Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State University scored its opening drive of the day, but were unable to overcome three costly first-quarter interceptions in a 37-10 loss to the visiting Wayne State Wildcats Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football action.
 
The loss drops the Wolves to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in league play, while WSC – which is receiving votes in the latest AFCA national poll after knocking off top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth last weekend – runs its record to 3-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the conference.
 
NSU held the Wildcats to a 3-and-out situation on the opening drive of the day, then took advantage of excellent field position after a five-yard Wayne State punt set them up at inside Wayne State territory.  The Wolves needed just six plays to cover the distance, scoring on a four-yard Mike Bogdanovich plunge.  The score marked the first career touchdown for Bogdanovich, a returning Second Team All-NSIC North Division linebacker for the Wolves.
 
Wayne State was again forced to punt on their next possession, but got a big boost from its special teams play when a bad snap on an NSU punt attempt came loose in the end zone.  The Wildcats recovered the ball for a touchdown, but failed to even the score on a missed extra point attempt.
 
A second bad snap later in the quarter set the Wildcats up deep in NSU territory to set up the second WSC touchdown.  This time the extra point was good to give the Wildcats their first lead of the day at 13-7.
 
WSC took advantage of a third NSU turnover – again deep in Wolves territory – late in the quarter and scored on the fourth play of the second stanza to go up 20-7 and never looked back.  The Wildcats scored once more in the first half, added a touchdown in the third quarter and a field goal in the fourth to cap their day.
 
NSU was held to just 226 yards of total offense, 128 of which came through the air.  Senior Nick Wanner was 6 of 16 passing for 41 yards.  Redshirt freshman Jarod Jacobson came on in the fourth quarter, going 7-for-16 for 87 yards, but was picked off twice.
 
Junior running back Kristin James carried the load on the ground for the Wolves with 17 carries for 76 yards.  He also had two catches for 16 yards.  Junior Mark Hanley led the receiving corps with three catches for 59 yards, including a 32-yarder from Jacobson in the late going.
 
Wayne State's Nick Pulscher carried the ball 20 times for 108 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats, who had 298 yards of total offense.  Nate Most went 13-for-22 through the air for 151 yards and three touchdowns.  Two of those went to Sam Blake, who had just the two catches for 20 yards.
 
The Wolves return to the road next weekend to face St. Cloud State in another battle against a ranked opponent.  The Huskies were ranked 18^th in the latest AFCA poll, and are coming off a 45-24 win over U-Mary on Saturday.