Minnesota State 45 Wayne State 23
Wayne State gained a season-high 578 yards but scored on just two of seven possessions inside the Minnesota State 20-yard line as the Wildcats suffered a 45-23 setback to the host Mavericks Saturday afternoon in a matchup of Northern Sun Conference South Division co-leaders played in Mankato, Minnesota. Minnesota State is now 6-2 overall and 6-1 in the NSIC while Wayne State falls to 5-3 and 5-2 in league play.
Minnesota State scored on the second play of the game as quarterback Jon Daniels connected with Adam Thielen on a 45-yard touchdown pass, giving the Mavericks an early 7-0 lead just 48 seconds into the contest. WSC responded and scored on the next drive as Evan Johnson hit Mitch Montgomery on a six yard scoring strike to even the score at 7-7 with 9:42 to go in the first quarter. The Mavericks came right back and regained the lead on a 33 yard pass from Daniels to Dennis Carter giving MSU a 14-7 lead with 7:34 to play in the first quarter.
Later in the first quarter, Wayne State senior running back Bryce Hawthorne broke loose on a 74 yard touchdown run, knotting the score at 14-14 with 1:12 to play in the quarter to conclude a high scoring opening 15 minutes. The Mavericks took the ensuing drive and scored again, this time on a two yard run from Lamark Brown to put the Mavericks ahead 21-14.
The next three possessions for Wayne State all went inside the MSU 20 yard line, but all three times the Wildcats failed to score while MSU scored 10 points to take control of the game. WSC drove from their own 28 to the MSU 8, but Maverick cornerback Andre LaGrone picked off an Evan Johnson pass at the MSU two yard line and returned the pick 53 yards to the WSC 45. Four plays later, MSU scored as running back Andy Pfeiffer scored on a 15 yard run to give the Mavericks a 28-14 lead with 5:53 left in the first half. WSC took the next drive from their own 30 and moved to the MSU five before the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs failing to convert on a fourth and three at the MSU five yard line.
The Wildcat defense then came up big as junior cornerback Nick Lewis intercepted MSU quarterback Jon Daniels at the MSU 30 and returned the ball 20 yards to the Maverick 10. But Wildcat quarterback Nate Most was intercepted on third and goal in the MSU end zone and MSU strong safety Jordan Hale returned the ball 81 yards to the Wildcat 19. Minnesota State then used a 24 yard field goal by kicker Daniel Padilla on the final play of the first half to make the halftime score 31-14.
Wayne State took the second half kickoff and marched from their own 39 to the MSU nine, settling for a Nick Bell 26 yard field goal to cut the Maverick lead to 31-17 with 12:00 to play in the third quarter. The Wildcat defense forced MSU to punt on their first two possessions of the third quarter and WSC was driving late in the third quarter until Most was intercepted by Minnesota State's Jordan Hale for a second time at the MSU 16.
The Mavericks turned the Wildcat turnover into points as backup quarterback Jon Wolf scored on a 10 yard run to give Minnesota State a 38-17 lead with 10:58 to play. Later in the quarter, Wayne State got on the board again as Most hit freshman wide receiver Cole McDaniel on a 40 yard touchdown pass, making the score 38-23 with 3:12 remaining. Wayne State then setup for an onside kick but the ball was picked up by Minnesota State's Adam Thielen at the WSC 34 yard line and returned for a rare onside kick return touchdown to seal the win for Minnesota State making the score 45-23. WSC did not give up and used three pass plays to move from the WSC 19 to the MSU 14, but Most was intercepted by Minnesota State's Kelend Smith at the Maverick one yard line to stop another WSC scoring threat.
Wayne State finished the game with a season-high 578 yards compared to Minnesota State's 454 as the two teams combined for 1,032 yards of total offense. The Wildcat rushing attack was led by senior Bryce Hawthorne with 157 yards on 17 carries and one score. Evan Johnson completed 14 of 27 passes with one interception for 166 yards and one score while Nate Most was 12 of 19 and three interceptions for 183 yards and one touchdown. Mitch Montgomery led 10 Wildcat receivers with six catches for 69 yards and one score while Kevin Paulsen added four receptions for 89 yards. Paulsen added four kickoff returns for 120 yards to finish the game with 209 all purpose yards.
For Minnesota State, quarterback Jon Daniels completed 17 of 23 passes for 270 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while Andy Pfeiffer rushed for 113 yards on 27 carries and one score.
Defensively for Wayne State, junior free safety Brett Pribnow had a game-high 14 tackles followed by Alex Marquez with nine and a fumble recovery. WSC had five turnovers in the game while MSU had two. Minnesota State was 4 of 4 inside the red zone with three touchdowns and one field goal while WSC was 2 of 7 with one touchdown and one field goal.
Wayne State returns home next Saturday as the Wildcats host Upper Iowa in a Northern Sun Conference contest beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne.
