“We are looking to go 1-0 on Saturdays,” Clay Schueffner said. “Which involves locking in and being engaged each day at practice.”

The Warriors sat at 1-0 going into the first home game after a road win against Minot State 24-10 with a show stopping performance from Clay Schueffner and Ty Gavin.

Going into week two against the University of Mary Mauraders, the odds were in the Warriors’ favor after winning the last six games against them.

“We run things a little differently, but they did a lot of preparation,” Captain Payton Dachel said about playing under a new coach. “…They put us in the position to succeed and I think we did just that.”

The game started on a low note with two touchdowns for the Mauraders in the first quarter before running back Ty Gavin began to pick up, like last game when it took him a few minutes to get rolling.

Gavin scored at the end of the first quarter before a dry second quarter with only two points from the Warriors and none from the Mauraders.

The game picked up again in the third quarter with an early field goal from UMary’s Kevin Powell before Sam Santiago-Lloyd and Paulsen’s touchdowns.

In total, Gavin had 27 carries, 150 rushing yards and a touchdown leading the team to the 25-17 win. Assisting him was Santiago-Lloyd with another touchdown and 38 yards to offer Gavin a slight break in the third quarter.

Gavin’s impressive performance was two carries away from making the Winona State top 20 in single game rushes, a mark that the Chicago native will hopefully make by the end of this season.

Trevor Paulsen had his second game as the starting quarterback and achieved his first rushing touchdown with 42 yards. The Marion, Iowa native secured 84 yards on Saturday and one interception.

“It’s been a little sloppier this week, we just gotta get better next week and get another win,” Paulsen said about his individual goals as the season progresses.

Schueffner showed what he’s capable of once again this week with six stops, along with Vernon Porte sitting at seven tackles and Myles Hawthorne joining Schueffner at six.

Also on defense, Kyjuan Vengrowsky, Darius Manuel and Nate Wilcher collected a sack each with Ben McCabe having two pass breakups.

This is a nice change of pace for fans to see after the Defensive Line struggled last week against Minot State.

“I think as a team we showed what we’re capable of,” Wide Receiver Cooper Nelson said about the first weeks of the season. “And we just got to make sure we stay there throughout the whole game.”

The Warriors face Bemidji State next week at Chet Anderson Stadium at 2 p.m. Bemidji State is currently ranked 22 in Division II football, projected to finish second in the NSIC only behind Augustana (No. 19), who the Beavers lost against today.

The Warriors then return home again on Sept. 24 to face Minnesota State University – Moorhead who they beat 27-13 in the 2021 season. Tune in to both games on KQAL, 89.5 FM.