Football | 11/13/2014 8:15:00 AM

DETROIT --  Saturday will be the final contest for 15 seniors and they have a chance to help the Wayne State University football team (6-4, 5-4 GLIAC) secure a seven-win season. A 7-4 mark would be the best finish since the National Championship appearance in 2011 when the Warriors finished 12-4.

ON THE AIR
Sean Baligian (play-by-play) and former WSU football running back Josh Renel (color analyst) will call the action this Saturday on WDTK The Patriot 1400 AM/92.7 FM Radio.  Fans can also check out the live simulcast on wdtkam.com.  Jenn Goethel serves as the sideline reporter for home games only.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 38-16-1 in the all-time series which began in 1926.  The Warriors had won three straight until last year's 35-16 setback in Hillsdale.  WSU is 10-18-1 all-time at home including the 2004 meeting at Ford Field.  Wayne State has won the last four series meetings at Adams Field.

MILESTONE WATCH
- Desmond Martin needs 92 rushing yards to move into third place on the single-season charts ahead of Hall of Fame inductee Joe Gough who gained 1,593 yards in 1994.

- Michael Johnson needs 95 receiving yards to have the fourth highest single season receiving yards mark.

- Paul Graham has tied the single-season mark of 14 made field goals set by David Chudzinski in 2006.

QUICK HITS
- The 142 points scored in the last three games is the most since the first three games of the 2011 campaign when the national runners-up totaled 151 points (69 on Urbana, 55 vs. Tiffin and 27 against #10-Mich. Tech).

- WSU will look to have its first undefeated November since 2010, and its first undefeated month since going 4-0 in September of 2011.

- Nores Fradi had 2.5 tackles for loss last week to further increase his WSU single-season record to 25.5.  Fradi's 48.5 (41-15) career tackles for loss rank second in school history behind Leo Wells' mark of 53.0 (44-18) set from 2002-05.  Fradi also holds the quarterback hurry school mark since that record started being kept.

HILLSDALE STORYLINES
WSU has won three straight for the second time this season and will look to finish 2014 with a four-game winning streak.  Wayne State last concluded a season with a four-game winning streak in 2010 unless you count 2011 when the Warriors won four consecutive road playoff games to reach the national championship contest.  WSU has won its last three home games vs. the Chargers by a combined 15 points (24-21, 14-9 and 14-7).  In each of the last two meetings in Detroit, the Warriors had a "pick six" with Gerren DuHart going 82 yards in 2012 and Jeremy Jones returning an interception 100+ yards in 2010.

LAKE ERIE RECAP
The Warriors scored 21 points in the fourth quarter at Lake Erie (4-6 overall, 3-6 GLIAC) to pull away for the 47-28 victory.  With the win last Saturday at Lake Erie, WSU has assured its sixth .500 or better record in the last seven seasons. 

In a battle of two of the more prolific offenses of late in the GLIAC, it was the Warrior defense that made plays and held the Storm offense 175 yards below their season average.  Meanwhile, the Green & Gold offense set a season-best with 574 yards including 349 on the ground.

Desmond Martin ran for a career-high 292 yards and scored three touchdowns on 39 carries to lead WSU while backup quarterback Sean Guinane was 15-for-25 for a career-best 225 yards and a touchdown in just his fourth career start with the Warriors.  Michael Johnson collected his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season with nine grabs for 105 yards and a touchdown.  Jamel Hicks posted his first career 100-yard game with four catches for 100 yards and a score.

Paul Graham stayed perfect on field goal attempts this season going 2-for-2 on the day from 19 and 20 yards.  Zak Bielecki led the defense with 12 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss (one sack) and an interception return for 22 yards.  Nores Fradi continued his solid season with 11 tackles including 2.5 tackles for loss.

WSU started the scoring onslaught just 2:11 into the contest on a 53-yard jaunt by Martin.  After a three-and-out by Lake Erie, the Warriors drove 80 yards and on play 13 Graham converted his first field goal of the afternoon.  Wayne State led 10-0 after the opening stanza and held a 192-38 edge in total offense.

The Storm ended the next WSU drive with an interception near the goal line and scored five plays later as the GLIAC's leading rusher Anthony Bilal went in from 38 yards out.  Bilal led LEC with 145 rushing yards, more than 40 yards below his per game average.

The Warriors responded with a eight play drive that only needed 37 yards following a 15-yard penalty on the Storm during the kickoff.  The Guinane to Hicks combo recorded the touchdown on a third-and-six pass completion.  Lake Erie pulled within three (17-14) on the strength of a 17-play, 70-yard drive culminating in a three-yard scoring run by Bilal.

