Saturday, September 20, 2008
Minnesota State 26 Wayne State 21
Minnesota State denied Wayne State on two fourth-quarter possessions where the Wildcats had first and goal inside the Maverick five yard line as the Mavericks escaped with a 26-21 win over Wayne State in a Northern Sun Conference South Division battle played at Cunningham Field in Wayne Saturday afternoon. Minnesota State improves to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the NSIC while Wayne State drops to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in league play.
WSC trailed 19-6 at halftime, but held the Mavericks to just 72 yards in the second half and tied the score at 19-19 early in the fourth quarter. However, Minnesota State's Kelvin Rodgers returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Mavericks their only score in the second half and then stopped WSC twice inside the Mavericks five yard line in the final 10:00 to preserve a 26-21 win.
Minnesota State took the opening drive of the game and drove 73 yards to the WSC three-yard line, but Mavericks placekicker Spencer Goff missed wide right on a 20-yard field goal with 7:43 left in the first quarter. The next drive saw Wayne State go 48 yards on 11 plays as Nick Hope booted a 50-yard field goal, tying a WSC school record, to put the 'Cats in front 3-0 with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter. Hope's 50-yard field goal matched the school record held by Herve Roussel in 1984 when he kicked a 50-yard field goal vs. Missouri Southern.
The Mavericks then scored on three of their next four possessions to take a 19-3 lead in the second quarter. Senior running back Donte Shackleford scored on a four-yard run with 13:22 left in the second quarter to cap an 11-play, 74 yard drive to give Minnesota State a 6-3 lead following a failed PAT kick. The Mavericks then blocked a Wayne State punt later in the second quarter, recovering the ball at the Wildcat six yard line. Minnesota State junior running back Ernest Walker found the end zone moments later on a six yard run, giving the Mavericks a 12-3 lead with 7:02 to go in the second quarter following a second straight missed PAT kick by MSU. The Mavericks scored again later in the second quarter as Shackleford hit paydirt on a three-yard run with 2:02 to play in the second quarter, increasing their lead to 19-3 after backup kicker Grady Derheim made the extra point kick. WSC was able to put together a drive late in the first half as Hope drilled a 33-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in the half to culminate a 10-play, 51 yard drive to make the halftime score 19-6 in favor of Minnesota State.
Wayne State gained momentum late in the third quarter and pulled within one score when Silas Fluellen found Robert Perry on a two-yard TD pass to cap a seven play, 45 yard drive with 1:54 left in the third quarter to make the score 19-13. The Wildcat defense then forced a turnover on the next Minnesota State drive as the 'Cats got the ball at the WSC 49 yard line after Troy Pribnow recovered a Maverick fumble following a pass completion near midfield.
The Wildcats then marched 51 yards on seven plays as Fluellen teamed up with Frederick Bruno on a 18-yard scoring play with 14:09 to play to knot the score at 19-19. The PAT kick that would have given WSC the lead was blocked by Minnesota State.
Then on the ensuing kickoff, Minnesota State's Kelvin Rodgers raced 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Mavericks the lead back at 26-19 with 13:51 left in the game.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Wildcats put together a drive and moved the ball to the MSU five-yard line. Following a bad shotgun snap to Silas Fluellen that he recovered at the Maverick 22-yard line, Fluellen threw a potential game-tying 22-yard scoring pass to Logan Masters that was called back on a holding penalty against the Wildcats. The drive ended when Fluellen was intercepted by Minnesota State's Steve Robinson at the goal line.
The Wildcats got the ball back with 3:05 left in the game and again moved the ball on the Mavericks as WSC had the ball first and goal at the four-yard line with 1:12 to go. But four straight incomplete passes ended the drive and Minnesota State took over at their own four-yard line. Maverick quarterback Ryan Fick then ran out of the end zone for a safety with no time remaining to make the score 26-21. A holding penalty against Minnesota State forced the Mavericks to kickoff to the Wildcats with no time remaining, but after WSC tried several laterals for a miracle ending the Wildcats fumbled the ball at their own 15 yard line and Minnesota State hung on for the 26-21 win over Wayne State.
Wayne State ended the game with 410 yards of total offense compared to Minnesota State's 322. The Wildcats outgained the Mavericks 263-73 in the second half. WSC had 300 yards passing and 110 yards on the ground while the Mavericks had 184 yards rushing and 138 passing.
Wildcat junior quarterback Silas Fluellen finished the game completing 34 of 56 passes for 300 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Frederick Bruno had eight catches for 69 yards and one score while Travis Rhone added eight catches for 41 yards. Logan Masters added seven catches for 91 yards. Fluellen was the 'Cats top rusher with 54 yards on eight carries, finishing the game with 354 yards of total offense.
For Minnesota State, Donte Shackleford rushed for 108 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Mavericks. Quarterback Ryan Fick completed 12 of 20 passes for 138 yards. His top two receivers were Vincent Flury and Omaar Balton with four catches apiece.
The top tackler for the Wayne State was junior middle linebacker Ryan Reeves with 13 tackles. Senior outside linebacker Reno Blomquist added 11 stops.
Wayne State will be on the road next Saturday, traveling to Marshall, Minnesota to take on Southwest Minnesota State in a 4:00 p.m. contest at the brand new SMSU Regional Event Center.
