Box Score Minnesota State 41 Wayne State 30

            Wayne State College built a 17-7 first quarter lead, but Minnesota State used a balanced offensive attack to come back in the second half for a 41-30 Northern Sun Conference football win Saturday afternoon over the Wildcats at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne on Senior Day before a crowd of 1,267.  MSU is now 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the NSIC South while WSC drops to 3-7 and 2-4 in divisional play.
            The Mavericks opened the game with a 91-yard kickoff return and scored two plays into the contest on a Nick Pieruccini six yard run for a 7-0 lead 52 seconds into the contest.
            Wayne State scored points on its first three possessions and took a 17-7 lead on the Mavericks.  The first drive covered 13 plays and 63 yards before the 'Cats settled for a 19-yard Ethan Knudson field goal. 
            The Wildcat defense forced a turnover as freshman Shaq Paddy intercepted a Pieruccini pass at the MSU 43.  WSC converted the turnover into points as junior quarterback Zach Osborn found sophomore tight end Keaton Slaughter on an eight-yard scoring pass to give WSC a 10-7 lead.
            WSC came up with a big play on special teams to set up their next score as freshman Odessa Clark blocked a Maverick punt giving the 'Cats great field position at the MSU nine.  Osborn delivered an 11-yard scoring pass to junior Nathan Rogers putting WSC in front 17-7 with 51 seconds left first quarter.
            The Mavericks controlled the ball for most of the second quarter and produced 10 points to knot the game at 17 at halftime as Pieruccini fired an 11 yard TD pass to Erik Fuller followed by a 21-yard field goal from Anders Gelecinskyj with 4:39 to play second quarter that made the score 17-17.
            Minnesota State took the lead for good early in the third quarter on a Gelecinskyj 32 yard field goal, giving the Mavs a 20-17 lead.
            MSU scored again midway through the third quarter as Pieruccini capped a 10-play, 88 yard drive with a three yard run putting the Mavericks ahead 27-17.
            Wayne State cut into the Maverick lead on the following drive when Osborn found senior Nick Roth on a 52-yard touchdown strike that got the 'Cats within three at 27-24.
            But Minnesota State responded with a 90-yard drive that spanned 15 plays and 5:24 to increase the lead to 10 again when Fuller and Pieruccini teamed up on a four yard scoring play.
            WSC battled back and scored on their next drive when junior Rashad Trimble found the end zone on a 14-yard scamper with 10:09 left in the game, trimming the Maverick advantage to 34-30 following a missed PAT kick.
            Minnesota State then added an insurance score with 6:14 remaining when Pieruccini connected with Justin Arnold on a 19-yard pass to make the final score 41-30.
            Minnesota State finished the game with 513 yards while WSC gained 459.  The Mavericks produced 264 yards rushing and 249 passing while the 'Cats were limited to 73 yards on the ground while gaining 386 through the air.
            Osborn was Wayne State's top rusher with 27 yards on 15 carries followed by Rashad Trimble with 22 yards on two carries and one score.
            Throwing the ball, Osborn completed 28 of 43 passes for a season-high 386 yards and three TD's.  Sophomore Shymere Williams led a balanced receiving group with seven catches for 125 yards followed by Sam Wegner with five grabs for 73 yards.  Nate Rogers added four receptions for 58 yards and one score while senior Nick Roth had two catches for 61 yards and one score.
            Jarrod Bazata and Tyler Thomsen led Wayne State's defense with eight tackles each followed by freshman Shaq Paddy with seven stops and one interception.  Benjamin Walls also had an interception for the Wildcats.
            Wayne State closes the 2016 season next Saturday with a 12 p.m. contest at #4 Sioux Falls.