Wayne State notched its first shutout since the third week of the 2021 season, holding UMary to just 215 yards of total offense, to record a 30-0 Northern Sun Conference football victory Saturday afternoon over the Marauders in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Wildcats are off to a 6-1 start for the first time since the 1993 season – 5-1 in the NSIC – while UMary drops to 1-7 and 0-7 in league play with the loss.
DJ McPherson returned the opening kickoff 70 yards to the UMary 20, setting up a 30-yard field goal by sophomore Boston Hensley to give the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead with 13:10 to play first quarter.
The Wildcats struggled offensively the rest of the first quarter with a pair of three and outs, gaining just seven yards of offense in the opening stanza.
After the WSC defense stopped the Marauders on downs at the WSC 28, the ‘Cats used a 42-yard pass play from senior quarterback Nick Bohn to redshirt freshman Keaten Bonderson to set up the first touchdown of the day as Bohn found the end zone on a one-yard plunge putting WSC in front 10-0 with 10:35 to play in the first half to close scoring in the opening half of play.
The Wayne State defense opened the third quarter by forcing a UMary turnover, resulting in Wildcat points. Sophomore Joe Morrison intercepted a pass at the WSC 36 and returned the ball 29 yards to the UMary 35. Sophomore Latravious Boyd converted the turnover into points, scoring on a nine-yard run with 9:08 to play third quarter giving the ‘Cats a 16-0 lead following a blocked PAT kick.
Early in the fourth quarter, the WSC defense stopped the Marauders again in WSC territory at the WSC 37. Freshman running back Brennan Hayes broke loose for a 53-yard run down to the UMary 12. On the next play, Boyd scored his second touchdown of the day on a 12-yard run making the score 23-0 with 12:42 remaining.
Later in the quarter, Wayne State’s defense denied UMary a scoring opportunity stopped the Marauders on fourth and 2 at the WSC 7 with a sack by Carter Sitzman and Jackson Bos.
The ‘Cats then marched down the field under reserve quarterback Bennett Dannenbring as Hayes busted another big run of 49 yards and found the end zone on a two-yard run to close the scoring with 1:56 remaining to make the final score 30-0.
The Wildcats ended the game with a 296-215 advantage in total offense over UMary. WSC gained 220 yards rushing and 76 passing while the Marauders had just 19 yards on the ground and 196 through the air.
Hayes ended the game with 137 yards on just nine carries and one TD while Boyd added 31 yards on 10 rushes and two scores.
Throwing the ball, Bohn was 6 of 13 for 76 yards with one interception. Bonderson had a 42-yard catch while Jadon Johnson and Trevor Marshall each had two catches.
Linebackers Alex Schall and Dexter Larsen each accounted for seven tackles to lead the WSC defense. Schall had two tackles for loss. Sophomore Carter Sitzman added six stops that included 1.5 sacks for 11 yards and 3.5 tackles for loss for 14 yards. Joe Morrison and Clyde Hinton each had interceptions for the WSC defense.
The Wildcats will be at home next weekend hosting Sioux Falls at 12 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Game at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne.
