Kilat Fitzgerald/Winonan

The Winona State University football team used a key defensive play to earn a 20-17 victory Saturday night against Bemidji State at Chet Anderson Stadium in Bemidji.

With under a minute left in the fourth quarter, Jeff Brown and Nickai Poyser managed to block a field goal attempt by Isaac Aanerud, securing the lead and ensuring the victory for Winona State.

The defense on both teams prevented any touchdowns in the first half of the game, making the halftime score 3-3. Aanerud kicked a 27-yard field goal to initially put the Beavers up 3-0. Carter McCauley, who was NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week last week, responded with a 43-yard field goal that resulted in a mid-game tie.

McCauley currently holds three kicks in the program’s top 10, with the 43-yarder tying for ninth place in Winona State field goal history. The other two were set during last week’s victory against Minot State.

“[Carter’s] performance has been positive for the entire team,” coach Tom Sawyer said. “His game has shown that we can overcome adversity.”

The Warriors had a chance to break the stalemate when running back Eric Birth hauled in a seven-yard pass from quarterback Jack Nelson and took it all the way down to the Bemidji State one-yard line but fumbled on fourth and goal where the Beavers recovered the ball with 1:38 remaining in the second quarter.

The Warriors weren’t on defense for long, and they got the back the ball at their own 20 with a little over a minute remaining in the half. Nelson found Cameron Johnson for a 50-yard strike to give the Warriors first and goal from the 10-yard line. However, Nelson’s pass was intercepted inside the end zone near the right sideline, keeping the score tied 3-3.

The tie was finally broken after a 72-yard touchdown drive on just seven plays from the Warriors to start the second half, capped off with Nelson finding the hands of Alan May for an 8-yard score, giving Winona State a 10-3 lead. McCauley followed up with another field goal to extend the lead to 13-3, but the Beavers cut the deficit to 13-10 on a one-yard rush during the second play of the fourth quarter.

Bemidji briefly took the lead after a 29-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Hein to Jordan Noskowiak, bringing it to 17-13 in their favor. However, Paul Preston responded with a 10-yard touchdown run to reclaim the lead for the Warriors, 20-13, paving the way for the victory.

Statistically, Nelson ended up completing 24 of his 38 pass attempts for 272 yards and a score, as well as an interception. Preston led the ground attack, eclipsing the 100-yard barrier with 121 rushing yards and a touchdown. Josh Mikes went for 93 yards receiving on 10 catches, while Cameron Johnson snagged a trio of passes for 66 yards and Alan May added five receptions for 53 yards.

On the defensive end, Collin Corcoran posted 13 tackles and helped on a sack. Mike Imperiale tallied nine tackles with three of those going for a loss of yards while adding a sack. Jeff Brown netted a full as well as a half sack and Travis Frank hauled in the lone interception for the Warriors secondary.

“They did a good job blitzing the heck out of us,” Bemidji head coach Jeff Tesch said.

Winona State (2-1) travels home to take on St. Cloud State for its homecoming game Saturday at 2:30 p.m.