Wayne State's defense held Winona State scoreless in the second half and came up with several key stops as the Wildcats rallied for a 17-14 Northern Sun Conference South Division football win Saturday afternoon at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne. The Wildcats now sit 5-1 overall, 4-1 in the NSIC and 2-0 in NSIC South Division play while Winona State is 2-4 on the year, 2-3 in conference play and 1-1 in the NSIC South.
After each team punted on their first possessions of the game, Wayne State scored on their next two series to take a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Junior running back
Brennan Hayes scored on a three-yard pass from quarterback
Brady McGill with 6:27 to play in the first quarter capping a seven-play, 43-yard drive that put the 'Cats in front 7-0.
Later in the first quarter, the Wildcat defense stopped Winona State on downs at the WSC 24 and the 'Cats drove 60 yards on 10 plays and got a 33-yard field goal from
Boston Hensley to take a 10-0 lead with 13:28 to play in the second quarter.
Winona State then scored 14 unanswered points with seven coming off a Wildcat turnover to grab a 14-10 lead at intermission.
The first score came on a one-yard plunge into the end zone by running back AJ Moore with 5:37 to go before halftime, cutting the Wildcat lead to 10-7.
On the ensuing drive, Winona State forced a Wildcat fumble and recovered the ball near midfield and the Warriors needed just three plays to cover 52 yards for a score as quarterback Jacob Sampson found Jahmani Muhammad on a 32-yard pass play with 2:53 to go in the first half to give Winona State the 14-10 lead at the break.
The lone score in the second half came on the opening drive as the Wildcats consumed 6:51 of the clock on 15 plays covering 75 yards with McGill closing the drive on a one-yard run putting WSC back in front 17-14.
The rest of the game saw both teams drive the ball at times but neither team could put points on the board.
Later in the third quarter, WSC drove to the Winona State 22 but turned the ball over on downs.
Early in the fourth quarter Winona State drove from their own 17 to the WSC 29 until Wildcat defensive back
Izaiah Jackson intercepted a Sampson pass to stop the scoring threat.
After forcing a WSC punt, Winona State had one more chance with the ball and marched from their own 38 to the WSC 29 where a 46-yard field goal by Mathias Yaggie was wide left with 34 seconds remaining and the Wildcats held on for the 17-14 victory.
Wayne State held a 326-310 edge in total offense over Winona State. The 'Cats had 161 yards rushing and 165 passing while WSU gained 104 on the ground and 206 through the air.
Hayes was the top rusher for the 'Cats with 49 yards on 22 carries followed by
Akeem Knox with 46 yards on five attempts.
Throwing the ball, McGill was 16 of 30 for 165 yards and one touchdown.
Charlie Lamski was the top receiver for WSC with six receptions for 59 yards followed by tight end
Tanner Houck with three catches for 60 yards.
Senior linebacker
Kaden Johnson led the Wildcat defense with 11 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss, one break up and one quarterback hurry.
Clyde Hinton added nine stops with Jackson recording six tackles with one interception and one pass breakup.
The Wildcats hit the road next Saturday for an NSIC contest at Bemidji State starting at 1 p.m.
