Box Score Southwest Minnesota State 55 Wayne State 16

            Southwest Minnesota State scored on five of six possessions in the first half to build a 34-10 halftime lead and the Mustangs went on to post a 55-16 Northern Sun Conference South Division win over Wayne State Saturday evening at Bob Cunningham Field before a crowd of 1,581 fans.  Both teams are now 1-1 in NSIC South Division play as the Wildcats drop to 2-4 overall while SMSU is 3-3 on the season.
            The first quarter was a shootout as the first three possessions of the game resulted in touchdowns.  After SMSU took the opening drive and scored for a 7-0 lead, WSC countered as senior running back Charlie Davidson scampered 21 yards for a score to knot the score at 7-7 with 9:04 to go in the first quarter.  SMSU scored again on their next drive to make the score 14-7. 
            The Mustangs then forced WSC to punt and drove 82 yards on eight plays in just 2:39 to take a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
            Wayne State put together a long, sustained drive in the second quarter but could only come up with three points on a drive that covered 70 yards on 17 plays and took 9:10 off the clock.  The drive that started from the WSC 20 stalled at the SMSU 10 and WSC had to settle for a Tyler Basch 27 yard field goal making the score 21-10 with 4:08 to play in the first half.  SMSU scored twice in the final 2:00 of the first half with one score coming off a Wildcat interception that gave the Mustangs a commanding 34-10 lead at intermission.
            SMSU used a 17-yard interception return by Dashawn Miller to open the second half for a 41-10 lead.  WSC scored on the following drive when Zach Osborn connected with Cole McDaniel on a 19-yard scoring play, trimming the Mustang advantage to 41-16 with 7:03 to go in the third quarter. 
            The Mustangs added two more scores, one late in the third quarter and another early in the fourth, to make the final score 55-16.
            Southwest Minnesota State out-gained Wayne State in the contest 501-376 despite Wayne State holding a sizeable edge in time of possession (38:04 to 21:56).  The Mustangs had 212 yards rushing and 289 passing while the Wildcats gained 176 on the ground and another 200 through the air.
            Senior running back Charlie Davidson ran the ball 29 times for 138 yards with one score to lead the Wildcats on the ground.  Redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Osborn was 11 of 20 passing for 135 yards with one touchdown and one interception while senior Nate Most completed 5 of 16 passes for 65 yards with two interceptions.  The top receivers for WSC were Adam Stark and Cole McDaniel with three receptions each.  Stark had 46 yards receiving while McDaniel had 39 with one score.
            Defensively, junior linebacker Nick Monzu had 10 tackles for the Wildcats followed by sophomore linebacker Zach Bierman with eight. 
            Wayne State had three turnovers in the contest while SMSU had none.  The Mustangs turned Wayne State's three turnovers into 21 points.
            The Wildcats will be on the road next Saturday afternoon taking on Winona State in an NSIC South Division battle in Winona, Minnesota with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m.