Mavericks hold on at Winona
Nov. 4—WINONA — Minnesota State dominated the first half and held on for a 49-42 victory over Winona State in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football game Saturday.
"It was an exciting game," Minnesota State coach Todd Hoffner said. "I thought Hayden (Ekern) played great, the offensive line played great. The receivers, the running backs ... all did positive things.
"Defensively, we gave up too many home runs. We have to stop those big plays."
The Mavericks led 28-7 at halftime, having amassed 324 yards, including 233 yards passing. Ekern completed 13 of 21 passes with one touchdown, and he rushed for two scores.
Shen Butler-Lawson rushed for 67 yards in the half, including a 39-yard run for a touchdown.
Winona State had 189 yards of offense, most of which came on a 75-yard touchdown run. However, the Warriors had 409 yards in the second half, hitting several big plays. Three of Winona State's touchdowns came from 45 yards or more.
Ekern finished with 328 yards passing, the second 300-yard game of his career. He completed 21 of 33 passes with two touchdowns. Butler-Lawson had 172 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
"I thought Hayden really took charge and was a leader in practice," Hoffner said. "Those things carried over to the game. He was patient and waited for things to come open, and his receivers made some good plays."
The Mavericks had 536 yards of offense as the teams combined for 1,134 yards.
Cody Brown led the defense with six tackles, and Khai West made two interceptions.
Minnesota State (9-1, 8-1 in Northern Sun) returns to Blakeslee Stadium on Saturday for the regular-season finale against Minnesota Duluth. A win would clinch a share of the conference championship and an NCAA berth.
Follow Chad Courrier on Twitter @ChadCourrier.
