WAYNE, Neb. – The Southwest Minnesota State football team had a pair of chances to score late and earn a big upset victory, but Wayne State made a pair of big defensive stops to earn a 20-14 victory in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
 
WSC, which suffered a final-minute loss at Augustana last week, improves to 6-2 overall, 2-2 NSIC South. SMSU suffered its third straight loss and is now 4-4 overall, 1-3 NSIC South.
 
SMSU recovered a fumble at the WSC 29-yard line with 2:31 remaining in the game but WSC stuffed SMSU on fourth-and-one at the 20-yard line with 1:07 left in the game.
 
The SMSU defense would force a three-and-out to give the Mustang offense one more chance starting at their own 35-yard line with 41 seconds left, but an interception by WSC's Alex Kowalczyk on the first play from scrimmage sealed the Wildcat victory.
 
SMSU's Jesse Sherwood rushed for a game-high 169 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries, while Donald Austin added 37 yards on seven attempts.
 
Mustang quarterback Marcus Martin completed 9 of 18 pass attempts for 100 yards and two interceptions. Peter Osman caught two passes for 47 yards with teammate Eric Lira collecting two receptions for 24 yards.
 
Josiah Hedensten racked up a career-high 12 tackles (9 solo), including a strip sack in the fourth quarter, while Onte Burns also had a big game with 10 tackles and five solo stops.
 
WSC closed the game with 22 first downs and 335 yards of offense, while SMSU ended with 16 first downs and 277 yards.
 
Wildcat quarterback Nick Bohn rushed for a team-high 38 yards and one touchdown on 18 attempts, while completing 15 of 23 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown. Ashten Schmaderer caught a game-high five passes for 50 yards.
 
WSC was forced to punt on its first two possessions of the game, but broke free to score the game's first points on its third drive of the game. The Wildcats would move 82 yards on 13 plays capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Bohn on fourth-and-goal on the second play of the second quarter.
 
WSC nearly added to the lead on its next drive but this time the SMSU held on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line stopping Bohn short of the goal line to keep the deficit at 7-0.
 
The SMSU offense came up just inches short of a first down on its ensuing drive and was forced to punt. WSC took over at the SMSU 38-yard line and just one play later Bohn lofted a 38-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Marshall to push the lead to 14-0.
 
SMSU answered in a big way on its next possession with a touchdown drive to cut the WSC lead in half heading into the halftime break. Sherwood had a pair of big runs, while Martin connected on a 9-yard pass to Lira to move the ball into WSC territory for the first time in the game. The biggest play of the drive would have Martin connecting on a 41-yard pass to Osman down to the 1-yard line. Moments later, Martin sprinted around the right side for a 2-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-7 and cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
 
WSC ran 38 plays for 222 yards in the opening half, while SMSU had 27 plays for 129 yards.
 
WSC added to the margin on its first drive of the second half with Alex Powders connecting on a 27-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to make the score 17-7.
 
SMSU looked to be putting together a scoring just minutes later with a first down at the WSC 35-yard line. However, a high snap on first down cost SMSU 25 yards and would force the Mustangs to punt three plays later.
 
WSC made the score 20-7 on the second play of the fourth quarter as Powders drilled a 35-yard field goal.
 
The Mustang wouldn't go away with Martin completing a 13-yard pass to Lira on third-and-12 to keep the ensuing drive alive, before Sherwood broke free three plays later on a 56-yard touchdown to cut the WSC advantage to 20-14 with 11:13 remaining in the fourth.
 
The teams would trade punts, before WSC faced third and seven from its own 40-yard. Hedensten was able to break free and strip-sack Bohn with Mark Person recovering the ball at the WSC 29-yard line.
 
SMSU returns home on Saturday, Oct. 29, taking on North Division foe Bemidji State University with game time set for 1 p.m.