#11 Minnesota State withstood a fourth quarter Wayne State comeback by marching down the field 78 yards in the final 2:30 as the visiting Mavericks defeated the Wildcats 35-28 Saturday evening in a Northern Sun Conference football game played before 2,200 fans at Bob Cunningham Field. WSC drops to 2-1 and 1-1 in the NSIC while Minnesota State is now 3-0 and 2-0 in league play.
The first quarter was a fast-paced 15 minutes of play with both teams scoring twice to end tied at 14-14.
Wayne State took advantage of a punt that was muffed by Minnesota State and recovered by the Wildcats’ Brayden Chaney at the MSU 2. Senior quarterback Nick Bohn plunged into the end zone from one yard out putting the ‘Cats ahead 7-0 at the 10:36 mark of the first quarter.
Minnesota State responded with a scoring drive of their own, driving 75 yards on eight plays with running back Sam Backer scoring on a 10-yard run to tie the score at 7-7.
The Mavericks took a 14-7 lead later in the quarter when Tony Anger found the end zone from two yards out with 1:25 to play in the quarter.
Wayne State closed the high-scoring opening stanza when sophomore running back Latravious Boyd rambled 66 yards down the left side line for a touchdown making the score 14-14.
The lone score of the second quarter was a field goal near intermission from Minnesota State’s Matthew Jaeger from 40-yards out giving the Mavericks a 17-14 lead at halftime.
Minnesota State opened the second half with another Jaeger field goal, this one from 20 yards, putting the Mavericks ahead 20-14.
Later in the quarter, Minnesota State covered 96 yards on just five plays with the scoring drive capped on a 26-yard pass from quarterback Hayden Ekern to TreShawn Watson to put the Mavericks ahead 28-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
WSC cut the Maverick lead to one score at the 10:31 mark of the fourth quarter when Bohn scored on a one-yard run to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive making the score 28-21.
The Wildcat defense came up with a big play on the next series as sophomore defensive back Joe Morrison intercepted Ekern at the MSU 36 and returned the ball 27 yards to the Mavericks nine. On third and goal from the two, Bohn lobbed a two-yard pass to Kendrick Watkins-Hogue and the ‘Cats tied the score at 28-28 with 8:07 remaining.
Both teams then traded punts with MSU getting the ball at their own 22-yard line with 2:54 to play. The Mavericks ran the ball nine of the 10 plays on their game-winning scoring drive and was capped by a sneak from quarterback Hayden Ekern from one yard out with 24 seconds to play giving Minnesota State the 35-28 victory.
Minnesota State held a 586-281 advantage in total offense over the Wildcats. Latravious Boyd led the Wildcat rushing attack with 93 yards on 11 carries that included a 66-yard TD run.
Bohn completed 17 of 28 passes for 153 yards with one TD and one interception. Watkins-Hogue was the top Wildcat receiver with six grabs for 47 yards and one score. Ashten Schmaderer added four receptions for 48 yards.
Senior linebacker Dexter Larsen had 11 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss followed by senior linebacker Alex Kowalczyk with nine stops. Morrison ended with five tackles and an interception return for 27 yards while Chaney had four stops with one fumble recovery.
The Wildcats will be on the road next Saturday visiting Winona State for a 1 p.m. NSIC contest.
