Box Score

WINONA, Minn. - The Northern State University football team battled back and forth with Winona State though the entire first half Saturday, but a strong Warrior running game and too many mistakes by the Wolves proved too costly late in the game, as Winona downed the Wolves 39-14 at Maxwell Field in Winona, Minn.

Senior Tavis Ve'e was the main offensive spark-plug for the Wolves as he gained 108 yards on 14 carries (7.7 yards per carry), including a 59-yard touchdown run.  He also caught five passes for 27 yards and added another score through the air.

Sophomore Eric Ellingson threw for 204 yards and a touchdown on 22 of 33 passing.  He also threw three interceptions.  Eight different receivers caught balls from Ellingson, led by junior Brian Jark who hauled in five for 46 yards.

Defensively, the Wolves were led for the second-straight week by Anthony Ponzo, Jr., who finished with 15 total tackles on the day.  Josh Carpenter added ten stops and a sack to go with two tackles for a loss totaling eight yards.

Leading the way offensively for the Warriors was running back Randy Spring, who ended the day with 188 yards on 28 carries (6.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown.  The Warriors used a platoon of runners in gaining 337 rushing yards during the game.  Andy Verbancouer added 83 yards on 12 carries (6.9 yards per carry) with two touchdowns, and Carey Rottman had 66 yards on five carries (13.2 yards per carry) and one touchdown.

Greg Preston tossed two touchdowns for the Warriors on 21 of 30 passing for 195 yards to lead the Winona State air attack.  

Winona State got on the board in the first quarter on an 18-yard run by Rottman over the right guard to put the Warriors up 7-0 with 13:31 showing on the clock.  The Wolves bounced right back, as Ellingson hooked up with Ve'e for a 25-yard strike to tie the game back up at 7-7.

The teams played the rest of the quarter without adding any points, but during the first play of the second quarter, Andy Verbancouer plowed in for a 1-yard touchdown to put the Warriors up 14-7.

The Wolves went three and out on their next possession but caught a break when WSU's backup quarterback Amir Ross was intercepted by the Wolves' Augustus Capers on their own 45-yard line.  Capers returned the pick to the Winona State 30-yard line to get the Wolves back in business. 

Ellingson connected with Matt Devine on the very next play for a 19-yard pass down to the Winona 2-yard line, but Devine was hit, and fumbled into the endzone, which was then recovered by the Warriors for a touchback.  Winona then took the ball on a drive that spanned 7:11 and was capped off by a touchdown pass from Greg Preston to Hakeem Bourne-McFarlne for eight yards to put the Warriors up 20-7.  The extra point attempt failed.

With Northern sitting at their own 41-yard line, senior Tavis Ve'e burned up the right-side of the field for a 59-yard touchdown to bring the Wolves back to a 20-14 deficit.  The score remained the same until Winona State scored with 8:19 remaining in the fourth quarter on a pass from Greg Preston to Ellis Minor to put Winona up 26-14.  The two-point attempt failed.  

A fumble by Eric Ellingson gave Winona State the ball on the NSU 20-yard line, and from there two runs by Randy Spring ended in an 11-yard touchdown for the Warriors.  An interception led to another Verbancouer touchdown an which made the score 39-14, which stayed as the final.