Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Wayne State College football team will culminate 2009 spring football drills with the annual White/Black spring football game at Cunningham Field in Wayne Friday evening, April 24th with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. An open house will be held to showcase the new stadium renovations and locker room with a Business After Hours sponsored by Wayne State College and Wayne Area Economic Development. Free hot dogs, chips and pop will be held under the big tent at Cunningham Field from 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held in the new weight room at 5:30 p.m. with tours of the stadium and Rice Auditorium renovations available from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and the spring football game at 7:00 p.m. A postgame party will be held in downtown Wayne at the Max Lounge starting at 8:30 p.m.
Wayne State College is coming off a record-breaking season in 2008. The Wildcats reached the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in school history, finishing the year at 9-3. WSC went 8-2 in the Northern Sun Conference to earn NSIC South Division champion honors before falling to Chadron State 23-17 in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Wildcats lose 11 of the 22 starters from last year's team, so the priority of spring drills according to Wildcat head coach Dan McLaughlin is to fill the losses due to graduation.
“It's always a brand new team in the spring, establishing a new identity,” remarked McLaughlin. “Our priority this spring is to fill our graduation losses and we've had some young kids step up. I've been pleased with the effort this spring, I think we've gotten better along the way and have found some kids.”
The Wildcats return 7 of 11 starters on offense and are led by quarterback Silas Fluellen, who threw for 2,902 yards and 16 touchdowns last season as a junior while rushing for another 518 yards and five more scores. Coach McLaughlin says this spring has produced a heated battle at the backup quarterback position with redshirt freshmen Cyle Schultz (Plainfield, Illinois) and Evan Johnson (Phoenix, Arizona) looking strong this spring.
At running back, the Wildcats lose 2008 top rusher Travis Rhone (784 yards and 10 TD's) to graduation. WSC also suffered a setback this spring at running back when Logan View graduate Eric Meyer suffered a knee injury in the second day of spring practice in a non-contact drill and will miss the 2009 season. McLaughlin says sophomore Mario Melvin (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) and redshirt freshmen Nick Pulscher (Sheldon, Iowa) and Rich Daniel (Papillion-LaVista) have received numerous reps this spring and will compete in the spring game.
Leading wide receiver Logan Masters of Storm Lake, Iowa (80 rec., 1179 yds and 6 TD's) is sitting out spring drills due to offseason knee surgery, allowing underclassmen to see plenty of action. WSC loses one starter to graduation, Brian Chapman of Battle Creek, but returns juniors Robert Perry (38 catches, 457 yards) and Frederick Bruno (35 catches, 459 yards). Redshirt freshmen Chris Schultz (Plainfield, Illinois), Kevin Paulsen (Pierce) and Tyler Davis (Millard West) have impressed Coach McLaughlin during spring drills. Mitch Montgomery, a sophomore from Ralston, is skipping spring drills due to shoulder surgery and Eddy Cesar, a senior from Miami, Florida, has been limited this spring due to a knee injury.
The Wildcat offensive line loses two starters in three-year All-NSIC selection Brian Okonofua (left guard) and Collin Prosser (left tackle). WSC has moved Nehemiah Blackburn from the defensive line to the offensive side of the ball and he has impressed Wildcat coaches this spring. Jon Koski and Mike Scherer, a pair of redshirts, have looked good this spring. The other returning starting offensive lineman are Jake Runyon of Bloomfield at center along with right guard Joe Bundy (Madison, SD) and right tackle Shane Winter (Fairbury).
Defensively, WSC will need to replace 7 of 11 starters including the entire defensive front four that featured 2008 All-American defensive end Troy Pribnow, lost to graduation, along with Tyler Krueger, Darius Davis and Chris Barry. Lyons-Decatur native Cody Swanson, an All-GPAC selection at Hastings College last season, has transferred to Wayne State and will fill one of the defensive end positions. Sophomore Brian Tomasek of Dodge and senior Darnell Lee (Houston, Texas) have also looked strong this spring at the defensive end position. On the interior, Howells graduates Michael Bazata (sophomore) and Jeff Pokorny (redshirt freshman) have impressed along with Sioux Falls Roosevelt junior Mark Janssen.
At the linebacker position, the Wildcats return All-NSIC selection Ryan Reeves, the leading tackler for the Wildcats last season with 125 tackles, but lose outside linebackers Luke Hoffman of Wakefield, a four-year starter who had over 380 career tackles, and Reno Blomquist to graduation. Coach McLaughlin reports that Wakefield native Kyle Gardner and sophomore Daniel Leacraft have emerged this spring as the top two contenders at outside linebacker while Ben Perry, a redshirt freshman from New Port Richey, Florida, has also impressed.
In the secondary, the Wildcats return three of four starters as free safety B.J. Campbell is the only loss to graduation. Returnees include senior Robert Manuel (Houston, Texas) and junior Cole Fischer (Leigh) at cornerbacks with senior strong safety Matt Greenway (Lincoln Pius) back to anchor the secondary. Redshirts Kyle Chandler and Javal Jones along with newcomers Henry Livingston and Anthony Hale are contending for playing time this spring.
On special teams, the Wildcat feature senior Nick Hope (Avoca, Iowa) as the placekicker and South Sioux City junior Jacob Bell at punter. Hope was stellar for the Wildcats in 2008, making 14 of 17 field goals and 44 of 46 PAT kicks while Bell averaged 33.8 yards per punt on 54 kicks.
McLaughlin said that it has been a great offseason and that there has been spirited competition for the positions that are up for grabs this spring. “The kids are excited about the year with the new weight room and what happened last season. They were disappointed in our playoff performance at Chadron and that has been motivation in the weight room during the offseason. We hope to build a good foundation for next year with good work done this spring. We may have snuck up on some teams last season, but we know that won't happen any more so we have to work even harder.”
Wayne State opens the 2009 season at home vs. Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, August 29th at Cunningham Field in Wayne with kickoff slated for 1:00 p.m.
