Kilat Fitzgerald/Winonan
The Winona State University football team dropped its second consecutive game, a 35-21 loss against Upper Iowa Saturday afternoon as junior quarterback Jack Nelson became the Warriors all-time leading passer.
Last week, Nelson broke a pair of records, becoming the leader in completions and passing touchdowns.
Nelson ended the game 33-for-57 for 361 yards and one touchdown. The quarterback has now racked up 7,809 career passing yards, surpassing Winona State Hall of Famer Jake Goettl for the most in Warrior career history.
“The only record I care about is the team’s win-loss,” Nelson said.
Head coach Tom Sawyer said, “He didn’t play his best game, but here he is. He’s a great quarterback and he’s an all-time leader in just about every category we have.”
Upper Iowa put the first points on the board when Peacock quarterback Dimitri Morales made a 2-yard run to establish a 7-0 lead with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter.
This was answered by an 11-yard pass from Nelson to Cameron Johnson two minutes later, which evened the score 7-7. Johnson led the Warriors with 126 yards receiving on eight catches with a touchdown.
“Cam Johnson is a special talent. He caught some sideline balls that were unbelievable,” Sawyer said.
Johnson shared the sentiment of wins taking priority over individual stats with Nelson, saying “My record I mean, that’s cool and all, but we just wanna win. It shows we can do great things when we do things right.”
The Warriors struggled on third-down conversions throughout the game finishing 3-for-15.
“I mean we’re 3-for-15 on third-downs. That’s insulting,” Sawyer said.
The Peacocks capitalized on this, scoring another three touchdowns and establishing a 28-7 lead halfway through the second quarter.
The lead was cut by Paul Preston’s one-yard rushing touchdown which moved the score to 28-14 at halftime, adding to the junior running back’s 117 yards on 17 carries that he acquired in the first half.
“I need 80 more Paul Prestons. He’s bouncing off stuff like nothing’s there,” Sawyer said.
Preston also achieved an 8-yard rush for a score early in the third quarter to cut the deficit 28-21, however ended the second half with six net yards on five carries.
The final points were put on the board late in the third quarter, when Morales connected with Trey MacTaggart for the 11-yard score that pushed the game to 35-21 with the Warriors locked out of the end zone.
Josh Mikes chipped in seven receptions for 94 yards, while Alan May posted six catches for 51 yards.
Senior linebacker Collin Corcoran jumped into an eighth-place tie on the career sacks list with 17.5 after he recorded one in the contest. Corcoran led the way in the tackling department with 12, with two of those going for loss. Imperiale netted nine tackles and forced a fumble to add to the Warrior effort.
“We just need to put in more work during the week. We have to realize that games aren’t won on Saturdays, they’re won on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, that’s when you put in the work to win the game,” linebacker Mike Imperiale said. “Bad things happen, but at the end of the day, we’re all brothers, we all respect each other.”
Winona State (3-4, 1-2 NSIC South) returns to the road Saturday against No. 1 Minnesota State at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
