Loading ...Erin Cochran/Winonan
The Warriors football team fell to the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Saturday, 38-16.
The Bulldogs are ranked number two in the league and displayed a strong offense and defense, proving to hold back the Warriors from a victory.
Winona State put up points in the second quarter from Sean Hertz from a pass from John Teigland.
UMD tied quickly after from a 89 yard kickoff return and another run to put the score, 14-7.
Jake Vercher scored a 26 yard field goal leaving the score 21- 10 at half.
The third proved to be a tough quarter for the Warriors as UMD scored 17 more points solidifying and furthering their lead 38-10.
The final points for Winona State were attributed to a ten- yard touchdown pass to Tyler Speer from Teigland with just over eight minutes left in the fourth.
Ryan Williams led the Warriors defense with ten tackles and two for loss.
Ian Murray recorded seven tackles and Morgan Weaver got a sack.
“UMD is a team that takes advantage of their momentum and that was our downfall,” said Warrior football head coach, Tom Sawyer. “We controlled the game for the first half, they controlled the second half! We missed on some opportunities early in the game that really could have given us a great start!”
“For this next home game we’re going to focus on being balanced in our attack, tackle better and be sound in our special teams,” said Sawyer.
“For this weekend our offense needs to improve on scoring in the red zone,” said Teigland. “We need to take advantage of our opportunities when we get the ball inside the 20-yard line.”
“As far as the rest of this season goes, our goal is to win out,” said Teigland. “We don’t see a team on our schedule that we feel can beat us. We need to come out on Saturdays and play at a high level, and if we can do that we should get the wins.”
Rayon Simmons rushed for 81 yards and is now the second player in Winona State history to record 3,600 rushing yards during his collegiate career. He only needs 224 more yards to become Winona State’s all- time rusher.
He is number three in the NSIC all-time rushing charts.
Teigland completed 23-of-44 passes for 375 yards and put up a school record as fifth most passing yards in a single game.
Evan Aber held the previous record, in the 2010 season at a game versus Upper Iowa.
Total, the Warriors had 447 yards against UMD, passing on the Bulldogs offense by 50 yards.
“In my eyes the players of the week were JohnTiegland on offense and Toby Frisby on defense,” said Sawyer.
When asked about his successes as Warrior quarterback, Teigland credits his hard work from an early age as well as God.
“First off, I’ve been blessed by the good Lord with the abilities to play quarterback. With out Him I would be nowhere. Secondly, I’ve been throwing the football around since I was a little kid. Working hard throughout my career and utilizing the weight room has been essential for my growth as an athlete”
Winona State is not 1-1 overall and in NSIC league play.
The Warriors will return home at Verizon Wireless Stadium on Saturday with kick off scheduled at 4:30 p.m.
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