WAYNE STATE FOOTBALL WEEKLY GAME NOTES

SAGINAW VALLEY STORYLINES

The Wayne State University football team has won four consecutive games for the second time in the last 10 contests following last Saturday's 24-21 triumph over defending GLIAC Champion Hillsdale at WSU's Adams Field.

This Thursday, the Warriors will play the other conference school to advance to the NCAA playoffs last year in Saginaw Valley.  The Cardinals lost in overtime at Minnesota-Duluth in the opening round of the NCAA post-season, while Wayne State won at UMD in the Super Region #3 championship game on its way to a berth in the national championship game.

The road team has won the last three meetings in this series.  Three of the last four meetings have been decided by eight points or less, with Wayne State's 41-27 victory at SVSU on Oct. 30, 2010, the only non one-score contest recently.

Thursday's contest will be WSU's first non-Saturday game since August 29, 2002, at Northern Iowa, as well as Wayne State's ninth road game in the last 11 matches.

HILLSDALE RECAP

The 19th-ranked Wayne State University football squad extended its winning streak to four games with a 24-21 home field triumph over No. 28 Hillsdale College last Saturday afternoon at Adams Field.

It was WSU's eighth victory in its last 10 games dating back to last year's post-season run by the “Road Warriors.”  The Warriors raced out to a 17-0 lead in the first 18 minutes of the contest and never led by fewer than three points the rest of the way.

Wayne State went 76 yards in eight plays on the opening drive with quarterback Mickey Mohner recording his first rushing touchdown of the season and just his third career scampering two yards for a score on a second-and-goal.  The big play of the drive was a 46-yard completion from Mohner to James Jackson giving WSU a first-and-goal.

Hillsdale drove 59 yards on the ensuing drive, but Gerren DuHart intercepted a third down pass by Charger senior quarterback Anthony Mifsud returning it 82 yards for the 10th longest interception return in school history.  DuHart's touchdown plus Stefan Terleckyj's second PAT in the first eight minutes of the game gave the Warriors a 14-0 lead.

The next three drives of the game ended in punts before Wayne State began a drive at its own 24.  On WSU's first play from scrimmage of the second quarter Desmond Martin went 73 yards down the right side setting up a first-and-goal.  Three plays were not able to generate any positive yardage, but Terleckyj connected on a 25-yard field goal to become the all-time scoring kicker in Warrior history passing David Chudzinski (2005-08), who tallied 206 points.

WSU's next drive ended as the Charger defense stopped a fourth-and-one from the Hillsdale 31.  The HC offense went 69 yards in seven plays with Mifsud scoring on a 27-yard run on a third-and-five play.  The Warriors responded with an 11-play drive, but Toney Davis mishandled a first down handoff in the red zone with Charger Joe Synder recovering at his own 15.

Hillsdale pulled within three points (17-14) with an 85-yard scoring drive garnering four first downs on six plays with Mifsud finding Brett Miller in the back of the end zone for a 33-yard scoring pass in the final minute of the first half.

On HC's second play of the third quarter a bad snap in a shotgun formation was recovered by Andrew Matt, who returned the ball an additional three yards to the Charger 12.     Davis had back-to-back carries going for seven yards on first down, and five yards and a touchdown on the second rushing attempt.  Davis' 38th career rushing touchdown snapped a tie with Ed Skowneski (1972-75) for second place on the WSU career chart.

Hillsdale drove inside the Warrior 40 on the following drive, but a fake punt run by punter Matt Eltringham was stopped one yard short by Nick Thomas.  The next three drive ended in punts, before HC started the final series of the third quarter at its own 30.  After the 11th play of the drive, the Chargers had a first-and-goal at the WSU seven.  Fumbles on consecutive plays followed by an incompletion on third down led to a 27-yard field goal attempt by Colin McGreevy, which was blocked by Andrew Matt.

The next three series ended in punts prior to Hillsdale driving 71 yards in 11 plays with Mifsud scrambling right and scoring from eight yards out with 5:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.  HC converted one third down and one fourth down play on the drive.

The Warrior offense was unable to garner a first down following the kickoff but Terleckyj drilled a 68-yard punt and even though it was a touchback, a holding on Hillsdale backed the Chargers up to their own 10 yard line.

