ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Warriors opened the 2026 season on the road at the University of St. Thomas and lost 15-9 after UST scored in the final minute of the game.
Winona State tied the game with 3:57 left in the fourth, but a 47-yard touchdown pass by the Tommies with 58 seconds to go ended up being the heartbreaker.
How It Happened:
After receiving the opening kickoff, Winona State strung together nine plays and made it into UST's territory before stalling and having to punt. The two teams traded punts on each of their next three drives before WSU took over at their own nine-yard line with 12:20 to go in the second quarter.
The Warriors embarked on a 10-play drive, which included a 34-yard connection from
Jackson Flottmeyer to
Deion Prolo. Flottmeyer then side armed a pass to
James Durst to move Winona State into the redzone.
Evan Swanstrom tallied the first points of the year for Winona State, drilling a 32-yard field goal to give WSU a 3-0 lead.
St. Thomas followed it up with a 75-yard drive, capped off by a quarterback sneak to take a 6-0 lead after the missed extra point with less than a minute to go in the half. The Tommies received the ball after the break and was held up inside the 20 to settle for a 31-yard field goal and extend their lead to 9-3.
After trading a series of punts, Winona State started a drive on their 27-yard line with 8:02 left in the game. The seven-play drive was capped by a
Jahmani Muhammad 22-yard touchdown run. The ensuing extra point was not successful, and the game remained tied 9-9 with 3:52 left.
The Warriors forced a quick punt and got the ball back with 2:04 to go, but punted back to St. Thomas with 1:08 on the clock. On the first play of UST's drive, quarterback Anthony Policare connected with tight end Luke Schuler on a 47-yard pass, which was fumbled but recovered by the Tommies in the end zone for a touchdown.
Down 15-9, WSU's
Noah Smith returned the kickoff to the 40-yard line. The Warriors were able to cross into Tommie territory but an interception with nine seconds left sealed the deal for St. Thomas.
Statistical Comparison:
- St. Thomas led offensively with 322 total yards compared to WSU's 260.
- The Warriors ran for 144 yards and threw for 116 while UST passed for 166 and gained 156 on the ground.
- Flottmeyer went 13-25 with 116 yards and one interception with 42 rushing yards.
- UST's Policare threw for 166 yards on 13-22 passing with a TD while running for 73 yards.
- Muhammad led the Warriors with 75 yards on the ground while backfield counterpart Smith added 28.
- Durst led all receivers with 54 yards on five receptions.
- Ethan Doucette and Brent Jeske tallied eight tackles to lead WSU.
Winona State will turn their attention to next week as they open NSIC play at Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D. on Thursday, September 3rd at 6:00pm.
