DULUTH, MINN.—The Hamline University football team picked up their second-straight victory with a 33-26 road win over St. Scholastica on Saturday afternoon. The Pipers hadn't won back-to-back MIAC games since the 2014 season, when they defeated St. Olaf 23-17 on November 1, and Augsburg 28-27 OT on November 8.

Hamline improves to 4-5, 2-5 MIAC, while St. Scholastica falls to 2-7, 1-6 MIAC. 

Hamline 33, St. Scholastica 26

Charlie Wilson's seven catches in the contest gives him 74 in 2023, which ties his own single-season school record achieved last season. His second reception of the day was a 24-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Alejandro Villanueva that gave Hamline a 6-0 lead with 12:06 left in the first quarter. 

Turnovers plagued the Saints throughout the game, and the Pipers turned some of those into points. Juan Bertaud intercepted Saints quarterback Donald West at the 50-yard line with 5:39 on the clock, which set up an 11-play, 50-yard drive capped by Malik Wynn's 10-yard touchdown run with 1:12 remaining in the opening quarter, which widened Hamline's advantage to 13-0. 

St. Scholastica spoiled the shutout on their second series of the second quarter where Donald West completed 6-of-7 passes for 59 yards. This helped drive his team from their own 28 yard line down to Hamline's one, where Nick Schlender finished the job with a 1-yard touchdown run that cut the Saints' deficit to 13-6 with 7:27 left in the second quarter.

Hamline ran the ball on their first eight plays of the next drive, where Villanueva and Wynn combined for 46 yards. Gilbert Guerra III followed that with a 27-yard run down to the one-yard line, where Wynn plunged for a one-yard touchdown that pushed Hamline's lead to 20-6 with 1:12 left in the first half. 

West completed 5-of-7 passes for 46 yards over the final 1:01 for the Saints offense, who called a timeout with 00:03 on the clock. The breather paid dividends as Nick Schlender ran the ball into the end zone from the one-yard line as time expired to narrow Hamline's lead to 20-13. 

The West-Schlender duo capitalized once again in the third quarter's opening drive, which began at Hamline's 40-yard line following Jacob Burgess's 38-yard kickoff return. The dynamic duo combined for 30 yard rushing in the drive, which included Nick Schlender 19-yard touchdown run that tied the game 20-20 with 12:53 on the clock.

Hamline was afforded opportunities off a Saints fumble recovered by Elijah Gingras, and a turnover on downs. Durham Welch capitalized on that fumble with a 28-yard field goal that gave the Pipers the lead for good at 23-20 with 5:48 left in the third quarter. Charlie Wilson widened the score to 30-20 off a 13-yard touchdown grab with 00:15 on the clock.

Welch added another field goal, this time from 30 yards out that pushed Hamline's lead to 33-20 with 7:10 left in the game. Schlender closed the game's scoring for St. Scholastica with a 27-yard touchdown catch from West that put the margin at 33-26 with 2:16 remaining, where the Pipers ran out the clock.

Malik Wynn registered a game-high 110 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries for the Pipers, who accumulated 368 yards of total offense against St. Scholastica's 298. Wynn engineered a Pipers offense that ran for a season-high 256 as a team. Villanueva, who completed 16-of-25 passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns, added 74 yards rushing on 13 carries. Guerra III notched 75 yards on 14 carries. 

Wilson's seven catches accumulated in 57 yards and two touchdowns.

Elijah Gingras played the game of his life for the Hamline defense with eight tackles that included two for a loss of 15 yards, as well as a five-yard sack. Gingras added two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble to his stat line. 

Noah Hickman led Hamline with a team-high nine tackles while Dominic Sandoval had seven tackles, an interception returned for 13 yards, and a pass break up. Jevon Jones' six tackles was highlighted by a sack that resulted in a six-yard loss.

The Pipers, who finished as the No. 4 seed in the Skyline Division, will host Northwoods Division No. 4 seed St. Olaf at Klas Field on Saturday, November 11 at 1 p.m. for MIAC Championship Week.