On HC's third play from scrimmage, Mifsud was sacked by Steve O'Shell and Andrew Matt, with Nick Thomas recovering the fumble at the HC 26.  Two running plays and a 10-yard completion from Mohner to Ethan Walsh forced the Chargers to use all their timeouts.  WSU was unable to pick up a yard on fourth down giving Hillsdale the ball at its own 17 with 40 seconds left.

A third down pass by Mifsud was intercepted by Andrew Matt, his first career interception.

IN THE POLLS

Wayne State is 18th in this week's AFCA Division II Coaches Poll. The Warriors were picked to finish second in the GLIAC North Division behind Grand Valley in the 2012 GLIAC preseason coaches poll, while Saginaw Valley was tabbed for fourth in the eight-team North Division.  The Warriors are ranked No. 11 in the nation according to this week's Massey Ratings (masseyratings.com) Poll, while Saginaw Valley is 10th. 

ON THE HEADSET

Head coach Paul Winters, the reigning AFCA National Coach of the Year, is in his ninth season at the helm of the Wayne State football program.  The Warriors are 39-15 over the last four-plus seasons including a 31-14 GLIAC record in that span.

Saginaw Valley's Jim Collins has compiled a 32-18 mark in his fifth year with the Cardinals.

SCOUTING SAGINAW VALLEY

The Cardinals have won three straight since a 29-27 setback at home to Findlay on Sept. 15.

Tim Hogue leads SVSU with 484 rushing yards and six touchdowns.  Quarterback Jonathon Jennings is the second-leading rusher with 174 yards and one score on the ground.  He has completed 150-of-241 passes for 1,923 yards and 17 touchdowns with seven interceptions.

Jeff Janis has 53 receptions for 907 yards (151.2 yards per game) with nine touchdowns.  Four other players have at least 12 receptions each.

Grant Caserta leads the SVSU defense with 67 tackles (22-45).  He also has five tackles for loss, two pass break-ups and an interception.  Will Schwarz has a team-leading three-and-a-half sacks.

ALL-TIME SERIES WITH SAGINAW VALLEY

The road team has won the last three meetings.  Wayne State has a 5-12-1 mark all-time at Wickes Stadium with the 41-27 win in 2010 snapping an eight-game losing skein in University Center by WSU (not including the 2005 forfeit by SVSU).

WDTK, WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS AND COMCAST/XFINITY

All Wayne State football games can be heard on WDTK Radio (1400 AM).  Fans can also listen online at wdtkam.com or watch the home games via Warrior All-Access for a $5.95 fee per game. Sean Baligian and WSU Athletics Hall of Famer Joe Gough will call the action every week, while Lisa Seymour will again handle sideline reporting duties.  Fans can ask questions of Joe during each broadcast via Twitter at #ASKGOUGH.  In addition, every home game will be televised live on Xfinity channel 900.

NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAME THIS THURSDAY

This Thursday's game will be nationally televised by CBS College Sports.  Brad Johansen will serve as the play-by-play announcer while Doug Chapman is the color analyst and Lisa Byington will be the sideline reporter.

UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Davis needs 31 rushing yards to move into third place on the all-time list (Josh Renel is currently third with 2,767 rushing yards).

• Mohner needs two plays of total offense to move into fourth place on the all-time list (Michael Gluski is currently fourth with 948 plays).

• Terleckyj needs 10 points to move into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list (Joe Gough is currently fifth at 218 points).

• Terleckyj needs two made field goals to move into third place on the all-time list (Jerry McGowan is currently third with 28 FGM).

• Junior safety Antwon Robinson needs 32 interception return yards to move into 10th place on the all-time list (Terry Rusin and Mark Makela are currently tied-for-10th with 168 interception return yards).

• Senior cornerback Aaron Cornett needs two passes defended (interceptions + break-ups) to move into a tie for fifth place on the all-time list (Dante Dunn is currently fifth with 29 passes defended).

• The 2012 senior class needs four wins to move into a tie for first place on the all-time list for wins by a class.  The 2012 senior class is 31-12, while the 2011 senior class compiled a 35-14 record.