On the last possession of the first half, Guinane engineered a 61-yard drive in 2:54 concluding with a 20-yard field goal by Graham.  Bielecki ended the first drive after intermission by picking off Storm quarterback Mitchel Hokavar and returning it 22 yards.   The first seven drives of the second half (4 by LEC, 3 by WSU) combined did not produce a first down by running or passing.

Finally on drive eight of the third quarter, the Warriors went 81 yards in only five plays.  Martin had a two-yard TD run, on the play following a 57-yard scamper to increase Wayne State's lead to 26-14.  Lake Erie cut its deficit to five (26-21) as Bilal scored on a 12-yard run late in the third quarter.  The Warriors restored their 12-point margin (33-21) on a seven-play drive with Martin scoring on a eight-yard run.

Once again the Storm were able to chip away at the WSU advantage as Hokavar tossed a 32-yard TD pass to Zaide Whitley on the play following a fourth down scramble by Hokavar.  Despite leading by just five points on the road with 10:35 remaining in the contest, the Wayne State offense answered with an 83-yard touchdown drive in only six plays.  Martin gained 47 yards on the first three plays, before Jay Hayes totaled 36 yards on the next three plays which included a 25-yard touchdown run.

The Warrior defense forced an incompletion on fourth down and WSU took advantage of great field position scoring from 34 yards out in only four plays to complete the scoring.  The final TD play was a 25-yard pass play from Guinane to Johnson on fourth-and-one.

SCOUTING HILLSDALE
The Chargers have won two straight (24-17 vs. Saginaw Valley and 24-14 against Northwood), both at home, ending a five game losing skein.  Hillsdale is 1-4 on the road this season with that victory coming in week two at Lake Erie by a 48-41 score.

Sophomore Mark Laprairie and junior C.J. Misfud have shared quarterback duties of late.  Laprairie has completed just under 50 percent (144-289) of his passes for 1,798 yards and seven touchdowns with nine interceptions.  Meanwhile Misfud is 32-of-52 for 313 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Sophomore Bennett Lewis leads HC with 563 rushing yards on 135 attempts with six touchdowns.  His long run of the season is 31 yards.  Classmate Jack Wiseman has rushed 95 times for 412 yards and six scores.  Junior Wade Wood has gained 343 yards on 73 attempts with three touchdowns.

Senior Evan Bach has a squad-best 32 receptions for 384 yards, but junior John Haley is the big play receiver with 31 catches for 639 yards (20.6 ypc) with five touchdowns.  Three other Chargers have at least 20 receptions (Alex Fogt, Taylor Cone and Joe Srebernak).  Srebernak is the younger brother of former WSU women's basketball student-athlete Chloe Srebernak.

Sophomore Steven Mette is 11-of-15 on field goals with a long of 38 yards, and has made 26-of-27 extra point tries to lead Hillsdale in scoring with 59 points.  Senior punter Matt Eltringham has 17 inside the 20 with a 36.8 average.

Junior Todd Frickey has 17 kickoff returns along with a team-long of 33 yards.  Lewis leads the squad in kickoff return average at 21.5 yards per return.  Freshman Zach Hill has seven punt returns.

Senior safety Tim Moinet leads the Chargers with 77 tackles (48-29) and three interceptions.  Justin D'Agostino, a junior linebacker, had 65 tackles (21-44), while senior cornerback Daniel Pittman has made 63 stops (45-18) along with eight passes defended (six break-ups + two interceptions).  Defensive lineman Zach Swaffer and David Galginaitis are tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks with Galginaitis having a team-best eight tackles for loss.  Swaffer has not played in the last two contests for Hillsdale.

ON THE HEADSET
Paul Winters is in his 11th season as the head coach of the Warriors.  He has a 62-60 record at Wayne State and has equaled the second-place mark of 11 coaching seasons with the legendary David Holmes (1918-28) this fall.  Joseph Gembis holds the WSU mark with 14 seasons (1932-45). Keith Otterbein has compiled a 81-64 record in his 13th season as head coach at Hillsdale.  His 22-year coaching mark is 140-104-3, which includes nine years at Ferris State (1986-94).

IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was predicted to finish sixth out of eight teams in the 2014 GLIAC Preseason Coaches North Division Poll.  One of Wayne State's 2014 opponents are ranked inside the top 25 this week as Michigan Tech remained No. 20 in the poll after a win.  Other GLIAC teams to receive votes in this week's AFCA poll were Ferris State (4th), Ohio Dominican (11th), and Ashland (26th).

