Wayne State 41 MSU Moorhead 0
Senior quarterback Silas Fluellen became Wayne State’s all-time completions leader Saturday, passing for 290 yards and three touchdowns, to lead Wayne State in a 41-0 win at MSU Moorhead in the Northern Sun Conference opener for both teams. With the win, Wayne State moves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in league play while MSU Moorhead slips to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC.
Wayne State started the game slowly, leading just 3-0 with 3:22 left to play in the second quarter, but the Wildcats scored three touchdowns to close the first half to build a 24-0 lead and WSC never looked back in posting the 41-0 win.
“It took us a while to get started, but once we did we got on a roll and it was a fun game,” said WSC head coach Dan McLaughlin on the post-game radio show.
The Wildcats opened the scoring on their second drive of the game as senior Nick Hope booted a 23-yard field goal with 4:32 remaining in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead. The score remained the same until the 3:22 mark of the second quarter when David Ferris found the end zone on a two-yard run, making the score 10-0. On MSU Moorhead’s first play on the following drive, WSC senior linebacker Ryan Reeves intercepted Dragon quarterback Zach Fry and returned the ball 14 yards to the MSUM 19-yard line. Two plays later, Fluellen hit Fredrick Bruno on a 24-yard scoring pass to increase the Wildcats’ advantage to 17-0 with 2:42 to play in the first half. Later in the half, WSC forced a Moorhead punt and the Wildcats scored again just before halftime as Fluellen found a wide open Mitch Montgomery on a 24-yard scoring play with just 26 seconds left in the half to give Wayne State a 24-0 lead at halftime.
Wayne State used a similar scoring spurt in the third quarter to take a 34-0 lead. Nick Hope became Wayne State’s all-time field goals leader by making a 47-yarder with 2:21 to play in the third quarter, giving WSC a 27-0 lead. Hope now has 27 made field goals, passing the previous mark of 26 set by Herve Roussel from 1984-85. On the next drive, Wildcat linebacker Ryan Reeves picked off MSUM quarterback Zach Fry for the second time in the game, intercepting a pass at the MSUM 46 and racing 35 yards to the Dragon 11 yard line. Following a penalty on WSC that moved the ball back to the Dragon 26 yard line, Fluellen connected with Robert Perry on a 26-yard touchdown pass to make the score 34-0 with 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcats played backups for much of the fourth quarter and scored one more time as redshirt freshman running back Nick Pulscher ran 12 yards for a touchdown with 7:45 left in the game to make the final score 41-0.
Wayne State recorded 468 yards of total offense in the game while holding MSU Moorhead to 224 yards. The Wildcats had 178 yards rushing and 290 yards passing. Silas Fluellen completed 21 of 32 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns and became Wayne State’s all-time leader in pass completions. The senior from Bellevue West now has 580 career pass completions, surpassing the previous school record of 578 held by Jaime Jones from 1996-99.
Redshirt freshman Nick Pulscher led WSC in rushing with 48 yards on seven carries and one score followed by Fluellen with 47 yards on 14 rushes. The top receiver for WSC was Frederick Bruno with seven catches for 123 yards and one touchdown while Logan Masters extended his streak of game with at least two catches to 37 by hauling in five receptions for 81 yards.
Defensively, senior linebacker Ryan Reeves had a team-high six tackles to go with two interceptions for 49 return yards. Fellow linebackers Daniel Leacraft and Kyle Gardner each contributed five tackles to help the Wildcat defense record the shutout win.
Wayne State will be at home next weekend hosting St. Cloud State in Northern Sun Conference action at Cunningham Field in Wayne starting at 1:00 p.m.