MSU Moorhead 42 Wayne State 18
MSU Moorhead senior quarterback Dustin Long accounted for five touchdowns and 335 yards of total offense to lead the Dragons in a 42-18 win over Wayne State Saturday afternoon in NSIC football played in Wayne, Nebraska. The visiting Dragons improved to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the NSIC while dropping Wayne State to 1-3 and 1-1 in league play.
Long completed 16 of 24 passes for 209 yards with five touchdowns while also rushing for 126 yards on eight carries to lead a Dragon offense that accumulated 475 yards in the game while holding Wayne State to just 290 yards. MSU Moorhead, averaging just 32.3 yards per game rushing entering the game, had two players surpass the 100-yard mark and finished the game with 271 yards rushing to go with 204 yards passing.
The Dragons opened the scoring with 8:20 remaining in the first quarter when running back Enol Gilles hit paydirt from eight yards out to give MSUM a 7-0 lead. WSC scored on the next drive as sophomore Nick Hope booted a 19-yard field goal, capping a 17-play, 62-yard drive that covered 7:58 to make the score 7-3.
In the second quarter, Dragon quarterback Dustin Long found Curtis Bedgood on a 35-yard pass play to give the Dragons a 14-3 lead. Long then found Bert Smith on a 45-yard connection later in the quarter, giving MSUM a 21-3 lead with 7:20 left in the quarter. WSC mounted a scoring threat later in the quarter and moved the ball to the MSUM 9-yard line, but 'Cats quarterback Silas Fluellen was sacked by Trent Johnson of MSUM, who forced a fumble and recovered the ball to end the Wildcat scoring threat to keep the score 21-3 at halftime in favor of MSU Moorhead.
The second half saw MSU Moorhead put the game out of reach by scoring on their first two possessions as Long found tight end Eric Eager on an eight-yard scoring play and Eric Green on a 14-yard scoring pass to put the Dragons in front 35-3 after three quarters.
WSC scored its first touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter when Logan Masters was on the receiving end of a 28-yard scoring pass from Silas Fluellen, making the score 35-9 with 14:32 remaining in the game. The Wildcats added a safety at the 11:49 mark when MSU Moorhead punter Kyle Wilcox could not handle a snap deep in Dragon territory and the ball rolled through the end zone for a safety. On the ensuing kickoff, Wildcat freshman Frederick Bruno bolted 86 yards with a kickoff return to make the score 35-18 with 11:37 remaining. MSUM added an insurance score on the next drive as Long tossed his fifth touchdown strike of the day, a 20-yard pass to Jabari Taylor, to make the final score 42-18.
For Wayne State, Silas Fluellen completed 21 of 39 passes for 218 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The leading rusher was Travis Rhone with 65 yards on 12 carries. Freshman Frederick Bruno had a game-high seven receptions for 37 yards followed by Logan Masters with four catches for 63 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, senior linebacker Nick Baldetti led WSC with 12 tackles followed by Luke Hoffman with eight. MSU Moorhead's top tackler was Jonathan Miller with 10 stops while Eric Schaumburg finished with eight.
Wayne State will be at home again next weekend for the Homecoming/Hall of Fame Game against Minnesota, Crookston starting at 1:00 p.m.
