Wayne State Football Weekly Release

FERRIS STATE STORYLINES

    Wayne State will have a second consecutive home game for the first time in the last 22 contests this Saturday as the Ferris State Bulldogs visit Adams Field.  The Warriors are 3-0 at home this year, after starting last season with a 4-0 mark in Detroit.

    WSU has won all three home games in 2012, by a combined 14 points.

    Saturday's matchup will be the first between the Warriors and the Bulldogs since Wayne State recorded a 45-7 victory on Oct. 17, 2009, at Adams Field.  In that contest, Joique Bell rushed for 263 yards and six touchdowns, while catching two passes for 42 yards.

    That 2009 victory snapped a seven-game losing streak for WSU in home games against FSU.
    
NORTHERN MICHIGAN RECAP

    Last Saturday's Homecoming showdown at Adams Field between Wayne State and Northern Michigan was a tale of two halves that was knotted at 31 with just 2:21 to play.  That was before the Warriors came up with a furious 70-yard drive capped off by a Dominique Maybanks 16-yard end-around that proved to be the final blow that Wayne State would need to earn a 38-31 Homecoming victory.

    Wayne State would score early and often behind runs of three and four yards by Toney Davis and Desmond Martin, respectively. Sandwiched between those scores however were 10 points from the Wildcats, included was a six-yard TD run by Casey Cotta.  The Warriors would take a 21-10 lead into the locker room at the half however as Mickey Mohner found Trent Brodbeck over the middle on a fourth-and-four for a 30-yard strike with 1:06 to go in the second quarter.  It was Brodbeck's first career touchdown.

    Davis and the Warriors opened the third quarter with another three-yard touchdown run to make it 28-10 before the lead swelled to 31-10 on a 27-yard field goal by Stefan Terleckyj.  Things appeared to be rolling towards an easy eighth consecutive Homecoming win for the home team.

    Northern would gain some momentum at the end of the third quarter on another Cotta touchdown run, this one coming from three yards out with eight seconds to play in the stanza. Mohner had two balls intercepted in the fourth quarter which Northern converted into seven points thanks to an eight-yard quarterback keeper by Cody Scepaniak.  The WSU defense forced a three-and-out following second the Warrior miscue.

    Following a Wayne State punt, the Wildcats moved across midfield, where Aaron Cornett returned a third-and-10 pass from Scepaniak for a TD, however the officials ruled a roughing the passer penalty on WSU that was clearly not the case on television replay.  The pick six would have put the Warriors ahead 38-24.  NMU took advantage of the gift three plays later with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Scepaniak to Christian Jessie with 2:21 to play.

    The Warriors started at their own 30 yard line needing a score to salvage a home victory.  On the first play of the drive Mohner found Brodbeck for 18 yards over the middle, his only other catch of the game.  Davis picked up six yards on the next play before Mohner found Steve Conway moving towards the right sideline.  Conway elevated for the ball and was greeted by a Brandon Parson helmet to the head hit as he held on to the ball despite a dislodged helmet.

    The hit cost NMU 15 more yards on the personal foul flag giving WSU a first down at the 16-yard line.  The very next snap Mohner faked a Davis run left before handing the ball to Maybanks going right, the wide-out broke a few arm tackles on his way to the end zone giving the lead back to Wayne State. It would prove to be Maybanks second game winning score of the year (Lake Erie).

     The Wildcats would move the ball 48 yards on the ensuing drive before Scepaniak's desperation throw with three seconds left on the clock was intercepted by Mazen Jaddou in the end zone sealing the Homecoming victory for the Warriors.

IN THE POLLS

    Wayne State is 27th 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 Ferris State was tabbed for sixth in the eight-team North Division.  The Warriors are ranked No. 18 in the nation according to this week's Massey Ratings (masseyratings.com) Poll.  Ferris State moved up seven spots in the Massey Ratings from 20th to 13th after last week's win over Michigan Tech.

   The NCAA Division II Football Selection committee released its first regional rankings of 2012 earlier this week and Wayne State is ninth in Super Region 4.  Click here for NCAA release.  WSU defeated sixth-ranked Hillsdale, while both Warrior setbacks are to teams regionall ranked in Ashland (#2) and Saginaw Valley (#7).

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 40-16 over the last four-plus seasons including a 32-15 GLIAC record in that span.

    Ferris State's Tony Annese has compiled a 5-3 mark in his first year as a head coach at a four-year school.  He previously served as the head coach at Grand Rapids Community College.

SCOUTING FERRIS STATE

    The Bulldogs have scored at least 20 points in every game this year, but have held opponents below 20 only once.

    Quarterback Jason Vander Laan leads FSU in rushing with 894 yards and 12 touchdowns, and has passed for 1,070 yards on 87-of-151 with seven touchdowns to six interceptions.  Sklyer Stoker has rushed for 469 yards and five scores.

    Jake Lampman has a team-best 29 receptions for 541 yards, along with a team-high four touchdown catches.

    Tayo Moss leads the Bulldog defense with 86 tackles (34-52), which includes 5.5 tackles for loss, and two fumble recoveries.

ALL-TIME SERIES WITH FERRIS STATE

    Wayne State has won the last two meetings to pull within 22-24 in the all-time series.  In a series that began in 1920, Detroit Junior College won the first four meetings and WSU held a 13-5 lead through 1979.  Ferris State won 19 of the next 26 meetings prior to the recent win streak by the Warriors.

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.

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAYS

    Join head coach Paul Winters and host Rod Beard every Wednesday from 7-8 pm on 1400 AM for an hour of Warrior football.  The radio show will also be streamed online at wdtkam.com.  Lisa Seymour will be filling in for Rod this Wednesday (Oct. 24).

UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Davis needs four rushing yards to become the third player in school history with 3,000 career rushing yards.

• Davis needs 10 rushing attempts to move into fourth place on the all-time list (Steve Lee is currently fourth with 626 carries).

• Mohner needs 27 plays of total offense to move into second place on the all-time list (Ed Skowneski is currently second with 1,036 plays).

• Mohner needs 74 yards of total offense to move into first place on the all-time list (Joique Bell is currently first with 7,008 yards).

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

• Terleckyj needs five points to move into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time list (Skowneski is currently fourth at 222 points).

• Terleckyj needs one made field goal to move into sole possession of third place on the all-time list (he is currently tied with Jerry McGowan with 28 made field goals).

• 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 one pass defended (interceptions + break-ups) to move into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list (Cornett is currently tied with Dante Dunn for fifth place with 29 passes defended).

• The 2012 senior class needs three wins to move into a tie for first place on the all-time list for wins by a class.  The 2012 senior class is 32-13, while the 2011 senior class compiled a 35-14 record.

WAYNE STATE WARRIOR MARCHING BAND

    Saturday's halftime show pays tribute to Little Shop of Horrors.