Second-ranked Minnesota Duluth overcame two turnovers with more than 500 yards of offense in rolling to a 59-17 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory before 4,418 fans on Saturday night at Malosky Stadium.
UMD senior All-American Isaac Odim did most of the damage, running a season-high 23 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns, and adding a 65-yard kickoff return.
The Bulldogs came in with a plus-11 turnover differential but coughed the ball up twice in the first half on Saturday, leading to seven Winona points. But whenever the Warriors struck, UMD answered.
Winona's best chance of making a game of it occurred after the Warriors (4-2 overall, 3-2 NSIC) scored a touchdown just before the half to cut the lead to 28-17. Winona had deferred the opening kickoff, meaning they could conceivably have scored on their opening drive of the second half to put a scare into UMD (6-0, 5-0).
Instead, UMD took possession just 49.2 seconds before the break and methodically drove down the field behind excellent clock management from quarterback Chase Vogler. With seconds left in the half, the sophomore then found senior receiver D'Andre Sherill in the back of the end zone for a 26-yard scoring strike to make the halftime score 35-17, robbing Winona of any momentum it had gained.
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For more coverage, see Sunday's News Tribune.
