#22 Wayne State 68 Minnesota, Crookston 6
Wayne State College opened the 2010 Northern Sun Conference schedule Saturday afternoon with a 68-6 rout over Minnesota, Crookston before 2,234 fans on Armed Services Appreciation Day at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne. The 22nd-ranked Wildcats move to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in league play with the win while the visiting Golden Eagles drop to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC.
The Wildcats opened the scoring with a big play from special teams as Anthony Hale blocked a Minnesota, Crookston punt at the Golden Eagles' 20 yard line and junior Richard Daniel scooped up the loose ball at the seven yard line and went into the end zone for a touchdown, putting WSC in front 7-0 with 12:10 to play in the first quarter. Moments later, WSC got the ball back as sophomore linebacker Ben Perry intercepted a UMC pass at the Golden Eagle 20 yard line. Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Cyle Schultz found running back Nick Pulscher on a 22-yard pass play to give the 'Cats a 14-0 lead with 10:34 remaining in the first quarter.
Wayne State added three more touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 35-0 lead at halftime. Senior Frederick Bruno hauled in a 53-yard scoring pass from Schultz early in the second quarter to put WSC up 21-0 with 14:44 to play in the half. Later in the quarter, Bruno was on the receiving end of a 40-yard strike from Schultz at the 6:55 mark to increase the lead to 28-0. Senior running back Eric Meyer closed out the scoring in the first half on a one-yard run with 1:40 to play giving the Wildcats a 35-0 lead at the intermission.
In the third quarter, WSC took the opening drive and scored as Schultz threw a screen pass to Pulscher, who turned the corner and rambled 68 yards for a touchdown, giving WSC a 42-0 lead with 13:25 to play in the third quarter. The only other score in the quarter came with 3:35 to go as redshirt freshman Nick Bell booted an 18-yard field to give WSC a 45-0 lead after three quarters.
Minnesota, Crookston got on the board early in the fourth quarter as fullback Trent Nyhus found the end zone on a one-yard plunge, but the extra point snap was mishandled and Wayne State's Drew Molacek picked up the loose ball and raced the other way for a two point conversion to make the score 47-6 with 13:56 to play. On the ensuing kickoff, Wildcat senior Frederick Bruno returned the kick 75 yards for a touchdown, giving WSC a 54-6 lead with 13:46 to play. On the play, Bruno became the WSC school record holder for career kickoff yardage, surpassing the previous school mark of 1,179 yards held by Sonny Jones (1983-85). Bruno now has 1,204 career kickoff return yards.
Wayne State added two more scores in the game as redshirt freshman Michel Mikaya scored on a 23-yard run and backup running back Vincent Patterson hit paydirt from 10 yards out with 1:28 to play to make the final score 68-6.
The Wildcats finished with 528 yards in the game while holding Minnesota, Crookston to just 140. WSC had 230 yards rushing and 298 yards passing while UMC had just 50 yards on the ground and 90 passing.
Sophomore quarterback Cyle Schultz completed 14 of 19 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. Mario Melvin was the top rusher for the Wildcats with 49 yards on 13 carries followed by 45 yards on five attempts by Eric Meyer. Frederick Bruno had a game-high six receptions for 108 yards and two scores to lead WSC receivers and added the 75-yard kickoff return for a third score.
Defensively, Papillion-LaVista junior defensive end Richard Daniel had a team-high eight tackles with 3.5 tackles fro minus six yards. Drew Molacek and Ben Perry each had interceptions while Alex Marquez and Tyler McKeown were each credited with fumble recoveries as WSC forced Minnesota, Crookston into four turnovers on the day.
The 22nd ranked Wildcats will be on the road next weekend for a key NSIC showdown at 2nd-ranked Minnesota Duluth. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at James Malosky Stadium.
