behm (1st, 63 tackles), Tate Gustafson (3rd, 60 tackles), while Jack Bungarden and Jared Kallenback both reside in the top tier as well.
MSUM has outscored their opponents 297 to 200 so far in 2023.
The Dragons have accumulated 3,063 passing yards and have held their opponents to 1,971 passing yards.
The Dragon special teams have gone 3-for-5 on field goal attempts and converted 34-of-38 kicking PAT's.
Minnesota State, Moorhead beat McKendree University in a non-NSIC contest in week three, 38-17.
The Dragons are 4-0 at home this year and are 6-1 in their last seven games at Scheels Field, dating back to last year.
Head coach Steve Laqua is in his 13th year at MSUM.
Location, Location, Location: Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium, Synthetic Turf. Kickoff is set for Noon in Moorhead, Minn.
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit:
www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words:
Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
