ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the second straight week, Concordia-St. Paul (1-6 NSIC, 0-3 South) would face one of the toughest defenses in the country on a night that featured strong rain and temperatures hovering around 50 degrees. This week, the Golden Bears slowed #13 Winona State (7-0 NSIC, 3-0 South) down, but the Warriors ran away late in a 28-10 contest at a soaking Sea Foam Stadium.

The Golden Bears remain at home next Saturday, October 21 for a noon kickoff against its third straight nationally-ranked home opponent, #18 Sioux Falls (6-1 NSIC, 2-1 South), who defeated Wayne State on Thursday night and whose only loss was a 31-13 homecoming loss to Winona State last Saturday.

Concordia came out looking for the upset in the first quarter, stopping Winona State's opening drive on 3rd and 9 from the CSP 47 yard line when junior cornerback Dion Wallisch picked off a deflected pass at the 40 and returned it 45 yards down the CSP sideline to the Warrior 15 yard line.

It was the second interception of the season for Wallisch and a big shift in WSU's season forture as the Warriors led the nation entering play with a 21-8 turnover margin (+2.17/game). Concordia would win the turnover margin on the night, as the Wallisch INT was the only turnover. Wallisch finished with five tackles and added a forced fumble and a half tackle for loss.

The Winona State defense entered play ranked 10th in the country in red zone defense, allowing teams to score just 60 percent of the time. But Concordia would get on the scoreboard despite moving backwards out of the red zone on a 3-and-out as junior Jonas Schenderlein connected from 41 yards to give Concordia the first lead, 3-0.

It was the first time all year that a team scored on WSU's defense in the opening quarter as the Warriors had outscored opponents 44-0 in the first six games.

Further, Concordia was able to overcome its own first quarter woes, having entered with a 7-55 first quarter scoring deficit with the Golden Bears holding the 3-0 lead at the end of the quarter as WSU missed a 32-yard field goal.

The WSU missed field goal summed up a challenging night for anything related to the ball being put in the air with a steady wind in the double-digits combined with a strong rain that turned into a heavy rain for the entire third and most of the fourth quarter.

It's also a testament to the consistency of Schenderlein's right leg, as the CSP kicker delivered on his 14th consecutive field goal from inside of 50 yards with his first quarter connection, and is now 7-8 overall on the season.

Following the WSU missed field goal, the Bears continued their first quarter momentum as sophomore quarterback Maxon Hutton barreled through the WSU defense, showing strength and speed on a 25-yard run to the WSU 45.

The drive stalled from there, and conditions didn't help a snap and exchange on the punt as the Bears were forced to eat an 18 yard loss on fourth down, giving WSU the ball on the CSP 33 yard line.

The play was a key aid in helping the Warriors get on the scoreboard, moving the ball at least four yards each on five plays capped by a five yard Javian Roebuck touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.

The two teams kept each other off the scoreboard for the rest of the half, as neither team was able to show an aerial threat.

At the half, the teams combined for 5-11 passing for 28 yards and an interception. CSP was just 2-5 for 12 yards through the air although sophomore Darnell Rolle was able to find a bit of room with 23 yards on five carries (4.6 avg) as the team produced 53 yards on 16 rushing attempts. WSU countered with an efficient 24-146 rushing in the half.

In the third quarter, the rain picked up aggressively as did the wind with CSP receiving the ball but also heading directly into the stiff wind. The result was an inefficient offensive output as the Bears ran nine plays for zero total yards in the quarter.

But the turnover-free football kept them in the game, especially when sophomore Antonio Zepeda blocked a Warrior field goal as WSU went 0-2 on field goal tries in the game. It was CSP's fourth block of the season and kept the score 7-3 5:56 to play in the third quarter.

Winona State was able to keep the ground game churning, rushing 13 times for 86 yards in the quarter and adding 2-2 for 24 yards passing. But it only led to one score, as Roebuck added his second touchdown of the game on a catch out of the backfield with 1:47 to play in the third to make it a 14-3 WSU lead. Roebuck finished with 26-170 on the ground and 2-24 receiving.

In the fourth, the Warriors continued to grind the clock away, rumbling for 52 yards on eight plays and adding a 22 yard pass out of the backfield. Seven of the eight plays went to Landon Jacobson, who bruised his way in for a one yard touchdown run. He added a two yard touchdown run on WSU's next drive to give the Warriors a suddenly decisive 28-3 lead with 6:51 to go in the game.

With the rain subsiding late, CSP was able to find some success in the passing game as Hutton was 5-8 for 50 yards and added 12 yards on three rushing attempts that would be erased by a sack.

The drive was capped by a 17-yard jump ball to the back left corner of the end zone to sophomore Marcus Gustaveson on 4th and 5. It was Gustaveson's seventh receiving touchdown on the year in as many games.

He finished with 2-24 receiving while senior Deceon Schumann also caught a pair of passes for 26 yards. Rolle led CSP with 34 yards on the ground on eight carries while Hutton had 25 rushing yards on 11 tries, adding 7-16 for 62 yards through the air.

CSP held Winona State quarterback Darren Beenken to 7-11 passing for 104 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The CSP defense also held the Warriors to 2-10 on third downs in the contest, but were only able to convert 1-11 on offense.

Freshman linebacker Blake Evans and sophomore safety Brian Szutkowski led the defense with 14 tackles each while Zepeda, senior Andrew Capirchio and freshman Chris Garrett each had seven stops. Zepeda added a tackle for loss on a strip sack by sophomore Dylan Wood that was recovered by Beenken.

Luke Teague led WSU's defense with eight tackles, three for loss, a hurry, a pass breakup and a sack.