The Wayne State Wildcat football team fell short in Saturday night’s match-up against Minot State losing 20-14. The Beavers improve to 1-1 on the season and the Wildcats fall to 0-2.

The game’s first turnover came early when Wildcats running back Rashad Trimble fumbled on the second play of the game.

On the following play, Beavers quarterback Zach Cunha threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Akkil Walker, putting the Beavers up 7-0 in the first 44 seconds of the game.
WSC found the end zone when junior quarterback Zach Osborn threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver Nate Rogers to tie the game 7-7. This came after junior defensive back Glenn Harris forced a fumble on a punt return and the Wildcats recovered on the Beavers’ 10-yard line.

A few minutes before the end of the first half, Minot State regained the lead 14-7 after the Beavers Jarvis Mustipher capped off a long 72-yard drive.

The second half then turned into a defensive stand off.

The Beavers picked up right where they left off at the first half when they scored on the opening drive of the third quarter. Jarvis Mustipher scored for the Beavers in just four plays to take the 20-7 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to respond, as Osborn found Rogers once again, recording his second touchdown of the game and cutting the lead to 20-14 with a little over eight minutes left to play in the third quarter.

The defense of both teams stepped up following the back-to-back scoring drives. With around eight minutes left to play in regulation, Minot State drove the ball all the way down the Wildcats’ 28-yard line. On 4th and 1, the ‘Cats forced a turnover on downs and got the ball back with 1:22 left to play.

On the final play of the game, WSC’s Osborn threw a “Hail Mary” from the Beavers’ 31-yard line. The pass was intercepted in the end zone by  MSU Donnell Vercher, ending the game with the final score of 20-14.

The Beavers led the charge on offense, outgaining the Wildcats 364-283. Minot had a heavy passing attack, passing for 268 yards and rushing for 96 yards. WSC passed for 116 yards and rushed for 167.

Junior running back Arelious Burns rushed for 119 yards on 24 attempts, while Osborn completed 13 out of 28 pass attempts, totaling 116 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Defensively, the Beavers had a pair of tacklers in Cam Montgomery and Christian Campos who ended eight plays each.

The Wildcats will be on the road next Saturday night at 6 p.m. in Bemidji, Minn., facing off against the Bemidji State Beavers.