Wayne State 48 Concordia-St. Paul 44

        

                    Wayne State scored 34 points in the fourth quarter, rallying from a 37-14 deficit, to post a dramatic 48-44 win at Concordia-St. Paul in Northern Sun Conference football Saturday afternoon at Griffin Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The win was the fifth straight for Wayne State, moving the Wildcats to 6-3 overall and 6-1 in the NSIC while CSP slips to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in league play.  The win also assures WSC of a winning season in football for the first time since 1995 when the 'Cats went 6-4 under Dennis Wagner.

                The Wildcats got off to a quick start, forcing Concordia-St. Paul to punt on their first possession, then scoring on their first offensive series of the game to take a 7-0 lead.  Travis Rhone scored on a 16-yard run to cap a nine-play, 76 yard drive with 4:29 to go in the first quarter.  But the Golden Bears scored on four straight possessions, two off of WSC turnovers, to take control of the game and grab a 31-7 lead at halftime.  Kama Johnson of Concordia-St. Paul hit paydirt on a one-yard run with 1:41 to go in the first quarter to make the score 7-7.  Another Johnson TD run of four yards put the Golden Bears in front 14-7 at the 11:57 mark of the second quarter.  Following a WSC interception, Antwon Williams scored on a one-yard run to cap a 39 yard, seven-play drive as the Golden Bears took a 21-7 lead  with 7:48 left in the first half.  Less than one minute later, Orien Facion picked up a Travis Rhone fumble and scored on a three-yard fumble recovery to give Concordia-St. Paul a 28-7 lead.  The Golden Bears closed out the first half scoring with a 37-yard field goal by Stephan Bjerke to give the Golden Bears a 31-7 lead at halftime.

                WSC took the second half kickoff and marched 90 yards on 10 plays, capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Silas Fluellen to Frederick Bruno, making the score 31-14 with 11:17 left in the third quarter.  That would be the only scoring in the third quarter.

                Following a Wayne State fumble, CSP opened the scoring in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard pass play from Cole Goodchild to Tyrone Ruffin, giving the Golden Bears a 37-14 lead with 13:59 left in the game.  WSC responded with a score 65 seconds later as Bruno hauled in a 39-yard scoring strike from Fluellen to cap a four-play, 63 yard drive to make the score 37-21 with 12:54 remaining.  The Golden Bears wasted little time to score again as Goodchild hit Ruffin on a 20-yard scoring play, giving CSP a 44-21 lead with 10:47 to go.

                Wayne State then scored four touchdowns in the final 10 minutes to cap the miraculous win.  The first score came on a 34-yard pass play from Fluellen to Logan Masters, making the score 44-28 with 9:54 left in the game.  On the next series, CSP moved the ball to the Wildcat six yard line where the Golden Bears attempted a 22-yard field goal, but B.J. Campbell blocked the kick by Bjerke to give WSC the ball back.  The 'Cats then drove 73 yards in eight plays and scored with 7:13 left in the quarter on a five-yard pass from Fluellen to Brian Chapman, cutting the Golden Bear lead to 44-34.  WSC then forced CSP to punt on the next series, getting the ball at their own 44-yard line.  Fluellen guided the Wildcats on a four play, 56 yard drive, capped by a 24-yard scoring pass to Masters, making the score 44-41 with 3:01 left in the game.

                The Wildcats then recovered an onside kick and got the ball back at the WSC 44 yard line.  WSC drove down to the CSP five yard line, only to have a Fluellen pass intercepted by Jordan Frain to stop the drive.  However, the Wildcat defense held CSP on three plays and forced the Golden Bears to punt, resulting in just a 17-yard punt that gave WSC the ball at the CSP 25-yard line with 1:21 remaining.  A Fluellen rush of 21 yards put the ball at the CSP four-yard line, then following an offsides call on CSP, Travis Rhone scored on a two-yard run with 1:10 remaining to give WSC the lead at 48-44 following Nick Hope's PAT kick. 

                Concordia-St. Paul had one last chance to come back, starting at their own 32 yard line with 1:05 left.  The Golden Bears moved the ball to the WSC 38-yard line, but the Wildcats sealed the win on a sack for 16 yards by Troy Pribnow as Wayne State posted the dramatic 48-44 comeback win over the Golden Bears.

                “This was the strangest game I've ever been a part of,” remarked WSC head coach Dan McLaughlin after the game.  “To win this game with six turnovers is amazing.  We got a little momentum early in the second half and then went to a no huddle offense and that put them on their heels and things started going our way.  Our receivers made some great catches and Silas (Fluellen) made some great calls in the no huddle offense.”

                After being held to just 135 yards in the first half, Wayne State gained 491 yards in the second half to finish the game with 626 yards of total offense.  Concordia-St. Paul finished the game with 458 yards with 276 coming in the first half.  WSC sophomore quarterback Silas Fluellen completed 26 of 45 passes for a career-high 389 yards and five touchdowns, another career-high.  He was intercepted three times.  Fluellen also rushed for 124 yards on 13 carries to finish the game with a combined 513 yards of offense in the win. The top receiver for Wayne State was sophomore Logan Masters with eight receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns.  Brian Chapman added seven catches for 94 yards and one score while Frederick Bruno had four receptions for 120 yards and two scores.                 

                Concordia-St. Paul quarterback Cole Goodchild completed 28 of 44 passes for 322 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.  Kama Johnson rushed for 121 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns.

                Defensively, junior linebacker Luke Hoffman recorded a career-high 17 tackles followed by senior linebacker Nick Baldetti with 12 stops. 

                Wayne State is now 9-1 in road NSIC games under third-year head coach Dan McLaughlin with the lone road loss coming two years ago at Concordia-St. Paul 46-20.

                The Wildcats will be at home next Saturday as Wayne State faces the University of Mary in a matchup of teams tied for second place in the NSIC.  Mary is also 6-3 overall and 6-1 in the NSIC after winning Saturday at Upper Iowa 19-14 for their sixth straight win. Kickoff for the Egg Bowl game is set for 1:00 p.m. at Cunningham Field in Wayne.