Wayne State 41 Minnesota Crookston 25

                Redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Osborn accounted for four touchdowns as Wayne State racked up 459 yards of total offense in a 41-25 Northern Sun Conference football victory Saturday afternoon over Minnesota Crookston at Ed Widseth Field in Crookston, Minnesota.  The Wildcats improve to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in the NSIC while the host Golden Eagles remain winless at 0-3 and 0-3 in league play.
                After punting on their first possession, Wayne State then scored on the next four possessions of the first half and built a comfortable 28-0 lead late in the second quarter.  The first Wildcat score came with 5:48 to play in the first quarter on a four yard pass from Osborn to freshman tight end Tyler Hoppes for a 7-0 WSC lead.
                Minnesota Crookston then took more than 6:30 off the clock and moved the ball inside the Wildcat 20 until a J'Ron Erby interception at the three yard line stopped the drive.  The Wildcats needed just one play to score as Osborn connected with junior speedster Adam Stark on a 97-yard scoring strike to put WSC in front 14-0 at the 13:49 mark of the second quarter.  The 97-yard pass play tied for the second-longest in school history and was just one yard shy of matching the school record of 98 yards from Ed Jochum to Sonny Jones vs. Midland Lutheran in the 1985 season.
                Wayne State scored less than two minutes later when Osborn found Cole McDaniel on a 23 yard pass play putting the 'Cats ahead 21-0 with 12:13 to go before halftime.  The Wildcats got the ball back moments later when junior linebacker Nick Monzu forced and recovered a UMC fumble at the Golden Eagle 18 yard line.  Senior running back Charlie Davidson scored on a three yard run at the 9:16 mark of the second quarter putting WSC in front 28-0. 
                Minnesota Crookston got on the scoreboard with 6:06 to play in the second quarter on a 19-yard pass from Kyle Larson to Justin Tago Su'e to make the halftime score 28-6. 
                The third quarter saw WSC turn the ball over twice on fumbles with Minnesota Crookston turning one of the Wildcat miscues into points as Talo Pascal found the end zone on a four yard run with 12:15 to go in the third quarter making the score 28-13, the only score of the third quarter.
                The Wildcats put together a solid drive, covering 89 yards on 14 plays while using 5:43 off the clock to score midway through the fourth quarter for a 34-13 lead as Osborn rushed for a four-yard score.  But another Wildcat fumble later in the quarter led to a Minnesota Crookston score when freshman quarterback Kyle Larson found Keoni Piceno on a 27-yard pass play to cut the WSC lead to 34-19 with 6:01 to play in the game.
                WSC suffered its fourth turnover of the second half on a Kendrick Hester fumble at the UMC 42 yard line and the Golden Eagles capitalized again as Larson and Piceno teamed up for a 19 yard scoring strike to make the score 34-25 with 2:35 to play. 
                The Golden Eagles attempted an on-side kick that was recovered by WSC freshman Nick Roth.  WSC then sealed the win when Davidson scampered 35 yards for a score at the 2:14 mark to make the final score 41-25.
                Wayne State finished the game with 459 yards compared to 374 for UMC.  The 'Cats had 207 yards on the ground and 252 through the air.  WSC had four turnovers in the game while UMC had three.
                Individually, senior running back Charlie Davidson ran for 172 yards on 26 carries and two scores.  Redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Osborn completed 10 of 19 passes for 249 yards and three scores while also rushing for a fourth touchdown.  Junior Adam Stark had two catches for 110 yards and one score followed by Tonev Abraham with three receptions for 63 yards. 
                Defensively for WSC, Jon Davis and Nick Monzu had eight tackles apiece with Monzu notching a fumble recovery.  J'Ron Erby and Tyson McGill each recorded one interception for the Wildcat defense.
                Wayne State will be at home next weekend hosting #7 Minnesota Duluth in the annual Homecoming/Hall of Fame Game at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne with kickoff set for 1 p.m.