MARSHALL, Minn. – Winona State University used a punt return for a touchdown, a blocked punt for a touchdown and also recorded a safety on a punt to help score 43 unanswered point in a 43-7 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
 
WSU improves to 5-2 overall, 2-0 NSIC South, and with the victory retains the Battle for the Sledge trophy, presented by Game One and Adidas, for the sixth straight game.
 
SMSU, which scored the game's first touchdown, dropped its second in a row to fall to 4-3 overall, 1-2 NSIC South.
 
WSU's Aarion Lacy returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter to snap a 7-7 game and turn the momentum on the Warriors' side. Lacy finished the game with three punt returns for 85 yards and was named WSU's most valuable player for the game.
 
SMSU's Peter Osman, who caught a team-high five passes for 62 yards and a touchdown, was named SMSU's game MVP.
 
SMSU true freshman quarterback Marcus Martin made his first career start and appearance, closing the game completing 11 of 28 pass attempts for 139 yards and one touchdown.
 
Mustang leading rusher Jesse Sherwood, who missed the last two games with an injury, rushed for a game-high 78 yards on 20 attempts. Donald Austin added 43 yards on 13 carries.
 
WSU finished the game with 466 yards of offense and 19 first downs, while SMSU ended the day with 203 yards and 13 first downs.
 
Sam Santiago-Lloyd led the Warriors with 73 yards rushing and one touchdown on 18 attempts, while Ty Gavin added 62 yards on 12 carries.
 
Kyle Haas completed 12 of 17 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown, while Trevor Paulsen finished 7 of 12 for 77 yards and one interception.
 
The game started impressive for the Mustangs as Sherwood opened the game with runs of 11, 7, 9 and 4 yards moving the ball to the WSU 37-yard line. Following two rushes by Austin, Martin connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Osman to give SMSU a 7-0 advantage with 11:19 left in the first quarter.
 
SMSU maintained the 7-0 lead into the second quarter before Haas completed a 44-yard pass to Darryl Williams on third-and-nine to tie the game with 14 minutes left in the half.
 
Midway through the quarter SMSU was forced to punt and Lacy broke free for a 62-yard punt return to put the Warriors in the lead at 14-7.
 
On SMSU's ensuing drive, the Mustangs were forced to punt but the snap sailed over Carter Dicker, who fell on the ball for a safety to push the score to 16-7
 
The ensuing free kick went out of bounds at the SMSU 39-yard line and just seven plays later Santiago-Lloyd scored on a 2-yard run to extend the lead to 23-7.
 
WSU would close the half with a 30-yard field goal by Jacob Scott to take a 26-7 halftime lead.
 
The WSU lead would move to 29-7 at the 5:15 mark of the third quarter as Scott connected on another 30-yard field goal.
 
The WSU special teams would come through once again in the fourth quarter blocking a punt near the goal line with Andrew Goergen picking up the ball and returning two yards for a touchdown. The game's final touchdown came late in the fourth quarter on a 65-yard run by Nick McCabe.
 
SMSU's Thomas Mergen finished the game with a game-high 10 tackles, including seven solo stops. Jalani Jefferson closed with eight tackles with teammates Josiah Hedensten and Alan Giron each collecting six tackles.
 
SMSU returns to the road next Saturday, Oct. 22, with a 12 p.m. match-up at Wayne State College.