After barely missing the Division II Playoffs last season, the Wayne State College football team is on the hunt for a playoff spot and another successful season in 2024.
The Wildcats gathered an 8-3 record last season and finished just outside Super Region Four’s top seven. Ranked fourth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference coaches’ poll, Wildcat head coach Logan Masters and his team are itching to get back on the gridiron.
“It’ll be exciting to go against someone other than ourselves,” Masters said. “I’m excited to see all the hard work our guys have put in from January until now used to go play well and find a way to win.”
This year, the Wildcats will be led by many returning and talented athletes on both sides of the football. Offensively, starting quarterback Nick Bohn is back for yet another season under center. He threw for 2,677 yards and 22 touchdowns last season while completing 60.75% of his passes and only throwing eight interceptions. Leg talent is also well within Bohn’s skillset, as he ran for 180 yards and a team high 12 rushing touchdowns last season.
“(Bohn) is continuing to be a perfectionist,” Masters said. “Nick from the get-go has been busting his butt since January and he’s been a lot of fun to coach.”
Surrounding Bohn are lots of familiar faces with Latravious Boyd and Dawson Forgy return as running backs. Boyd rushed for a team-high 714 yards while averaging 7.1 yards per carry and added seven touchdowns on the ground. Forgy gained 503 yards last season while breaking into the endzone five times last season. With those two backs and redshirt freshman Jason Jones likely getting a bigger role this year, spectators can expect the run game to be huge part of what the Wildcats do offensively.
The pass game will also be effective, as the top six pass catchers for the Wildcats all return. Kendrick Watkins-Hogue emerged as a receiving star for WSC last season, hauling in 59 passes for 743 yards and eight touchdowns, all of which led the team last season. Watkins-Hogue will once again lead the charge this semester along with experienced wide receivers such as Ashten Schmaderer, Trevor Marshall, Jadon Johnson and Lane VanderWal.
When you factor in tight ends Dane Peterson, Cory Hollinger and Trey Miller along with Boyd and Forgy’s ability to catch passes out of the backfield, it makes for a very deep and extremely talented Wildcat receiving core.
The offensive line also returns four starters from last season, losing only Saquahan Cobbs, and could be one of the conference’s best in 2024.
“I think we got a lot of playmakers we brought back from last year,” Bohn said. “My job is going to be to get the ball in their hands and let them go to work.”
Defensively, there is one name that stole the headlines for this team, and that was Alex Kowlaczyk. The All-American caliber linebacker sat out 2023 with a gruesome leg injury but has made a great recovery and is ready to get back on the field for the Wildcat defense in 2024.
“There were a lot of emotions surrounding it,” Kowalczyk said. “Ultimately, it was a mindset thing you have to push through. It was a long recovery process, but it motivated me to recover and get back. Now we are feeling and ready to go for the season.”
Kowalczyk’s partner in crime Dexter Larsen, the leading tackler for the Wildcat defense last season, also returns, making for one of the most fearful linebacking duos in the country. The depth in this linebacker group will also be utilized as Tyler LeClair, Tate Hinrichs, Alex Schall and Clyde Hinton all return after having to step up and play huge roles last season.
“We have a lot of senior linebackers,” Larsen said. “They are all going to help this year. Our coach always talks about rotating linebackers and being able to keep us all fresh, and finally we are going to be able to do that this year.”
The defensive front sees some key losses but returns most of last year’s core team. Jaxon Johnson, Trent Rasmussen and Drake Peed are all experienced players returning. They will be paired with younger players like Carter Sitzman, Luke Lambert and James Frank, and an Iowa State transfer in junior Kaden Sutton. The pass rush generated 15 sacks and 55 tackles for loss last year, both numbers the Wildcats want to improve in 2024.
The secondary loses a key piece in safety Tanner Cooper but returns a ton of talent from last year’s team that generated 19 interceptions last year, a top five mark in the country. Sophomore Joe Morrison is set to lead the cornerbacks after coming away with a team-high four interceptions and nine pass breakups last year.
Jacob Byrd is due to lead the safeties after being a top five tackler on last year’s squad. Gerale Flye, Marzion Cosby, Adrien Pidgeon and Sam Rallis, as well as a transfer from Walsh in Delshawn Petrosky, will also see significant playing time in the defensive backfield.
“We return a lot and added pieces where we needed them,” Kowalczyk said. “I think we are looking really good and I like the team that we have. We have a lot of studs and it is going to be a fun year.”
For special teams, Boston Hensley is back for another season as WSC’s placekicker and Marshall will be on the field as the primary punter as well. In the return game, players like Johnson, Byrd and Forgy will be the one’s returning punts and kickoffs this season.
The Wildcat season kicks off against the Missouri S&T Miners, a team the Wildcats narrowly beat last season in Rolla, Missouri, 38-35, as they were able to stave off a second half comeback from the Miners. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Bob Cunningham Field at WSC.
“I think we got an exciting team,” Bohn said. “I think we are going to score some points on offense, and I think our defense is going to bring it and be physical. I think we are going to be a fun team to watch.”
All information was gathered from wscwildcats.com