NATIONAL STATISTICS
The Warriors are sixth nationally in fewest penalties per game (4.40) and 12th in fewest penalty yards per game (42.6).  WSU leads the GLIAC and is 12th nationally with 13 fumble recoveries, and ranks eighth in Division II in tackles for loss per game (9.3).  Wayne State leads the GLIAC in sacks (2.8 per game), which ranks 32nd nationally.  Offensively, Wayne State is second in red zone offense (92.1%), 13th nationally in fewest sacks allowed (1.00 per game), 14th in passing yards per completion (15.10), 21st in fewest tackles for loss allowed (5.1 per game), 26th in third-down conversion pct. (.463), and 29th in rushing offense (220.5 ypg).  In terms of special teams, WSU is 23rd in the nation with two blocked punts and 36th in kickoff return defense (18.00 ypr).

Paul Graham is still perfect in field goal percentage, the only qualifier in Division II, and ranks 15th in field goals made per game (1.4).  Marcell Jones is fifth nationally in fumble recoveries (3), while Carl Roscoe is also fourth in passing yards per completion (16.08).  Michael Johnson is 14th in receiving touchdowns (10) with Desmond Martin ranking eighth in rushing touchdowns (16).  Johnson is 34th in receiving yards (859), while Martin is sixth in rushing yards (1,498), 13th in all-purpose yards per game (163.8) and 18th in scoring (9.6 points per game).  Nores Fradi is tied-for-first in tackles for loss per game (2.6), eighth in solo tackles per game (6.9), and 27th in forced fumbles (0.3), while Zak Bielecki is 11th in solo tackles per game (6.4).

COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
During the Michigan Tech game on Sept. 4th, nine Warriors made their collegiate debuts:  Ron Brant, Dustin Carlin, Jake Carrizales, DeAndre Grady, Paul Graham, James Howard, Blake Mazur, Tommy Richardson and Andy Zimmerman.  Another three made their WSU debuts in the MTU contest:  Rabeah Beydoun, Ashawn Butler, and Garrett Wiska.  Making their collegiate debut during the Carson-Newman game were Jamel Hicks, Brook Higgins, Manny Mendoza and Alex Ziedas.  Making their collegiate debut at Malone were Romello Brown.  Making their WSU debut during the Northwood game were Derrick Rodgers and Sam Tate.

WARRIORS NAME CAPTAINS FOR 2014 SEASON
Wayne State University head football coach Paul Winters, who is in his 11th season at the helm of the Warriors, announced his 2014 captains during a special "Captains Presentation" prior to the scrimmage on August 23rd.

The 2014 WSU captains will be senior center Thom Box, senior cornerback Gerren DuHart, senior linebacker Nores Fradi, senior running back Desmond Martin and senior left tackle Ben Walker.

Box was in his second year as a captain while the other four are first-year captains.  Senior Marcell Jones served as WSU's fourth captain for the Northern Michigan, Walsh and Lake Erie games as both Box and Walker did not dress due to injuries.

Prior to the announcement of the 2014 captains, nine previous WSU captains spoke about their time in Detroit:  Jeff Bero (1985-88), Dale Dwojakowski (1989-92), Michael Hall (2002-05), Huston Julian (1997-2000), Steve Lee (1988-91), Josh Renel (2008-11), Donald Urban (1962-64), Ed Viverette (2010-13) and Leo Wells (2002-05).

ALL SIX HOME GAMES TELEVISED
All six of Wayne State's home games will be broadcast on Comcast Xfinity Channel 900.  The broadcast team of Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will have the call from Tom Adams Field.  Every league contest will be shown live plus on a tape-delayed basis at noon on Sundays, 8 pm on Wednesdays and 9 am on Thursdays.  The post-game report from each contest will also be available On-Demand.

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAYS
The weekly Winters on Wednesdays radio show began its third season on Sept. 3 with head coach Paul Winters joining host Rod Beard, and co-host Ashley Raymond in the studio.  The Winters on Wednesdays radio show airs every Wednesday from 7-8 pm on Newstalk 1400 AM (and 92.7 FM) and is simulcast on wdtkam.com.

WDTK AND WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
All Wayne State football games can be heard on WDTK Radio (1400 AM/92.7 FM).  Fans can listen to the games online at wdtkam.com or watch the home games via Warrior All-Access for a $5.95 per game fee.  Sean Baligian and former WSU running back Josh Renel will call the action from the broadcast booth, while Jenn Goethel will handle the sideline reporting for each home contest.  WSU Athletic of Hall of Fame inductee and former running back Joe Gough will handle the color analyst duties for the game at Northern Michigan this Saturday.