By: Madie Brink
October 20, 2022
SIOUX FALLS – The No. 11 University of Sioux Falls football team hits the road this weekend to take on the 5-2 Winona State Warriors in their homecoming game.
The History
Since the beginning of the DII era for the Cougars, USF and Winona State have faced off nine times with the Warriors coming away with five of those victories. The Cougars have outscored the Warriors 254 to 216 since their first match-up in 2012 with the Cougars largest victory being 34-12 in 2019.
Last season, USF hosted the Warriors while falling late in the fourth quarter. The Cougars struggled to get their run game going with only 81 yards on the day. Both defenses battled to keep the score 0-0 at the half before Winona scored first in the third. With a 33 yard field goal and a seven yard touchdown pass, the Cougars went up 10-7 with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Winona connected for a 70 yard touchdown pass to take the game 10-14 and a series lead of 5-4.
The Warriors
The Warriors are coming off a 43-7 victory over Southwest Minnesota State last weekend, their largest scoring game this season. Winona currently sits seventh in the NSIC overall rankings and second in the NSIC South. The Warriors offense has averaged 30.71 points a game with 215 total points on the season. On the other side of the ball, Winona has only given up an average of 18.71 points a game and 131 on the season.
The rushing game for the Warriors is led by sophomore, Ty Gavin with 698 yards on the season and three rushing touchdowns. Gavin has seen 108 touches on the year and averages 99.71 yards a game and 6.5 yards a carry. Junior quarterback, Trevor Paulsen, leads Winona with three touchdown passes on the season averaging 123 yards a game. Paulsen's biggest targets are Darryl Williams and Cooper Nelson both with one touchdown on the season. Williams has pulled in 20 passes this season while Nelson has 18 of his own.
The Warrior defense has produced 14 sacks on the year for a loss of 96 yards led by senior linebacker, Carter Duxbury with four on the season. However, the Winona defense has given up 1,633 yards in passing along with 12 receiving touchdowns, but leads the NSIC in interceptions with nine on the year.
The #11 Cougars
The Cougars enter this weekend 7-0 as they defeated the University of Mary 41-27 last weekend to advance to 1-of-13 unbeaten NCAA DII football teams. USF is currently ranked 11th in the NCAA and 1st in the NSIC. The Cougars have averaged 35.14 points a game with 246 on the year while only giving up 133 points this season.
Thuro Reisdorfer continues to own the USF running game along with junior running back, Landon Freeman. Reisdorfer leads the NSIC in rushing and scoring with 965 yards this season averaging 137.86 yards a game with 14 touchdowns. This week, Reisdorfer was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week after a career breaking game against the Marauders with 219 yards on the 36 carries. Freeman sits second in the NSIC in scoring with nine touchdowns on the year averaging 7.7 points a game. Adam Mullen has thrown for 1,375 yards and eight touchdowns so far this season averaging 196.43 yards a game targeting Ethan Wittenburg and Carter Slykhuis 47 times throughout the season. Wittenburg has pulled down 27 receptions along with three touchdowns while Slykhuis has tallied 20 receptions and two touchdowns.
The Cougar defense has collected 29 sacks on the year for a loss of 160 yards led by defensive lineman, Zach Durfee with 11.5 on the season. Durfee leads the NSIC in sacks and sits second in DII football. The USF defense continues to pose a threat in the backfield with 52 tackles for a loss of 234 yards.
More Info
For all things Cougar Football be sure to download the new USF Cougars app to follow along! Follow The Coo on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates all season long. Fans can also follow along with live stats, watch the NSIC live video and tune into the KWSN radio broadcast with Tom Frederick and Tim Hiatt for every Cougar Football game!
