Minnesota State 13 Wayne State 3
Defenses were dominate Saturday afternoon as Minnesota State downed Wayne State 13-3 in Northern Sun Conference football played at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne Saturday afternoon. The Mavericks held Wayne State to a season-low 176 yards of total offense while Minnesota State gained just 266 on the Wildcats. Both teams are now 5-3 overall and 4-3 in league play following Saturday's game.
The Mavericks opened the scoring late in the first quarter when sophomore quarterback Will Brogran found halfback Josh Rauser wide open on a 25-yard scoring pass, giving Minnesota State a 7-0 lead with 2:54 to play in the first quarter to cap a six play 45 yard drive. Wayne State's next drive began at their own 44 yard line thanks to a 30 yard kickoff return by Tommy Warren. The Wildcats drove the ball to the MSU 33 yard line but the drive stalled and sophomore placekicker Max Martin was wide right on a 51-yard field goal attempt to keep the score at 7-0.
Minnesota State then put together a lengthy drive resulting in points as the Mavericks chewed up 7:10 on the clock, using 13 plays and 71 yards to get to the WSC 16 yard line where placekicker Sam Brockshus booted a 33 yard field goal to give the Mavericks a 10-0 lead with 7:10 to play in the first half. Minnesota State shut down the Wildcat offense in the first half as WSC was held to just 51 yards in the first half while the Mavericks gained 169.
Wayne State's defense came up with a big play to start the third quarter giving the Wildcats tremendous field position as senior linebacker Anthony Hale intercepted a Will Brogran pass at the WSC 49 yard line on Minnesota State's first series in the third quarter and returned the ball 41 yards to the MSU 10 yard line. But the Mavericks held WSC on the next three plays, forcing the Wildcats to a field goal as redshirt freshman Nick Bell connected from 32 yards out to make the score 10-3.
Defenses dominated the rest of the quarter until the Wildcats put together a strong drive from their own 27 yard line. WSC moved the ball 73 yards on nine plays and got to the MSU 12 yard line, but Andre McIntyre fumbled the ball at the Maverick five-yard line after a pass completion from Evan Johnson and the Mavericks recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback to stop the eventual game-tying score for the Wildcats.
Midway through the fourth quarter the Mavericks got some insurance when Brockshus made a 19-yard field goal with 3:39 remaining to close out the scoring, giving Minnesota State the 13-3 win over Wayne State.
Minnesota State finished the game with 266 yards compared to 176 for Wayne State. The Wildcats had 106 yards rushing and just 70 yards passing. Nick Pulscher was the top rusher for Wayne State with 45 yards on 11 carries followed by Eric Meyer with 38 yards on six rushes. Evan Johnson completed 10 of 26 passes with one interception for 63 yards. Eric Meyer had three catches for six yards while Pulscher had two grabs for 23 yards.
Defensively for WSC, senior Cole Fischer finished with eight tackles followed by Mark Janssen with six stops, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry while junior defensive end Richard Daniel added six stops with two tackles for loss.
Minnesota State sophomore quarterback Will Brogran was 16 of 26 passing for 152 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Taylor Brookins was the top rusher for the Mavericks with 55 yards on 15 carries while Adam Thielen hauled in a game-high five catches for 77 yards for Minnesota State.
Wayne State hits the road next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference matchup at Upper Iowa.
