Nerves were high going into this week’s match up against Bemidji State after the team went 10-3 overall last season, making it to the NCAA Division II Football Tournament where they fell 55-6 against Colorado Mines.  

However, the game started on a high note when Brian Corbins got a pick 6 to score a touchdown in the first quarter from a 52-yard effort. 

Bemidji was able to rally a touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter to bring the game to an even score and continued to hold the power through the middle two quarters.  

Though Winona State began to close the score difference in the second quarter with a 22-yard field goal, the Beavers were not done and ultimately dished the first loss of the season for the Warriors.  

Winona State offense responded to the second quarter drive at the beginning of the third with Jaylen Schleicher scoring a touchdown off a 23-yard pass from quarterback Trevor Paulsen.  

“It’s a lot of responsibility that comes with it [being starting quarterback] but it’s a lot of fun, just got to keep getting better each week,” Paulsen said.  

While Paulsen is quarterback one, there were a few plays by freshman Kyle Haas from Prior Lake, Minn. that made for an exciting debut. 

“It felt great to see the field,” Haas said. “Been putting in a lot of work with these guys so fun to finally get to go home some fun on a gameday.” 

It might not have been much, but Haas began his collegiate career with a 6 out of 10 for completion and 61 yards under his belt, along with suffering three sacks. Haas was also a two-time team captain and earned All-Conference twice in high school before heading to Winona State.  

At the end of the game, Paulsen returned the effort with another touchdown to bring the final score to 34-24, just two possessions away from a win against the nationally ranked team.  

Redshirt freshman Joe Sikma led receiving for the day with four catches totaling 80 yards, followed shortly by Darryl Williams and Schleicher.  

“I just tried to make the most out of the opportunity given to me and do what I could to help us win,” Sikma said. “I had to treat it like every other week.” 

San Santiago-Lloyd secured 46 out of the 57 total rushing yards on Saturday and secured the only double-digit rush.  

Not surprisingly, Clay Schueffner led in tackles with 14 while Carter Duxbury collected the only sack of the game.  

“This last summer was the best summer we had with guys being here,” Schueffner said. “We did a lot of team stuff to prepare us for this season.” 

Williams was a loaded weapon this week as he kicked a total of 79 yards on top of his receiving effort, with a 45-yard kick included. 

The Warriors finished the match up 3 for 3 in the redzone but only 1 of 14 on third downs, along with both the Beavers and the home team being perfect in fourth downs. 

The team next faces Minnesota State Moorhead at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium right here in the bluffs on Saturday Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. Tune into the next game on KQAL 89.5 and watch for it in the online version of The Winonan next week.