Concordia-St. Paul 17 Wayne State 14
Redshirt freshman quarterback James Peterson threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns to lead Concordia-St. Paul in a 17-14 Northern Sun Conference football win at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne Saturday afternoon. Both teams are now 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the Northern Sun Conference.
Both defenses dominated early as Wayne State was held to just 33 yards and two first downs in the first quarter compared to 90 yards for Concordia-St. Paul. The Golden Bears had the game's first scoring opportunity early in the second quarter, moving the ball to the WSC fiver yard line. But Concordia-St. Paul's Steven King was wide right on a 23-yard field goal attempt to keep the game scoreless. Later in the second quarter, the Wildcats put together their first scoring drive and used a Nick Pulscher two-yard run to cap a eight play, 53 yard drive, giving Wayne State a 7-0 lead with 8:18 to go in the first half.
Concordia-St. Paul took advantage of two Wildcat penalties that aided the Golden Bears on a scoring drive late in the first half that tied the score. On a fourth and 1 from the WSC 23, Richard Daniel was charged with encroachment that continued the drive for the Golden Bears. Later in the drive, Wayne State's Austan Pomajzl was called for a personal foul following an incomplete pass that gave Concordia a first and goal at the WSC five. On the next play, Concordia-St. Paul quarterback James Peterson completed a five yard pass to Calvin Simon with 26 seconds to go in the half to even the score at 7-7.
The Golden Bears opened the second half with a scoring drive to take their first lead of the game as Steven King connected on a 24 yard field goal, capping a seven play, 79 yard drive that put Concordia-St. Paul in front 10-7 with 11:13 to play in the third quarter. But Wayne State responded on the ensuing drive with a no-huddle offense that moved the ball down the field, resulting in a one yard plunge by sophomore quarterback Evan Johnson, culminating a 15-play, 70 drive, putting Wayne State back in front 14-10 with 6:49 to play third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Concordia-St. Paul threatened to score again moving the ball to the WSC 20 yard line. But King missed a wind aided 38 yard field goal, going wide left, keeping the Wildcats in front 14-10. Concordia-St. Paul forced Wayne State in a three and out and got the ball at their own 34 yard line following a Wildcat punt. The Golden Bears then marched down the field, covering 66 yards on eight plays in 3:24, capped by a 17 yard scoring strike from Peterson to Simon, giving the Golden Bears a 17-14 lead with 8:00 remaining.
Later in the quarter, Wayne State put together one last scoring drive in hopes of rallying for a win two weeks in a row. Starting from their own 20 with 3:17 to play, WSC used a 19-yard pass from Evan Johnson to Kevin Paulsen to give the 'Cats a first down at their own 35. Two plays later, Johnson was shaken up on a running play, bringing in backup quarterback Cyle Schultz, who ran for 17 yards on his first play in the game, putting the ball at the Concordia-St. Paul 43. Johnson came back into the game and had runs of 16 and 3 yards to put the ball at the Golden Bear 24. Johnson then threw a pass into the left corner of the end zone for Frederick Bruno, but the ball was intercepted by CSP defensive back Arnold Doxie to seal Concordia-St. Paul's 17-14 win over Wayne State.
Concordia-St. Paul outgained Wayne State in the game 439-257. The Golden Bears had 111 yards rushing and 328 passing while WSC had 150 rushing and 107 through the air. Evan Johnson was the top rusher for WSC with 74 yards on 27 carries followed by Nick Pulscher with 55 yards on 10 attempts. Johnson completed 12 of 21 passes for 107 yards with and one interception. Kevin Paulsen was the top Wildcat receiver with seven catches for 74 yards.
Sophomore punter Randy Weich had a solid day for Wayne State, averaging 45.9 yards on nine punts with a game-high kick of 75 yards. Defensively, redshirt freshman Austan Pomajzl had a game-high 12 tackles and one pass breakup for WSC followed by Kyle Bertelsen with 10 stops and one sack.
Wayne State will be at home again next Saturday against Minnesota State in a Northern Sun Conference matchup with kickoff slated for 1:00 p.m. at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne.
