The Winona State University Warriors football team defeated the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons 42-14 on Saturday, Sept. 16. The Warriors are now 3-0 for the season.

In the previous game, the defense held St. Cloud State University to zero points in the second half. They did the same in the first half of this game, while also forcing five turnovers throughout the entire game.

Among those contributing was senior defensive back, Andrew Spencer who had three tackles and one interception during Saturday’s game.

“I would describe our performance as resilient. We flew around and led hard. We are getting better every week, that’s the goal to be 1-0 every week,” Spencer said.

With the defense doing their job, the offense capitalized quickly on their success. Following an interception by junior linebacker Nick Pridgeon, the good field position allowed junior running back Eric Birth to make the most of the opportunity at hand and give the Warriors the first points of the game after a seven-yard run. With the touchdown, Birth has now passed his total from last year and is on pace to have season high stats in several areas of his game.

Later in the first quarter, a 67-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Darren Beenken to junior wide receiver Isaiah Frandsen would extend the lead to 14.

Not content with just passing the ball, Beenken went on to score another touchdown. However, this time on the ground after a four-yard run, marking the first time he scored on the run in his four seasons with the team.

The Warriors capped off the half with one last scoring drive ending with freshman running back Sam Santiago-Lloyd scoring his first touchdown of his college career on a one-yard run.

Winona State ended the half with the lead.

While Moorhead managed to score in the third, the Warriors’ offense wouldn’t slow down, with Beenken and Frandsen connecting again for another touchdown. Beenken would end the day throwing for 274 passing yards, and completing 12 of his 24 attempts.

With victory in their sights, freshman running back Landon Jacobson scored his first touchdown of his college career and the final of the game after an eight-yard run.

This win marks the first time since 2014 that the Winona State football team has started the season 3-0.

“It’s always good to be undefeated to start the season but I don’t think anyone on our team is thinking about that. We are 0-0 heading into this week and that’s all that matters,” Spencer said.

The Warriors will play next on Saturday, Sept. 23, as they go on to play Minot State University at 2 p.m. in Minot, N.D.