Box Score #25 St. Cloud State 43 Wayne State 20

           Despite outgaining St. Cloud State 427-342, Wayne State suffered a 43-20 loss at #25 St. Cloud State Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Conference football played at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Both teams are now 1-1 on the season.
            Wayne State took the opening kickoff and marched 82 yards for a score, capped by a 60-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Zach Osborn to senior wide receiver Adam Stark for an early 6-0 Wildcat lead.
            SCSU took advantage of great field position following a 10 yard punt by WSC to even the score at 6-6 with Nate Meyer scored on a one-yard run with 8:04 to go in the quarter.
            The Huskies took a 9-6 lead with 1:09 to play in the first stanza on a 40-yard field goal from Eric Mielke. 
            SCSU used a 53-yard punt return by Kenneth Walker to setup a Husky score late in the second quarter to take a 16-6 lead just before halftime as Walker scored on a five-yard run with 2:50 to go before halftime to give the host team a 16-6 lead despite the fact that WSC outgained SCSU in the first half 226-59.  But WSC had eight penalties for 83 yards and averaged just 26.2 yards on four punts to give the Huskies great field position.
            The Husky offense got going in the second half and scored on four straight possessions to keep the Wildcats from getting any closer in the contest. 
SCSU quarterback Jameson Parsons scored on a three yard run with 5:04 left in the third quarter for a 23-6 Husky lead.  The Wildcats responded on the next drive as Osborn found fullback Tyler Johnson for a 16 yard scoring pass, capping a 69-yard drive on eight plays, to pull WSC within 23-12 with 2:12 to go in the third quarter.
            But St. Cloud State put together scoring drives of 66 and 40 yards on their next two series and took a 36-12 lead with 12:28 remaining.  WSC scored one more time with 10:41 to play as Osborn hooked up redshirt freshman running back Alex Kline on a 41-yard scoring play to make the score 36-20.  SCSU added an insurance score with 6:26 to play on a Kenneth Walker 42 yard run to make the final score 43-20.
            Wayne State ended the game with 427 yards of total offense (139 rushing and 288 passing) while St. Cloud State had 342 with 283 on the ground and just 59 passing.  Both teams had two turnovers in the contest.  The Wildcats were haunted by penalties throughout the day with 12 for 109 yards compared to just five on SCSU for 32 yards.  Another telling statistic in the game was the average starting field position for each team – WSC at their own 24 yard line and St. Cloud State's average drive began at their own 43 yard line.
            Redshirt freshman running back Alex Kline rushed for 106 yards on 23 carries and also had two catches for 53 yards and one touchdown.  Senior fullback Chad Koch contributed 24 yards on seven attempts.
            Senior Adam Stark led WSC receivers with seven receptions and 119 yards with one score while Cole McDaniel hauled in seven catches for 52 yards. 
            Sophomore quarterback Zach Osborn completed 24 of 39 passes for 288 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
            St. Cloud State was led by sophomore quarterback Jameson Parsons, who rushed for 98 yards on just nine attempts and one score.  He also completed both pass attempts for 28 yards.  Kenneth Walker had 76 yards on seven carries and three scores.  Sophomore quarterback Nate Meyer was just 4 of 11 with two interceptions for 31 yards.
            Defensively for WSC, senior linebacker Nick Monzu had eight tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss.  Junior defensive back Jon Davis added seven stops while Chase Samuel and J'Ron Erby were each credited with interceptions.           
            Wayne State will be at home next Saturday afternoon hosting MSU Moorhead in a 1 p.m. contest at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne.