WINONA, Minn. – The Saginaw Valley State University football team got the 2024 season going with a 38-14 win at Winona State on Thursday night.
The Cardinals scored points on five of its six drives in the first half, including four touchdowns as SVSU held a 17-point advantage at the break. SVSU finished the game with 427 yards of total offense with 172 through the air and 255 on the ground.
"We got off to a fast start," head coach Ryan Brady said. "The second play of the game we dialed up a shot play and Mason McKenzie threw a great ball and Eric Craft made a huge catch and that jumped started us and got us going. From there I thought we controlled the game by running the football. I gave a lot of credit to the offensive line [they] did a great job."
Meijer Player of the Game, Mason McKenzie had a great week one performance as he compiled 283 total yards and three touchdowns. The Caledonia, Michigan native totaled 149 yards through the air on 7-of-11 passing and two touchdown tosses. He was the game's leading rusher with nine carries for 134 yards and a score.
Running back duo Terrance Brown Jr., and Michael Jamerson III combined for 28 carries, 88 yards, and two scores. Brown carried the ball 17 times for 47 yards and a score, while Jamerson had nine rushes for 41 and a touchdown. Brown also scored on a 29-yard reception from McKenzie in the fourth quarter.
Craft led the receivers with two catches for 93 yards, 88 of which came on the touchdown reception on the second offensive play of the game for the Cardinals.
Six different receivers caught passes from the two quarterbacks who saw action with Arron Foulkes getting a team-high three catches.
McKenzie got things rolling for the Cardinals with an 88-yard touchdown pass to Craft on the second play of Saginaw Valley's first drive of the game. Eli Gordon scooped up a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give the ball back to the offense on the Winona State 20-yard line. Brown, punched it in two plays later with a nine-yard touchdown run to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead in the opening three minutes of the game.
The Warriors cut the deficit to 14-7 with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Cole Stenstrom to Sylvere Campbell with just over five minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
Rodrigo Castaneda extended the lead to 10 points with his first field goal as a Cardinal from 35 yards out that capped a 12-play, 41-yard drive that ate up 5:20 of the second quarter.
Winona State kept fighting and used a 63-yard pass from Stenstrom to Jim Curtin to set up an 18-yard score on the ground by Cair'ron Hendred that narrowed the Cardinal lead to 17-14 with 13:36 remaining in the first half.
McKenzie rushed for 27 yards to move the ball near midfield before Nicholas Patterson entered to help finish off a 10-play drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by Jamerson III and put SVSU back up by 10 points with just over seven and a half minutes remaining in the second.
Gordon ended the next WSU drive with an interception inside the Cardinals' 15-yard line that was pushed back to the SVSU 11 by a personal foul penalty. Not bothered by the field position, McKenzie bolted up the middle for an 89-yard touchdown run and Saginaw Valley State was up 31-14 late in the half.
The lone score in the second half came in the fourth quarter when McKenzie escaped several Warrior pass rushers to hit Brown for a 29-yard touchdown pass that gave the final score of 38-14.
The defense gave up two big plays in the first half, but was dominant in the second, giving up no points in the final 30 minutes of play.
Sophomore Jasper Beeler had a great night with a game-high 10 tackles, including one tackle for loss, and an interception that was lost due to a roughing the passer call on the play. Leonard Henry IV led the team in pass rush with 1.5 sacks on the evening. Mo Kamara and Gordon were each credited with an interception to contribute to three takeaways on the night for the Cardinals. Gordon also blocked a field goal attempt late in the first half to keep the Warriors at 14 points.
The SVSU offensive line was stout on the night giving up just one sack while opening up holes for the evening's rushing total of 255 yards.
Castaneda finished the night a perfect 1-for-1 in field goals and 5-for-5 in extra point attempts. He also had two punts for 84 yards and pinned the Warriors inside their own 20 once.
The Cardinals have a much shorter road trip next week when they travel to face rival Northwood in the Axe Bowl inside Hantz Stadium in Midland next Saturday, September 14 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
