Box Score #18 Sioux Falls 63 Wayne State 28

            Junior running back Ryan Ludlow ran for 252 yards on 31 carries with three touchdowns for the second-most yards in a single game by a Wildcat running back, but Wayne State College fell at #18 Sioux Falls 62-28 Saturday afternoon in the season finale for the Wildcats.  Wayne State ends the 2014 season at 5-6 while the host Cougars improve to 10-1 on the season.
            The host Cougars opened the scoring on the first series of the game on a Nephi Garcia 49 yard run for a 7-0 lead. USF scored two series later on a special teams touchdown as John Tidwell raced 78 yards on a punt return for a score give the Cougars a 14-0 lead.           
            Wayne State scored on the next drive as Ryan Ludlow found the end zone on a 14 yard run, trimming the Cougar lead to 14-7 with 5:39 to play in the first quarter.
            The Cougars took advantage of a Wildcat turnover to score again late in the first quarter.  USF recovered a Zach Osborn fumble at the Wildcat 25 and scored three plays later on a 14-yard pass from Luke Papillin to Josh Angulo to give the Cougars a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.
            Early in the second quarter, WSC turned a Sioux Falls interception into seven points to cut the Cougar lead to 21-14.  Jon Davis picked off Papillion and following an 18-yard return gave WSC the ball at the Cougar 35.  Sophomore quarterback Zach Osborn scored on a 21 yard run to trim the Cougar advantage to seven.
            The Cougars used a big pass play late in the half to give Sioux Falls a 28-14 lead as Papillion hooked up with Angulo on a 60-yard scoring play with 2:22 remaining in the half.
            Sioux Falls blew the game open in the third quarter with four touchdowns to take a 56-28 lead after three quarters.             
            The Cougars scored on the first play of the second half as Garcia rambled 67 yards for the first USF score.  Midway through the third quarter, USF scored twice in a span of 14 seconds to put the game out of reach.  The first score was on a 32-yard pass from Papillion to Brady Rose.  Then on the kickoff, Jonathan Parks fumbled at the WSC 27 and the ball was picked up by David Clark of Sioux Falls for a fumble return touchdown to make the score 49-14.
            Wayne State scored on the next drive, marching 71 yards with Ludlow scoring on a 15 yard run to cap the drive with 4:16 to go in the third quarter.  But Sioux Falls answered on the next drive, needing just two plays to score with Papillion firing a 30-yard pass to Garrett Shutt for a 56-21 Cougar lead. 
            The Wildcats scored again late in the third quarter with Ludlow finding the end zone on a eight yard run with 33 seconds left in the third quarter making the score 56-28.
            Sioux Falls closed out the scoring early in the fourth quarter on a Nephi Garcia one yard run to make the final score 63-28. 
            The Cougars ended the game with 538 yards to Wayne State's 497.  Wayne State had 415 yards on the ground and 92 passing while USF produced 313 yards rushing and 225 passing.
            Ryan Ludlow powered the Wildcat rushing attack with his 252 yards on 31 carries and three scores for the second-most yards gained in a single game by a Wildcat running back.  Ludlow moved past Zach Molacek's 240 yards vs. MSU Moorhead in 2004 for the second-most yards in a game by a Wildcat running back with the school record being 335 yards by Elroy Brown in 1999 vs. Minnesota Morris.
            Sophomore quarterback Zach Osborn added 137 yards on 15 carries and one score.
            Throwing the ball, Osborn was 10 of 27 for 92 yards with Brian Kent the top receiver with three catches for 17 yards.  Nick Roth added two receptions for 46 yards.
            Senior linebacker Nick Monzu led Wayne State's defense with 10 tackles and two tackles for loss. The Missouri Valley, Iowa native ends his Wildcat career with 314 tackles, moving past former teammate Austan Pomajzl (2010-13) by one tackle for 10^th place on the all-time WSC tackle chart.
            Junior linebacker Nathan Scott added seven tackles with junior defensive back Jon Davis finishing with six tackles and one interception for 18 return yards.