The running game told the story Saturday as the Wayne State College football team accounted for 388 yards on the ground, including 321 yards from Brennan Hayes and Dawson Forgy, to take down ninth-ranked Minnesota State 35-20.
The Wildcats scored the first points of the day midway through the first quarter with a 16-yard run from quarterback Brady McGill, who started the game but split snaps with Bennett Dannenbring, who returned after missing the last three games with a leg injury. A missed extra point kept the score 6-0. A couple minutes later, Hayes had his first of two touchdowns of the day, a 75-yard run to put WSC up 13-0 in the first quarter.
Hayes said the goal was to try to take control early.
“Just go in and try to physically dominate them,” Hayes said. “We just wanted to go in and play like we know we can play.”
The Mavericks responded with a touchdown midway through the second quarter when backup quarterback Mitchell Thompson found Nassir Jones for a 20-yard touchdown to make it 13-7.
The Wildcats responded with a 13-play drive all the way down to the one-yard line with one second left in the half. Head coach Logan Masters called a timeout and called a play for Forgy, who powered it in for the score to make it 19-7 WSC going into the break.
“We had a hard-nosed attitude going into that play,” Forgy said. “We knew we were going to go get this[touchdown].”
The teams traded third quarter touchdown passes to make it 26-14 WSC heading into the fourth. Early in the fourth quarter, Hayes put an exclamation mark on the game with his second touchdown of the game, this time from 69 yards.
Hayes and Forgy both gave credit to their blockers for their success in the game.
“On the two big runs, it was just green grass after the line opened up their blocks,” Hayes said. “It was a great day to be behind them.”
“We got great movement all day,” Forgy said. “They created holes and moved the line of scrimmage. You can’t leave out our tight ends. Dane Peterson and Tanner Houck are the two best tight ends in the country. Our run game doesn’t go without those two.”
A Maverick penalty in the end zone resulted in a safety later in the fourth to make the final score 35-20.
With the win, the Wildcats moved to 4-4 on the season, with three games left on the schedule. Forgy said this win gave the Wildcats a lot of confidence.
“This gives us a lot of momentum,” Forgy said. “We take on three South Division teams here [ending the season]. If we can win out, it would be huge.”
The Wildcats go on the road to take on Concordia-St. Paul next Saturday at noon.