The Wildcats hosted Augustana in a thrilling game on Saturday afternoon, a game that had every fan on the edge of their seat.

In the end, it was the Vikings holding off a ferocious Wildcat comeback and winning 52-48.

The 4-2 Wildcats were coming off three straight wins before they lined up to kick off against divisional rival Augustana College.

Ex-Augustana head coach and current WSC defensive coordinator, Coach Mike Aldrich, made the switch from Augustana to Wayne last year. In his first year of being the head coach at Augie in 2010, he led the Vikings to an 11-2 record. A 21-year drought in NCAA Division ll playoff appearances came to an end, and in the second round the Vikings eliminated four-time national champion Grand Valley State.

Aldrich has history with Augustana, giving him and the Wayne defense extra incentive to win against a program that the Wildcats have never been fond of.

The game was scoreless after one quarter, but quickly turned into a shootout in the second quarter as the Augustana offense rolled, capitalizing on two costly Wildcat turnovers to score on five posessions in the second quarter, taking a 35-7 lead at halftime.

The Vikings scored on the first play of the second quarter following a Wildcat turnover, as Viking QB Trey Heid found Matt Gerry on a 20-yard pass, giving Augie a 7-0 lead.

WSC responded on the ensuing drive, marching the ball 75 yards on 10 plays as Chad Koch capped off the drive with a six-yard TD run, knotting the game up at 7.

Augustana then scored on touchdown passes of 23 and 61 yards from Heid to Matt Heller and then 23 and 15 yard touchdown passes from Heid to Charlies Hayes.
This brought the halftime score to 35-7.

Wayne came out in the second half ready to play, opening the scoring in the second half on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Zach Osborn to Adam Stark, which trimmed the lead to 35-13 with 8:47 to go in the third quarter.

The Wildcats gained momentum after the defense forced an Augustana punt, and sophomore Nick Roth blocked the punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, bringing the score to 35-20.

After an Augustana field goal put the Vikings ahead 38-20, WSC scored with 1:55 to go in the third quarter on an 18 yard pass from Osborn to Roth, making the score 38-27 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Vikings responded and scored early in the fourth quarter when running back Dajon Newell was on the verge of running for a touchdown, but fumbled at the one yard line.

Unfortunately, the ball took a bad bounce and was recovered by Hayes in the endzone to bring the Augustana lead to 45-27.

Wayne drove 83 yards on 10 plays on the ensuing drive with Osborn finding Marcel Dunson on a 17 yard pass with 9:49 to play, trimming the Augustana lead to 45-34.

The Wildcat defense had pinned Augustana deep in their own territory, as senior safety Chase Samuel forced a fumble from Augustana quarterback Trey Heid that was scooped up by senior defensive lineman Abram Walker for a score, pulling WSC within five at 45-40 with 8:21 left.

On the next series, the Wildcat defense forced another punt, but Lucas Wainman’s 45 yard punt was downed at the WSC one-yard line.

Osborn then led the Wildcats on an outstanding 99-yard drive to score to take the lead.

The ‘Cats converted on a huge fourth-down play from Osborn to Stark for a 33 yard reception to keep the drive alive.

Two plays later, senior fullback/running back Chad Koch found the end zone on a two-yard score. The two-point attempt was converted from Osborn to tight end Joe Trouba.

The Wildcat fans were ecstatic as they thought the miraculous comeback was complete.

Augustana used a 38-yard kick return by Justin Greenway to start their drive from their own 41 yard line with just 1:12 remaining.

Heid found tight end Nick Lee on a 30-yard pass, putting the ball on the WSC 18.
The game was haunted by a controversial call, as the ball was stripped from Lee’s grasp while he was on his way down to the turf.

The Wildcats recovered the fumble, which would have sealed the victory.

Unfortunately, it was a bang-bang play, and the referee called Lee down before the ball came out, which proved to be the wrong call after watching film.

Two plays later, Heid hit Charlie Hayes in the corner of the end-zone with 15 seconds left to give Augustana the victory.

Wayne State outgained its opponent with a 615-525 advantage over the Vikings.

The ‘Cats had 116 yards rushing and 499 yards passing while the Vikings produced 186 on the ground and 339 through the air.

Osborn posted career-high numbers, completing 39 of 59 passes for 499 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

Stark also had career-numbers with 12 catches for 199 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Cole McDaniel added eight catches for 92 yards and Brian Kent produced eight receptions for 83 yards.

Junior linebacker Nate Kroupa led WSC defensively with 13 tackles, followed by Nick Monzu with 9.

Wayne State will be on the road next Saturday, visiting Southwest Minnesota State, starting at 6 p.m.