Box Score Wayne State 58 Minnesota Crookston 16

            Wayne State College racked up 662 yards of total offense to down Minnesota Crookston 58-16 Saturday afternoon in the Northern Sun Conference football opener for both teams played at Cunningham Field in Wayne before a crowd of 1,133 fans. 
            The Wildcats scored on their first two possessions of the game to take an early 14-0 lead.  Junior quarterback Zach Osborn connected with Nick Roth on a 17-yard scoring strike and fired a 61-yard bomb to sophomore Marcel Dunson giving WSC the early lead at the 9:17 mark of the first quarter.
            WSC scored again later in the quarter (1:27) on a Lane Yates nine-yard run for a 21-0 lead after one quarter.
            Minnesota Crookston got on the board on the opening play of the second quarter as Adam Connette fired a 29-yard pass to Triston Richert, trimming the WSC lead to 21-7 with 14:52 to go in the first half.
            The Wildcats then scored on the next two possessions to take a 36-7 lead as senior Ryan Ludlow found the end zone on a six yard run followed by a 17-yard jaunt by Osborn.
            UMC then scored on their next two series, a 41-yard Mike Maw field goal and a 22 yard run by Harold Holcomb, making the score 36-16 with 2:22 to play in the second quarter. 
            WSC closed out scoring in the first half on a 34-yard pass from Osborn to Courtney Richardson, giving the 'Cats a 43-16 lead at intermission.
            The lone score of the third quarter was on Wayne State's first series, a 25-yard scoring pass from Osborn to Dunson, giving WSC a 49-16 lead after three quarters.
            Fourth quarter scoring included a 55-yard run by Alex Kline and a 33-yard field goal from redshirt freshman placekicker Sam Simon to make the final score 58-16.
            WSC had 662 yards in the game compared to 276 for UMC.  The 'Cats had 397 yards rushing and 265 passing while the Golden Eagles gained 58 rushing and 218 passing.
            Sophomore Alex Kline gained a career-high 167 yards on 17 rushes to lead the Wildcat ground attack followed by senior Ryan Ludlow with 114 yards on 16 attempts.
            Junior quarterback Zach Osborn completed 15 of 23 passes for 259 yards and four TD's.  His favorite target was Sioux City East sophomore Marcel Dunson, who hauled in career-highs with seven catches for 128 yards and two scores.  Jonathan Parks added three catches for 48 yards while Courtney Richardson had three catches for 45 yards and one TD.
            Senior Jon Davis led the Wildcat defense with eight tackles followed by DeWayne Scott with six.  Nathan Weatherby, Cam Montgomery and Jamaal Conway-Smith each had one interception for the Wildcats. 
            Wayne State will be in action again next Saturday visiting #3 Minnesota Duluth in a 6 p.m. contest in Duluth, Minnesota.