Minnesota State denied Wayne State on two fourth-quarter possessions when the Wildcats had first and goal inside the Maverick five yard line as the Mavericks came away with a 26-21 win over Wayne State in a Northern Sun Conference South Division matchup. Wayne State drops to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in league play.
WSC trailed 19-6 at halftime, but held the Mavericks to just 72 yards in the second half and tied the score at 19-19 early in the fourth quarter. However, Minnesota State’s Kelvin Rodgers returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Mavericks their only score in the second half and then stopped WSC twice inside the Mavericks five yard line in the final 10:00 to preserve a 26-21 win.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Wildcats put together a drive and moved the ball to the MSU five-yard line. Following a bad shotgun snap to Silas Fluellen that he recovered at the Maverick 22-yard line, Fluellen threw a potential game-tying 22-yard scoring pass to Logan Masters that was called back on a holding penalty against the Wildcats. The drive ended when Fluellen was intercepted by Minnesota State’s Steve Robinson at the goal line.
The Wildcats got the ball back with 3:05 left in the game and again moved the ball on the Mavericks as WSC had the ball first and goal at the four-yard line with 1:12 to go. But four straight incomplete passes ended the drive and Minnesota State took over at their own four-yard line.
Wayne State will travel to Marshall, to take on Southwest Minnesota.