Box Score

WAYNE, Neb. – Wayne State used a strong defensive effort and used a long fourth quarter touchdown run to earn a 20-6 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday afternoon.
 
SMSU, which has now lost three straight games, drops to 2-4 overall, 0-2 NSIC South. The Mustangs were limited to 244 yards of offense including 49 yards rushing. SMSU was held without a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 15, 2014.
 
WSC (4-2 overall, 2-0 NSIC South) earned its second straight victory and finished the game with 366 yards of total offense with 219 on the ground.
 
SMSU quarterback Connor Wilkie completed 27 of 47 pass attempts for 211 yards and one interception. Eldridge Joyce caught a team-high eight passes for 42 yards while Nate Huot finished with four receptions for a team-high 59 yards.
 
Ashanti Payne led the SMSU ground game with 31 yards on 12 carries while Max Simmons had 24 yards on 11 attempts.
 
WSC's Rashad Trimble gained a game-high 159 yards rushing on 25 carries which included a 52-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
 
WSC quarterback Zach Osborn, who missed last week's win at Augustana with an injury, played the entire game today and completed 14 of 30 passes for 147 yards with one touchdowns and two interceptions.
 
On the game's opening drive, WSC's Osborn was intercepted by Hunter Cushman, setting up the Mustang offense at their own 42-yard line. SMSU picked up three first downs, moving the ball to the WSC 9-yard line, but was stopped on third-and-three to set up for a field goal attempt. SMSU faked the field goal and SMSU holder Nate Huot was tackled for a loss ending the scoring attempt.
 
WSC took advantage of the stop and moved 74 yards on 11 plays to score the game's first points on an Ethan Knudson 24-yard field goal late in the opening quarter.
 
Wilkie was intercepted on SMSU's next possession at the WSC 25-yard line. The Wildcats marched 67 yards on 11 plays, but again the Mustang defense stiffened and WSC settled for a 25-yard field goal by Knudson early in the second quarter.
 
SMSU cut into the deficit on its final drive of the opening half. Facing third-and-one from the SMSU 44-yard line, Wilkie lofted a perfect pass to Aaron Murphy for a 33-yard gain to the WSC 23-yard line. Skyler Crew would later boot a career-long 37-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the half to make the score 6-3 heading into halftime.
 
SMSU failed to pick up a first down on its first two drives of the second half and WSC was able to take advantage and with a couple of key fourth and third down conversions on its second drive of the half. WSC faced a fourth-and-three from its own 37-yard line and ran a fake punt for a seven-yard rush to pick up the first down. WSC later converted a third-and-eight from the SMSU 12-yard line with a 10-yard completion, before Osborn found Nate Rodgers for a 2-yard touchdown pass to make the score 13-6 with 1:33 left in the third.
 
Following punts by both teams, SMSU was able to crack the scoreboard midway through the fourth quarter. Wilkie completed 10 passes on the ensuing drive including six straight, moving the ball down to the WSC 9-yard line. The Mustangs were not able to punch the ball into the end zone and used a Crew 25-yard field goal to make the score 13-6 with 6:52 left in the fourth.
 
WSC answered in a big way on its next drive to seal the victory as Trimble broke free on a third-and-three rush for a 52-yard touchdown run to make the score 20-6.
 
Alex Ney racked up a game-high nine tackles for the Mustangs with teammates Adam Elliott finishing with eight tackles and Alex Werner with seven tackles. Shaylar Burnell had a third quarter interception for the Mustangs, the first of his career.
 
Southwest Minnesota State continues on the road next Saturday, Oct. 14, facing Augustana University with kickoff set for 1 p.m. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.