Sam Thiel/Winonan

Freshman quarterback Jack Nelson passed for 322 yards and four scores en route to the Winona State University football team’s 65-21 blowout victory over Minnesota State University, Moorhead, Saturday in Winona.

The score was tight early in the third quarter, with the Warriors up 24-21. Winona State’s offense came alive as the Warriors scored the final 41 points of the game to record its first victory of the year.

Nelson impressed in just his second career start, going 19-of-27 for 322 yards and four touchdowns. His 322 yards passing in the contest was good for the 21st-best total in Winona State history.

“I feel like I’m used to everything by now,” Nelson said. “I’m just trying to make the right reads, throw the right balls and make the right plays.”

“I think he’s done a great job,” running back Chichi Ojika said. “Being a true freshman, it’s hard being thrown in there like that but he’s shown that he can really throw the ball and take care of the offense. I think he’s grown tremendously which takes pressure off us as running backs because he can throw downfield to our receivers, and that just helps us as running backs to open up holes, and it’s nice to be in sync as a team.”

The Warriors were also prosperous in the ground game, with 292 yards rushing in total. Ojika recorded the first 100-yard game of his career, rushing for 125 yards on only 16 carries as well as posting a touchdown. Paul Preston chipped in 83 yards on 12 attempts while Jordan Kos found the end zone four times while running for 35 yards.

“I think our o-line did a great job today opening up huge holes and giving us great running room,” Kos said. “Paul Preston and Chichi Ojika also did a great job today as well getting downfield for us.”

MSU Moorhead was first on the scoreboard with a 31-yard touchdown throw from Jake Hodge to Adam Jeskra on its first possession. The Warriors would answer quickly, tying the game up at seven thanks to a 10-yard score by Ojika.

The Dragons took a 14-7 advantage in the second quarter, with Hodge taking it to the end zone for a six yard score.

Winona State took command of the rest of the quarter, scoring 17 unanswered points to increase the lead to 24-14 at the half. Kos tied the game at 14 with a four-yard scamper and after a quick punt by Moorhead, Nelson connected with Cameron Johnson for a 21-yard strike to give the Warriors the lead.

Brett Cochran-Bray tacked on 25-yard field goal with just 50 seconds left in the half to give the Warriors a 10-point lead.

The Dragons started things off in the second half with a quick touchdown to cut the deficit to three, 24-21. It was all purple from there, with Winona State ending the game with 41 consecutive points.

Nelson found Alan May for a 49-yard connection and found Josh Mikes for a 33-yard score in the third quarter to give the Warriors a 38-21 lead. May finished the game with five receptions for 86 yards while Mikes snagged four passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Mikes has now caught a touchdown in seven consecutive contests and has ten receiving scores in just 15 career games.

On the defensive end, the Warriors forced a couple of Moorhead turnovers in the second half, with Ryan Gerts getting an interception and Mike Barton recovering a fumble that was forced by Ian Murray. The Warriors held Hodge to 12-of-26 passing on the afternoon, allowing him to just 46 percent passing.

Larry Mbayu led the way for the Warriors with seven tackles while Murray and Morgan Weaver each added six. Colin Corcoran chipped in a sack to add to the Warrior effort.

“I’m really proud of our guys today,” coach Tom Sawyer said. “We fought through a lot, and the last couple of weeks there has been pressure on us and that’s exactly what we want. We want to be pressured, and we want to be one of the top teams.”

Winona State University (1-2, 1-2 NSIC) will hit the field next weekend when it heads to Minot State.

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