Winona State Football started the season under a new head coach, Brian Bergstrom, this past weekend against Minot State.

Bergstrom brought along a whole new coaching staff other than returning co-defensive coordinator Brian Curtin.

In the NSIC preseason poll, Carter Duxbury (linebacker) and Payton Dachel (offensive lineman) were named this season’s players to watch.

Duxbury also has earned several awards and honors, most recently, being named onto the 2022 Lindy’s Sports All America first team.

Dachel has been named to the NSIC All-Academic list the past two years.

Both Dachel and Duxbury are also featured in this year’s list of captains along with Tyler Anderson, Luc Leszczynski, Sam Santiago-Lloyd and Clay Schueffner.

Last season, Duxbury secured 11 sacks and 14 tackles for loss as well as 46 total tackles and 29 solo stops.

The team has a new focused mindset of grit, growth and team with four cornerstones of family, faith, future and football.

“It’s a lifestyle, it’s how we carry ourselves as a team and how we attack every situation,” Linebacker Schueffner said about the mindset. “I believe and love the guys on this team and these words are what we preach and are all about.”

Schueffner himself was named the defensive MVP for Saturday’s game with a single game career-best of 17 tackles. This beats the 2021 NSIC season-high of 16 tackles achieved by a MSU-Moorhead’s Brendan Kutterer.

Offensively, Running Back Ty Gavin led the show with 159 rushing yards. Gavin struggled in the first quarter after getting tackled and fumbled the ball twice before gaining momentum.

Gavin quickly found his footing and was off with an 81-yard rush to raise the Warriors’ hopes.

This was Gavin’s first game back since he got injured during the 2021 season with a dislocated elbow and then a dislocated shoulder during this past spring.

“Was unlucky last year, but I knew if I did everything right in the off-season, I would be able to come back strong,” Gavin said.

Quarterback Trevor Paulsen stepped up to his role as a starter well with being 13 for 26 on passing and 148 yards in the air.

This season marks Paulsen’s first season of starting after only appearing in four games last season, but along with Gavin he sits on Leadership Council this year.

The first touchdown came from a Paulsen pass to Cooper Nelson, a transfer from University of Wisconsin, for a mere six-yard pass and the first touchdown for the Warriors.

After Gavin got on his feet and Nelson got the first touchdown for the team, there was no stopping them as the offensive line played their part to lead the way for the skill players.

“The offensive line played great, and I just had to do my job,” Gavin said about his performance.

Tyler Anderson scored the final touchdown of the game to bring the score to 24 with only seconds left in the game.

The team walked away from Minot 1-0, just like their motto says, before coming home next week against the Marauders who lost against Wayne State for their home opener. They play at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m.