WAYNE – NSIC South welcomed in the North Division during week four of the collegiate football season.
From Bob Cunningham Field on the campus of Wayne State College, WSC hosted Concordia-St. Paul Saturday evening a part of the Family Day game.
The host Wildcats outscored CSP, 27-7 in the second quarter and cruised to a 48-21 home victory. Wayne State College improves to 4-0 which is their best start to a season since 1993 (finished 9-1) while the Golden Bears fell to 0-4.
Senior running back Anthony Watkins opened scoring for the ‘Cats with a one-yard score with 4:35 to play in the opening quarter. Senior placekicker Alex Powders knocked through his first of six PATs (one missed) to put WSC out front 7-0.
Moving into the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Nick Bohn connected with sophomore tight end Gage Dengel on a 35-yard touchdown with 11:55 left in the second quarter (PAT good). WSC led 14-0.
CSP answered with a nine-yard rushing touchdown from sophomore running back Jaylin Richardson with 7:28 left until half. The Wildcats remained ahead 14-7.
WSC scored three more times as Bohn found sophomore wide out Jadon Johnson on a 55-yard score with 5:02 left in the second quarter (PAT blocked), Bohn ran in from eight yards out (3:10 left) and Bohn found sophomore wide receiver Shane Orr on a 12-yard pass (seven seconds left).
Wayne State College led 34-7 at the break.
The Golden Bears opened scored in the third quarter when sophomore quarterback Conner Cordts rushed in from nine yards out with 10:47 remaining. WSC remained ahead 34-14.
Wayne State followed with two rushing touchdowns from redshirt freshman tailback Jacob Keiser on a 52-yard score (5:45 left) and junior wide receiver David Elder on an eight-run (48 seconds left) to put WSC out front 48-14.
The lone score of the fourth quarter went to Concordia-St. Paul on a 13-yard passing touchdown from sophomore quarterback Bryce Sievers to redshirt freshman wide out Julius Reynolds (13:07 left).
Final favored WSC, 48-21.
Bohn finished 15 of 19 for 227 yards with three touchdowns and 11 rushes for 46 yards and a score while junior quarterback Tavian Willis went 3 for 5 for 39 yards and three rushes for five yards.
Watkins carried the ball 14 times for 89 yards with a score followed by Keiser with 82 yards on nine carries with a score. Elder added three carries for 14 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson had two receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown, Orr added two catches for 44 yards and touchdown as Dengel recorded two catches for 39 yards and a score. Senior wide out Mason Lee hauled in four balls for 50 yards as redshirt freshman wide receiver Trevor Marshall had two catches for 39 yards.
Defensively sophomore linebacker Dexter Larsen posted a team-high seven tackles (five solo) with a sack. Senior linebacker Jaylan Scott added three solo tackles with a sack, tackle for loss and a fumble recovery as other tackles for loss came from junior safety Tanner Cooper (one solo tackle), sophomore defensive end Jaxon Johnson (three total/two solo); senior defensive back J’Von France (one solo) and sophomore defensive end Rex Becker (three total/one solo/fumble recovery) all with one TFL. Sophomore linebacker Alex Kowalczyk tallied three solo tackles and forced a fumble.
Wayne State College totaled 518 yards off 72 plays (252 rushing/266 passing) compared to 63 plays for 280 yards for CSP (90 rushing/190 passing). WSC won the time of possession, 35:08 to 24:52 and converted 11 of 15 third down conversions (1-1 4th down) while the Golden Bears finished 4 of 10 on third down conversions (0-2 4th down).
The Wayne State College football team will next visit Winona State University to open divisional play on Saturday, October 1 at 1 p.m.
Week Four NSIC scores:
#13 Augustana University defeated Northern State, 21-13
Winona State defeated MSU Moorhead, 40-7
Sioux Falls defeated Minnesota Duluth, 31-31
Minnesota-State Mankato defeated University of Mary, 31-28
Bemidji State defeated Upper Iowa, 48-22
Southwest Minnesota State defeated Minot State, 27-20 in overtime
