Adam Kirk / Winonan

Winona State University’s football team lost 34-31 against University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday.

The Warriors’ high scoring offense picked up right where they left off after their 68-point outing last week, scoring 19 points in the first quarter. Things began to cool off in the second quarter where they were held scoreless.

Winona State restarted in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns, but failed to score the remainder of the game.

Head coach Tom Sawyer said the key to their success on offense this season is maturity. With the offensive unit made up of mostly third-year starters, the team has a good amount of experience.

Jack Nelson threw more than 300 yards and four touchdowns, but got sacked six times and had one costly red-zone interception in the fourth quarter. This was the 16th time he has thrown more than 300 yards in his career.

Nelson targeted receivers Will Claussen and Cameron Johnson four times each, including a 68-yard touchdown pass to Claussen on the first drive of the game. Johnson had two touchdowns to put him in the top 10 all-time in Winona State history in both receptions and touchdowns.

Senior running back Paul Preston led the rushing attack for the Warriors and set a new career-high with 141 rushing yards and scored a touchdown.

Timely penalties hurt the Warriors’ offense, according to Sawyer.

“We backed ourselves up on some third downs that made it really hard for us to convert. We’ll need to work on our discipline going forward,” Sawyer said.

Defensively Winona struggled to stop the Bulldogs in the first quarter, but locked in and only gave up one touchdown the rest of the game. Junior defensive back Andrew Spencer led the team with 15 tackles and linebacker Jarret Wood forced a fumble leading to a Warrior touchdown.

The Bulldogs, who were ranked in the top 25 before their loss last week, led a balanced offensive attack and accumulated 488 total yards.

Coach Sawyer was unhappy with the team missing 31 tackles and said the team needs to communicate much better on defense.

Late in the fourth quarter, Duluth capitalized on a blown coverage to convert a third-and-17, allowing them to hold the ball and wind the clock down to end the game.

The Warriors had some special teams miscues missing an extra point, two field goals and had another attempt blocked. The Bulldogs returned a punt for a touchdown at the end of the second quarter to give them the lead before halftime. However, the special teams unit did come up with a big play when Michael Ferrante blocked a field goal to keep Winona within one point.

“If we can clean up some of the mistakes, I think we can play with anyone this year,” Sawyer said.

Winona State will look to bounce back against Northern State University on Saturday at 1 p.m. at home.

-By Adam Kirk