WAYNE STATE FOOTBALL WEEKLY GAME NOTES

HILLSDALE STORYLINES

The Wayne State University football team, winners of three straight games, will play just its second home game in the last 10 contests this Saturday as the defending GLIAC Champion Hillsdale Chargers visit Adams Field.

The last two matches in this series, both won by the Warriors, have been decided by a total of eight points (WSU 14-9 at home on Oct. 23, 2010; and WSU 27-24 in double overtime at Hillsdale on Oct. 22, 2011).

Two years ago, the squads shared the GLIAC South Division title with Hillsdale earning an NCAA post-season berth.  Last year, WSU qualified for the post-season as the No. 6 seed in Super Region 3, and won four consecutive road games to reach the national championship contest.

NORTHWOOD RECAP

The 18th-ranked Warriors concluded the month of September with a 21-11 triumph at Northwood University last Saturday.

The host Timberwolves took an early 3-0 lead driving 51 yards in 11 plays culminating in a 28-yard field goal by Alex Faust.

The Warriors answered with a five-play, 75-yard drive  to take a 7-3 lead on a three-yard touchdown run by Toney Davis. The big play of the drive was a 51-yard completion from Mickey Mohner to Dominique Maybanks.

Northwood drove into the red zone on the ensuing drive but a field goal was wide right.  Wayne State's field goal attempt on the following drive was ruled wide as well.

The hosts moved the ball down to the WSU eight yard line where Zach Houghton forced a fumble on first-and-goal that was recovered by Andrew Matt.

The next three drives ended in punts.  NU had a second-and-eight from its own 27, when Gerren DuHart stepped in front of the intended receiver for his second career interception.

On a third-and-11 Mohner found Steve Conway behind the NU secondary for a 33-yard scoring toss.  It was Conway's first TD reception as a Warrior and his first collegiate TD catch since playing for Albion on Sept. 27, 2008.

After a WSU punt to start the second half, Northwood drove inside the Warrior 10 but lost six yards on a bad pitch on first down.  On second down, Nores Fradi sacked NU quarterback Aaron Shavers forcing a fumble which he also recovered.

Wayne State engineered a 13-play drive which used 6:08 on the clock and covered 74 yards ending in an 11-yard touchdown scamper by Davis.  With the TD run, Davis moved into second place on the WSU career points chart  with 234 ahead of Pierre Brown's (1998-2001) 230.  Davis also tied Ed Skowneski (1972-75) for second place on the all-time rushing touchdown list with 37.

Stefan Terleckyj's third PAT of the contest put WSU ahead 21-3 with 2:24 left in the third quarter.

After each team punted, Northwood went 74 yards in nine plays with Shavers completing an 11-yard TD pass to Carrington Thompson in the back of the end zone.  Shavers then found Tim Zabawa for the two-point conversion cutting WSU's advantage to 21-11 with 8:00 remaining in the fourth quarter.

  WSU garnered three first downs and used over five minutes on the clock before being forced to punt.  Shavers threw three incompletions on the first three plays then was sacked on fourth down.

WSU tried to run out the clock but a fumble at the Northwood four with 1:24 left gave the hosts the ball.  The Timberwolves picked up two first downs, but two straight incompletions, a run for no yards preceded a sack on fourth down by Moe Davenport.

Davis rushed for a game-high 159 yards on 29 carries with two scores.  Cameron Jackson led NU with 110 yards on 17 attempts.

Mohner completed 9-of-19 passes for 135 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions.  Shavers was 15-of-27 for 146 yards.

Maybanks led WSU with four catches for 75 yards, while Thompson had a game-best five catches for 44 yards.
Junior linebacker Ed Viverette had a game-high 14 tackles including two for loss.

IN THE POLLS

Wayne State is 19th 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 Hillsdale was tabbed for third in the eight-team North Division.  The Warriors are ranked No. 17 in the nation according to this week's Massey Ratings (masseyratings.com) Poll, while Hillsdale is ninth. 

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 38-15 over the last four-plus seasons including a 30-14 GLIAC record in that span.
Hillsdale's Keith Otterbein has compiled a 69-49 mark in his 11th year with the Chargers.

SCOUTING HILLSDALE

The Chargers have won four straight by an average of 30.5 points since a season opening loss, 30-22, at California (Pa).

Joe Glendening leads Hillsdale with 661 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.  Quarterback Anthony Mifsud is the second-leading rusher with 131 yards and three scores on the ground.  He has completed 99-of-145 passes for 1,120 yards and 12 touchdowns with two interceptions.

Cam White and Andrew Mott each have 22 receptions on the year.  White has 267 yards and four TDs with Mott adding 265 yards and three scores.

The HC defense has returned three interceptions for touchdowns this year.

Brett Pasche leads the Hillsdale defense with 44 tackles (17-27), two sacks, two interceptions, and three quarterback hurries.

ALL-TIME SERIES WITH HILLSDALE

Wayne State has won four of the last six meetings, but still trails 15-37-1 in the all-time series.  The Warriors are 8-20-1 at home vs. the Chargers, including the 2004 game at Ford Field.  WSU has won the last three meetings at Adams Field by a combined 27 points (41-26 in 2006; 14-7 in 2008; and 14-9 in 2010).

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.

UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Davis needs 105 rushing yards to move into third place on the all-time list (Josh Renel is currently third with 2,767 rushing yards).

• Davis needs one rushing touchdown to move into sole possession of second place on the career rushing touchdowns list (Davis is currently tied with Ed Skowneski with 37 rushing touchdowns).

• Mohner needs 11 passing attempts to move into first place on the all-time list (Michael Gluski is currently first with 833 passing attempts).

• Mohner needs 24 plays of total offense to move into fourth place on the all-time list (Gluski is currently fourth with 948 plays).

• Terleckyj needs four points to move into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time list (David Chudzinski is currently sixth at 206 points).

• 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 sixth place on the all-time list (Mark Makela is currently tied-for-sixth with Cornett with 26 passes defended).

• The 2012 senior class needs one win to move into sole possession second place on the all-time list for wins by a class.  The 2012 senior class is 30-12; the same record as the 1974-77.

WAYNE STATE WARRIOR MARCHING BAND

Saturday's halftime show pays tribute to Star Trek.