Northern State used 328 passing yards and 467 yards of total offense to defeat Wayne State Saturday evening 26-7 in Northern Sun Conference football played at Dacotah Bank Stadium in Aberdeen, South Dakota.  The 'Cats drop to 1-2 and 1-1 in the NSIC while Northern State is 1-1 overall and in league play.
            The Wolves scored on the opening possession of the game as Jeremy Caruso booted a 38-yard field goal at the 11:12 mark for a 3-0 Northern State lead and the lone score of the opening quarter.
            Northern State was driving early in the second quarter and had the ball second and goal from the WSC 7 when defensive back Kahmel Johnson intercepted a pass to stop the Wolves' scoring threat to keep the score 3-0.
            Wayne State struggled offensively in the first half as the 'Cats were forced to punt on their first five possessions until mounting a drive late in the half.
            Midway through the second quarter the Wolves added to their lead as Caruso booted a 36-yard field goal to put Northern State in front 6-0 with 3:23 to go before halftime.
            The Wildcats had their best drive of the opening half on the next possession, moving from their own 25 to the NSU 28 until the Wolves intercepted quarterback Bennett Dannenbring to stop the WSC scoring threat, ending the first half trailing 6-0.
            Northern State had the only score of the third quarter as quarterback Brock Bagozzi scored on a two-yard rush with 6:04 left to extend the Wolves lead to 12-0.
            The Wolves took a 19-0 advantage early in the fourth quarter as Bagozzi fired a 26-yard scoring strike to Hank Kraft at the 14:09 mark.
            Wayne State got on the scoreboard on the ensuing drive as the 'Cats marched 67 yards on eight plays with Dannenbring finding wide receiver Keaten Bonderson on a 28-yard scoring play to cut the Northern State lead to 19-7 with 11:11 to play.
            The Wildcat defense then forced a Northern State turnover as Kaden Sutton forced a fumble that was recovered by Luke Lambert giving WSC great field position at the NSU 45.  But on the next play NSU got the ball back intercepting a Dannenbring pass to stop the Wildcat momentum. 
            Northern State then converted the turnover into points as Bogazzi tossed a 45-yard scoring strike to Jacoby Boykins to close the scoring with 6:28 remaining making the final score 26-7.
            Northern State ended the game with a 467-249 advantage in total offense.  WSC gained 119 yards on the ground and 130 passing.  Junior running back Dawson Forgy had 82 yards on 16 carries to lead the 'Cats with Brennan Hayes adding 54 yards on 10 rushes.
            Dannenbring completed 14 of 25 passes for 130 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.  Alex Phelps was the top receiver with four receptions for 50 yards while Bonderson added three catches for 43 yards and one score.
            Defensively, junior James Frank recorded nine tackles for the Wildcats followed by Mitchell Andersen with seven tackles and one pass breakup.  Senior linebacker Alex Kowalczyk added six tackles with one interception and one tackle for loss. 
            The Wildcats are on the road again next Saturday visiting MSU Moorhead in a Northern Sun Conference contest starting at 12 p.m.