Wayne State rushed for 314 yards, highlighted by junior Dawson Forgy's 172 yards on 27 carries and two scores, as the Wildcats sailed past the University of Mary 42-7 in the Northern Sun Conference football opener for both teams Saturday evening at Bob Cunningham Field.  The Wildcats move to 1-1 and 1-0 in the NSIC while the Marauders fall to 1-1 and 0-1 in league play.
            After punting on their first two possessions, the Wayne State offense started to click late in the first quarter scoring on three straight series.
            Sophomore quarterback Bennett Dannenbring fired an 18-yard scoring strike to sophomore Keaten Bonderson to open the scoring with 2:54 remaining in the first quarter for a 7-0 Wildcat lead. 
            The Wildcat defense set up Wayne State's next score as senior linebacker Alex Kowalczyk intercepted a UMary pass at the 22 and returned the ball 11 yards to the Marauder 11.  Two plays later, Forgy found the end zone on a nine-yard run putting the 'Cats in front 14-0 with 2:04 to play first quarter.
            After WSC forced a three-and-out on the Marauders, WSC got the ball at the UMary 35 and need just three plays to score as Jonathan Humpal scored on a 13-yard pass from Dannenbring giving the 'Cats a 21-0 advantage just 59 seconds into the second quarter.
            Late in the second quarter, the Wildcats scored again for a 28-0 lead as Dannenbring connected with tight end Dane Petersen on an 18-yard scoring pass with 1:24 to go before halftime.
            The Marauders scored just before halftime as quarterback Jordan Polo Solomon fired a 18-yard pass to tight end Luke Bodine with just 30 seconds left in the half to make the score 28-7 at intermission.
            UMary had the ball for a majority of the third quarter.  The Marauders marched from their own one-yard line down to the WSC 4, but the Wildcats denied the Marauders from scoring and stopped UMary on downs after a 16 play, 95-yard drive covering 6:55.
            On the first play for WSC from the four-yard line, sophomore running back Brennan Hayes broke loose and raced 93 yards before being stopped at the Marauder 3.  The 93-yard run by Hayes was the third-longest run in Wildcat history.
            Early in the fourth quarter, Forgy scored his second touchdown of the night on a one-yard run giving WSC a 35-7 lead.
            The rest of the quarter was played by reserves and WSC closed the scoring when backup defensive back Jack Shuker intercepted a UM pass at the WSC 22 and rambled 78 yards for a pick six with 1:54 to play in the game making the final score 42-7.  The 78-yard interception return tied for fourth-longest in school history.
            Wayne State finished the game with 440 yards compared to 331 for UMary.  The 'Cats gained 314 yards on the ground and 126 passing while the Marauders had 88 rushing and 243 passing.
            Forgy gained 172 yards on 27 carries with two touchdowns to lead the 'Cats while Hayes also surpassed the century mark with 119 yards on just seven carries.
            Dannenbring completed 11 of 24 passes for 106 yards and three TD's.  Junior tight end Dane Petersen recorded four catches for 34 yards and one score while Forgy had two catches for 27 yards. 
            Defensively, sophomore linebacker Jes Krcil had a team-high 10 tackles.  Senior linebacker Alex Kowalczyk added seven stops with one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss (13 yds) and one interception for 11 return yards. 
            The Wildcats hit the road next weekend for a Northern Sun Conference contest in Aberdeen, South Dakota against Northern State Saturday evening at 6 p.m.