Winona State scored early and often in its home finale on Saturday afternoon, beating UMary 55-7 at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium. Quarterback Jacob Sampson completed 16 of 19 passes for 204 yards and five touchdowns, a total that ties for the second-most touchdown passes in a single game in program history, while his 84.2 percent completion rate ranks fifth in school history for one game.
Sampson opened the scoring with a 61-yard touchdown pass to Nolan Ginskey in the first quarter and added a touchdown throw to Jake Schultz later in the quarter. Ginskey and Schultz each finished with two touchdown catches, James Durst caught a touchdown pass and added a rushing score, and AJ Moore also ran for a touchdown. Jahmani Muhammad led the Warriors on the ground with 78 yards on 11 carries.
The Warriors led 35-0 at halftime and stretched the margin to 55-0 on Durst's 1-yard rushing touchdown, Ginskey's second touchdown catch and two Mathias Yaggie field goals, from 37 and 40 yards. Yaggie was perfect on the day, making both field goal attempts and all seven extra points. UMary's only score came on a 48-yard touchdown pass with six minutes left in the game.
Winona State's defense forced turnovers and lived in the UMary backfield. Blake Schraufnagel led the unit with eight tackles, four tackles for loss totaling 30 yards, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble, and Ethan Doucette added 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble of his own. The Warriors outgained the Marauders 437 yards to 108, including a 179-71 edge on the ground.
Winona State improves to 4-6 overall and 4-5 in NSIC play, while UMary falls to 3-7 and 2-7 in the conference. The Warriors, who now lead the all-time series 12-1, close the season on the road at Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Nov. 14 at noon in Marshall, Minnesota.
