Wayne State 24 Bemidji State 21
Wayne State College rallied from a 21-10 fourth quarter deficit to post a 24-21 win at Bemidji State Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats improve to 4-1 in the NSIC, tied for second place with Univ. of Mary, and 4-3 overall while Bemidji State slips to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in league play.
The host Beavers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, taking the opening drive of the game and marching 64 yards on 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead following an Erick Newman two-yard scoring run with 10:38 to go in the first quarter. On Wayne State's first drive of the game, the 'Cats drove the ball to the Bemidji State five-yard line, but the Wildcats could not find the endzone and turned the ball back to the Beavers on downs. Later in the first quarter, the Wildcats moved the ball again deep into BSU territory, but sophomore placekicker Nick Hope missed wide right on a 29-yard field goal to give the Beavers the ball back at their own 20-yard line.
Wayne State's third opportunity inside the red zone midway through the second quarter would result in points as Silas Fluellen scored on a one-yard run to even the score at 7-7 with 4:05 left in the second quarter. The big play of the scoring drive was a 62-yard pass completion from Fluellen to Logan Masters. Bemidji State took the ensuing drive and moved the ball to the WSC 32 yard line, but Wildcat redshirt freshman cornerback Cole Fischer intercepted a pass by Bemidji State quarterback Cory Wardrope to thwart the Beaver scoring threat to make the halftime score 7-7.
Bemidji State took advantage of a Silas Fluellen fumble on the first play of the second half and turned the miscue into points as Beavers running back James Moore scored on a one-yard run with 12:03 to go in the third quarter, capping a seven-play, 58 yard drive to put Bemidji State back in front 14-7. Later in the third quarter, the Wildcats used a 10-play, 73 yard drive to set up Nick Hope on a 29-yard field goal, making the score 14-10 in favor of the Beavers with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter. Bemidji State would answer the Wildcats' score on the next drive, covering 63 yards on 10 plays to take a 21-10 lead early in the fourth quarter as Wardrope found tight end John Larson on a 10-yard scoring pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the Beavers ahead by 11 points.
Wayne State began their comeback midway through the fourth quarter as the Wildcats needed just four plays and 42 yards to score, capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass from Fluellen to Brian Chapman, making the score 21-17 with 8:59 remaining. The Wildcat defense stopped Bemidji State on back-to-back drives, giving Wayne State the ball at their own 33 yard line with 2:05 left in the game. Fluellen engineered a 10-play, 67 yard drive in the final two minutes of the game to account for the go-ahead score as the sophomore quarterback from Bellevue West found Frederick Bruno on a seven-yard scoring play with just 42 seconds left in the game, giving WSC a 24-21 lead.
Bemidji State had one last chance, starting at their own 39-yard line. But Wildcat junior Reno Blomquist intercepted a Cory Wardrope pass at the Wildcat 18-yard line to preserve the come-from-behind win.
Fluellen had a career-high 374 yards passing to lead the Wayne State offense in the win, completing 25 of 39 passes with two touchdowns and one interception. His previous career-high of 325 yards came against Bemidji State in Wayne last season. His favorite receiver was sophomore Logan Masters with eight receptions for 203 yards, a career-high in receiving yards for Masters while matching a career-high in receptions. Brian Chapman added six catches for 58 yards and one touchdown.
"We're real excited with the win and happy with how the kids responded when we needed them to," commented WSC offensive coordinator Gene Suhr following the game. "We knew they (Bemidji State) were vulnerable to the pass. Silas was on throwing the ball today and the offensive line did a great job allowing Silas to set up and throw the ball."
WSC had 411 yards of total offense in the game to Bemidji State's 315. Junior defensive end Tyler Krueger had a huge game for the Wildcats, recording a game-high 13 tackles with three tackles for loss (-22 yards) and 1.5 sacks. Senior linebacker Nick Baldetti added 11 tackles and Troy Pribnow contributed 2.5 sacks in the win as the Wildcat defense forced four Bemidji State turnovers.
The Wildcats, on a three-game win streak, return home next weekend to host Southwest Minnesota State in a 1:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference contest at Cunningham Field on Saturday, October 20.
