Wayne State's
Brady McGill threw for a career-high 328 yards while junior running back
Brennan Hayes rushed for four touchdowns to help the Wildcats rally from a 17-7 second quarter deficit to defeat a stubborn Southwest Minnesota State team 38-24 Saturday evening in Northern Sun Conference football played in Marshall, Minnesota. WSC is now 4-1 on the season, 3-1 in the NSIC and 1-0 in the NSIC South Division while SMSU drops to 1-4 overall, 0-4 in league play and 0-1 in the NSIC South.
The Wildcats gained a total of 608 yards of total offense in the win, but had to rally in the second half thanks to four straight rushing touchdowns from Hayes to take down the Mustangs.
WSC took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards on seven plays with McGill firing a 27-yard scoring strike to
Charlie Lamski giving the 'Cats an early 7-0 lead.
The Wildcats then saw the host Mustangs score on three straight possessions with SMSU taking a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The first score was a 20-yard pass from Drew Kluender to Cooper Murphy to tie the score at 7-7.
Following a Wildcat fumble that gave SMSU the ball at the WSC 12, the Mustangs settled for a 26-yard field goal from Landon Hubbard to grab a 10-7 lead. After stopping WSC on downs, Southwest Minnesota State drove 72 yards on just two plays with Kluender connecting with Murphy again on a 31-yard strike and the Mustangs held a 17-7 lead with 8:07 to play in the first half.
Wayne State cut into the deficit right before halftime as Hayes scored the first of four touchdowns on a one-yard plunge, set up by a 90-yard pass play from McGill to
Keaten Bonderson that tied for the sixth-longest pass in school history, cutting the Mustangs advantage to 17-14 at intermission.
The first five combined possessions of the third quarter were punts, but midway through the quarter Wayne State took the lead for good when Hayes found the end zone on another one-yard run giving the 'Cats a 21-17 lead at the 5:24 mark of the third quarter.
Later in the third quarter, the Wildcat defense came up with a big play as junior linebacker
Wyatt Hatcher intercepted SMSU giving the 'Cats the ball at the Mustang 32. On the next play, Hayes sprinted 32 yards to the end zone for a scoring giving Wayne State a 28-17 lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Hayes capped his four-TD performance with an 80-yard jaunt followed by a
Boston Hensley 20-yard field goal with 3:56 to play making the score 38-17.
SMSU added a late score with 1:52 to play on a 38-yard pass from Kluender to Zoan Robinson to make the final score 38-24.
Wayne State held a 608-359 edge in total offense as the 'Cats had 280 yards rushing and 300 passing.
Hayes accumulated 178 yards on 27 carries and four touchdowns and joins teammate
Dawson Forgy (5 rush TD's at Sioux Falls last season) as the only two players to have four or more rushing TD's in a single game.
McGill completed 20 of 37 passes for a career-best 328 yards and one TD. Senior
Keaten Bonderson hauled in career-highs of seven catches for 195 yards, becoming the first Wildcat receiver in just over two years (Kendrick Watkins-Hogue 103 yards on seven catches at Winona State on 9/21/24) to have a 100-yard receiving game.
Senior linebacker
Clyde Hinton had eight tackles and a forced fumble for WSC followed by senior defensive tackle
Luke Lambert with seven.
The Wildcats return home next Saturday hosting Winona State in the homecoming contest at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
