The Wayne State College football team improves to 6-1 and 5-1 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play following a blowout victory against the University of Mary Marauders, 30-0.
The winning effort was led by Wayne State’s run game True freshman running back Brennen Hayes led the way with 137 rushing yards and one touchdown. Running back Latravious Boyd, who made his return from injury, gathered two rushing scores and quarterback Nick Bohn added one of his own.
The Wildcat defense held their ground with linebackers Alex Schall and Dexter Larsen leading the Wildcats, each with seven total tackles. Defensive ends Carter Sitzman and Jackson Bos and linebacker Jes Krcil each had a sack. The Wayne State secondary allowed nothing go through the air for UMary’s offense with defensive back Joe Morrison and linebacker Clyde Hinton having one interception a piece.
With this recent victory, and four weeks left to play in the NSIC season, there are many teams that have proven they deserve a postseason spot. Teams like Bemidji State, Sioux Falls and Augustana have been impressive in the first half of the season and Minnesota State had exceeded expectations from being the third ranked team in the preseason NSIC conference coaches’ poll.
WSC through this first half of the season have found there gameplan through their flashy run game, but losing key players to injury has made the Wildcats fill in holes on the offense. Injuries that took out players for the whole season like senior linebacker Alex Kowalczyk and other substantial injuries have plagued the team. The starting running back duo of Boyd and Dawson Forgy and starting place kicker Boston Hensley have all been battling injuries. However, the bright spot is underclassmen like freshman running back Akeem Knox, redshirt freshman wide receiver Keaton Bonderson and linebackers Krcil and Clyde Hinton can show what they can do to fill in those shoes for the team.
The passing offense for the Wildcats has been rocky as of recent. Quarterback Nick Bohn has only one game where he threw for over 250 yards, and two where he didn’t even reach 100. Bohn’s favorite dynamic target on offense in redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kendrick Watkins-Hogue sustained an injury in the previous game against UMary, and that takes away from the offensive gameplan.
The Wildcats have their annual Hall of Fame game this Saturday against the Sioux Falls Cougars. This game and beyond will prove if WSC can hang with the top echelon of the NSIC.