Wayne State football came up short against Winona State in the 28th annual Egg Bowl with the final score of 41-20. Winona State improved to 6-2 on the season and the Wildcats fell to 3-5.

“We went into it defensively wanting to shut down their run game and we did that,” Head Coach Dan McLaughlin said. “The thing we weren’t able to do was generate a pass rush, so their quarterback really hurt us.”

Both teams were held scoreless in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, Winona State quarterback Jack Nelson threw an 11-yard strike to Cameron Johnson to put the Warriors up 7-0.

Wildcat fullback Houston Huss scored from one yard out, which tied the game 7-7 with 10:40 left in the second quarter. The Warriors scored twice more before the end of the half. Nelson found Connor Schultz on a 47-yard pass and kicker Carter McCauley made a 26-yard field goal, which made the score at the end of the second quarter 17-7.

The Warriors started off the third quarter with a field goal by McCauley, extending the lead to 20-7. Wayne State quarterback Zach Osborn threw an interception, that was returned from 34 yards out by Cole Monckton. The score at the end of the third quarter was 27-7, with the Warriors on top.

Osborn connected with Nate Rogers from 11 yards out with 12:31 left in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 27-13. At the 9:25 mark in the fourth quarter, Nelson threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Will Claussen, which extended the Warrior’s lead to 34-13.

Wayne State found the end zone one final time as Osborn scored from one yard out, making the score 34-20. Winona State scored the final points of the game as Nelson ran from one yard out with 1:27 left in the game. The final score of the game was 41-20 in favor of the Warriors.

“It was a very frustrating game,” McLaughlin said. “We just have to put it behind us and move on.”

Osborn completed 16 of 39 pass attempts for 167 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He also led the Wildcat rushing attack with a total of 116 yards on 22 attempts.

Sophomore Shymere Williams caught six passes for 58 yards and freshman Willie Walton recorded five completions for 80 yards receiving. Senior defensive back Cam Montgomery led the Wildcat defense with nine total tackles and two interceptions. Montgomery was named WSC’s Egg Bowl Most Valuable Player.

Winona State quarterback Nelson was named the Warriors Most Valuable Player of the game. Nelson completed 25 out of 40 pass attempts for 362 yards and was accountable for four touchdowns.
The Wildcats will travel to Fayette, Iowa this Saturday to take on the Upper Iowa University Peacocks. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

“Upper Iowa is a spread team with a quarterback that will run around and throw it 60 times, and they score on everybody,” Defensive Coordinator Scott McLaughlin said. “We need to keep things in front of us and for them (Upper Iowa) to press a little and that will lead to good things for us.”