#23 Wayne State 41 St. Cloud State 20
23rd ranked Wayne State College jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead and never looked back as the Wildcats rolled over St. Cloud State 41-20 in Northern Sun Conference college football played Saturday afternoon at Cunningham Field in Wayne. The Wildcats, 3-0 to start the season for the first time since 1995, are now 2-0 in the NSIC while dropping St. Cloud State to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.
The Wildcats set the tone early in the game and dominated the first quarter, outgaining St. Cloud State 221 to minus seven yards for the Huskies. WSC opened the scoring on the third play of the game as junior Frederick Bruno took an option pitch from quarterback Silas Fluellen and raced 72 yards for the touchdown to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead 1:00 into the game. After holding St. Cloud State on a three and out on the Huskies’ first series, WSC then took their second possession of the game and drove 84 yards on 12 plays, capped by a 13-yard scoring pass from Fluellen to Mitch Montgomery, giving WSC a 14-0 advantage with 6:15 to play in the first quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, St. Cloud State’s Andrew Beckman fumbled the kickoff return and WSC recovered at the Husky 32 yard line. The ‘Cats scored moments later as Fluellen hit Logan Masters on a 19-yard scoring play, putting the Wildcats ahead 21-0 with 2:15 remaining in the first quarter. Fluellen would finish the first quarter a perfect 13 of 13 passing for 144 yards.
St. Cloud State then took the next drive and scored, marching 80 yards on 13 plays as sophomore running back Brandon Geiss scored on a two-yard run to make the score 21-7 with 7:17 to play in the second quarter. WSC wasted little time to respond as the Wildcats scored for the fourth time in five possessions as Bruno rushed 44 yards for a touchdown to cap a four-play, 72 yard drive, giving Wayne State a 28-7 cushion with 5:19 to play. The Wildcats added one more score to end the first half as Nick Hope booted a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give Wayne State a resounding 31-7 lead at the intermission.
Both teams put together long scoring drives to take up much of the third quarter. St. Cloud State took the opening drive of the third quarter and drove 80 yards on 14 plays over 7:44 as senior quarterback Mitch Watkins hit Fred Williams on a 10-yard pass play to make the score 31-13 with 7:09 left in the third quarter. WSC then took the next drive, going 60 yards on 12 plays over 5:53 as Fluellen connected with Bruno on a six yard scoring play, extending Wayne State’s lead to 38-13 with 1:15 to go in the third period.
The Wildcats added a 38-yard field goal by Nick Hope with 9:00 to go in the fourth quarter, giving WSC a 41-13 lead. St. Cloud State closed the scoring with 1:26 to play as Watkins and Williams teamed up for the second time in the half on a 23-yard scoring pass to make the final score 41-20.
Wayne State finished the game with 478 yards of total offense while holding St. Cloud State to 268 yards. WSC had 160 yards rushing and another 318 passing while SCSU had 127 on the ground and 141 through the air. Fluellen completed his first 14 passes of the day and finished the game an impressive 29 of 32 for 312 yards and three scores. Senior wide receiver Logan Masters caught 10 balls for 83 yards while Frederick Bruno added another six receptions for 114 yards. Bruno also led the Wildcats on the ground with 122 yards on just four carries and two scores. He finished the game with 273 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.
For St. Cloud State, Brandon Geiss rushed for 79 yards on 22 carries and had one touchdown while quarterback Mitch Watkins completed 16 of 20 passes for 141 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Fred Williams had 10 receptions for 97 yards and two scores to lead Husky wide receivers.
Defensively, senior linebacker Ryan Reeves led Wayne State with 10 tackles followed by sophomore Jerome Blyden with seven.
Wayne State will be on the road next weekend, traveling to Mankato, Minnesota for a big NSIC game at #8 Minnesota State with kickoff slated for 6:00 p.m.