Box Score

WINONA, MN – Winona State forced turnovers on five of St. Cloud State’s seven second half possessions, earning a 29-16 victory over the No. 9 Huskies Saturday in Winona.

The Warriors forced four fumbles and intercepted a St. Cloud pass in the second half as they beat a top-10 team for the third consecutive season. WSU is now 2-1 overall on the year and 2-0 in conference play.

A Thomas Kinney field goal and seven yard touchdown run by Rayon Simmons put WSU up 10-3 after the first quarter. St. Cloud State responded with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to stake itself to a 16-12 lead at intermission.

Winona State, however, dominated the second half. The team forced four fumbles and intercepted a pass in the half, with the other two SCSU drives ending in punts. Winona State also recorded a safety in the first period on a misplayed snap on a punt in the end zone.

Simmons scored his second touchdown of the game with 6:54 to play in the third quarter, putting WSU up for good. The team added a touchdown run by Curtis Dewberry to go up 26-16 just three minutes later.

The Warrior offense rushed for 222 yards as a team, with Simmons accounting for 150 of those yards. Simmons is now fourth on the all-time WSU rushing charts with 2,463 yards. His 29 career touchdowns are also tenth in school history.

Bryan Bradshaw got the start at quarterback for Winona State, replacing John Teigland who was nursing an injury suffered last week. Bradshaw was extremely efficient, completing 19-of-24 passes for 199 yards. He also rushed for 37 yards on seven carries.

Senior linebacker Chad Cheek led the Warriors with 11 tackles while Alex Coulter added nine. Norgaard provided the interception while Coulter, Ryan Williams, Steven Liegel and Ryan Gerts recovered SCSU fumbles.

Winona State will be back in Verizon Wireless Stadium next week when it hosts Upper Iowa. Kickoff is set for 4:30 pm.