No. 25 Wayne State forced seven turnovers and used numerous big plays, including a pair of first-half interception returns for touchdowns, as the Wildcats dominated Sioux Falls 62-14 in Northern Sun Conference South Division football played Saturday afternoon at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne. It was the Wildcats' first win over Sioux Falls at home in seven tries and gives the Wildcats records of 8-2 overall, 7-2 in the NSIC and 4-1 in the NSIC South, while the Cougars fall to 6-4, 6-3 in league play and 2-3 in NSIC South Division games.
The Wildcats used numerous big plays on both sides of the ball to set the tone in the contest. Just 1:20 into the game, junior quarterback Brady McGill found a wide open Keaten Bonderson on a 67-yard scoring play, putting the Wildcats in front 7-0.
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Just over four minutes later, the Wildcat defense came up with the first of several big plays as senior defensive back Mitchell Andersen intercepted USF quarterback Tate Schafer and sprinted 35 yards for the score, putting Wayne State ahead 14-0.
Sioux Falls got on the scoreboard on the next series as Schafer found Hank Brown Jr. on a nine-yard strike, cutting the Wildcat lead to 14-7. But it only took Wayne State 52 seconds to respond as junior Brennan Hayes sprinted 72 yards for a score, and Wayne State held a 21-7 lead after one quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, fifth-year runner Dawson Forgy rambled 55 yards to the end zone and Wayne State grabbed a 28-7 lead. Just seven seconds later, senior Brayden Chaney stepped in front of a Tate Schafer pass and raced 27 yards to the end zone for the second pick-six of the first half, giving Wayne State a commanding 35-7 lead.
The Wildcats added one more score to close the first half as Forgy found paydirt for a second time on a 10-yard run with 59 seconds left in the half, and Wayne State held a 42-7 lead at intermission.
Wayne State added two more scores in the third quarter as McGill scored on a three-yard plunge and, late in the quarter, fired a 57-yard pass to tight end Tanner Houck with 23 seconds on the clock, making the score 56-7.
Sioux Falls scored again at the 12:41 mark of the fourth quarter when Schafer threw a 48-yard pass to Blake Stahl, making the score 56-14.
Wayne State capped the scoring as running back Akeem Knox hauled in a nine-yard pass from backup quarterback Braylon Anderson to make the final score 62-14.
Wayne State ended the game with 508 yards of total offense compared to 387 for Sioux Falls. The Wildcats had 297 yards on the ground and 211 passing, while the Cougars had 126 rushing and 261 passing.
Forgy gained 129 yards on 18 carries and had two touchdowns, tying the school record for rushing touchdowns held by Lamont Rainey (36 from 1991-94). Forgy also became the fifth player in school history to surpass 3,000 yards rushing and is now fourth on the all-time list at Wayne State with 3,127 yards. Hayes was right behind with 117 yards on 11 carries and one score.
McGill completed just 6 of 9 passes for 190 yards and two scores, while Anderson was 2 of 2 for 21 yards and one score. Bonderson hauled in three receptions for 119 yards and one touchdown for the Wildcats.
Defensively, Mitchell Andersen, Kaden Johnson and Dayne Mauk each had six tackles for the Wildcats. Andersen had a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown, while Johnson added a 25-yard interception return plus a fumble recovery.
Forgy was named Egg Bowl Most Valuable Player for Wayne State, while the Egg Bowl MVP for Sioux Falls was safety Garret Hoffman, who had a game-high nine tackles.
Wayne State closes the regular season schedule next Saturday on the road with an NSIC South Division contest at No. 22 Augustana with kickoff set for 1 p.m. in a winner-take-all contest for the NSIC South Division title.
