Football | 9/24/2015 8:30:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Warrior football team (2-1, 1-1 GLIAC) will hit the road this Saturday looking for their first win away from Tom Adams Field of the season as they travel to Northwood (1-2, 1-1 GLIAC). WSU was 3-2 last season as the visitors. Paul Winters' team has won six of its last seven games dating back to last season's four-game winning streak to end the season. The Timberwolves and Warriors will kickoff at 1 PM from Hantz Stadium. WSU is outscoring its opponents 41-0 in the fourth quarter this season, while the second quarter has been the Warriors' achilles heel thus far, being outscored 44-16.

SCOUTING THE TIMBERWOLVES
Northwood is 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the GLIAC entering Saturday's contest. NU opened the season with a 20-7 home victory over Northern Michigan before back-to-back road defeats at Ferris State (40-3) and McKendree (27-24). Head coach Leonard Haynes is serving as the interim head coach after the passing of longtime coach and administrator Pat Riepma in mid-July. Haynes has been with the program for over 20 years as an assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach. Quarterback Mack Morris is completing 47.5 percent of his passes for 155 yards per game while throwing for three touchdowns. The T-Wolves primarily use two running backs as Luke Shaffer has carried 43 times for 173 yards and a score. Jared Briguglio has 135 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown. Dan Richmond has a team-best seven catches for 118 yards, while Theron Wilson has caught six passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Michael Fisher leads the team with 29 tackles including two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Greg Williams leads NU with two sacks. Northwood has four interceptions as a team.

NU leads the league and ranks fourth in the nation in time of possession (35:09), but does not rank in the top five in any other major statistical category.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Northwood leads the all-time series 18-17 including a 10-8 advantage in Midland. The series began in 1975 and WSU won the first five contests.Coach Winters is 5-5 against NU in his time at WSU. In league games, the series also favors the Timberwolves 17-13. Northwood won 11 straight meetings from 1997 to 2007. Since 2008, the Warriors have taken five of the last six meetings including two Homecoming matchups in 2013 and 2014.

LAST TIME OUT
After the Warriors forced a three-and-out on Malone's first drive of the game, D.J. Zezula connected with Manny Mendoza for a 37-yard touchdown pass to complete a six play, 66-yard drive.  The Wayne State defense remained strong forcing a second consecutive three-and-out.  The WSU offense then marched down the field going 58 yards in 10 plays with Demetrius Stinson scoring on a four-yard scamper.  The Pioneers responded with 21 consecutive points in a span of 6:35 in the second stanza.  Wayne State capitalized on its final drive before halftime with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Zezula to Trent Brodbeck.  On the first drive of the second half for the Warriors, Zezula found a wide-open Brodbeck for a 54-yard touchdown pass.  WSU extended its lead later in the third quarter with a four-yard touchdown run from Romello Brown pushing the Warrior lead to 35-21.  Brown's TD run concluded a 12-play, 66-yard drive in 6:26.  The first turnover came in the third quarter when Dalton Binkowski stripped the ball on a Malone run and the fumble was recovered by Derrick Rodgers.  On the ensuing drive, Brown had a 14-yard touchdown run.  Late in the fourth quarter, Stinson eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark with a 31-yard touchdown run to further increase the lead to 49-21.  The final score was a 27-yard run by Deiontae Nicholas, for his first career touchdown.

Zezula completed 16-of-18 pass attempts for 253 yards and three touchdowns. He also had five rushing attempts for 30 yards to finish with 283 yards of total offense.  Stinson led the team in rushing with 130 yards on 26 attempts along with two touchdowns.  Brodbeck had a game-high in receiving yards with 126 on a career-best tying four receptions plus his second and third career touchdown catches.  Defensively, safety Zak Bielecki led the team with eight total tackles, five solo and three assisted, while linebacker Valorian Cunningham had three tackles for loss.  Linebacker Idris Hobdy contributed three solo tackles including one for loss and two quarterback hurries.  The Warriors had 521 yards in total offense, compared to only 255 total yards for the Pioneers. Wayne State held a 253-112 edge in passing yards after the WSU defense limited Malone to six yards of offense in the second half on 22 plays.

QUICK STARTS
Over the last seven plus years (2008-15), WSU is 25-8 in August and September while never posting losing month during that stretch. WSU is 2-0 in August (wins in 2008 and 2009) and 23-8 in September (4-0 in 2011, 3-1 on five occasions, and 2-2 in 2013). WSU is 16-15 in October (4-1 in 2010, 3-1 in 2008, 3-2 in 2011, 2-2 in 2012, 2-3 in 2009, and 1-3 in both 2013 and 2014) and 9-8 in November (3-0 in 2014, 2-0 in 2010, 3-1 in 2011, 1-1 in 2008, 0-1 in 2009, 0-2 in 2012, and 0-3 in 2013). Additionally, the Warriors are 2-1 in December (all in 2011).

100 GLIAC WINS
Wayne State earned its 100th GLIAC win last Saturday against Malone. WSU was a part of the GLIAC from 1975 until 1989, and currently since 1999.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
WSU has won its last seven games including last Saturday vs. Malone when rushing for over 200 yards. During the past four seasons, the Warriors are 17-4 when accomplishing the feat including an 8-1 mark on the road. The only loss in that span came at Michigan Tech in 2013 (28-21). Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 36-13 under those parameters including a 21-6 mark at home.

OFFENSE GAINING MOMENTUM
The Warriors offense scored touchdowns on six of its last seven possessions against Malone, and TD's on eight of its 11 drives in the contest.  The three non-scoring drives were two three-and-outs, plus a fumble on the 10th play of a second half drive.

TOP TEN SCORING PERFORMANCE
The 56 points scored by the Warriors are tied-for-seventh most in program history and the most since a 69-24 win over visiting Urbana to open the 2011 campaign on Sept. 3 of that year.

SALTY DEFENSE
Wayne State allowed just six yards of total offense to the Pioneers in the second half on 22 plays after surrendering 249 yards on 31 plays in the opening 30 minutes.

SHARP SHOOTER
Freshman quarterback D.J. Zezula's 88.9 completion percentage was the best mark by a WSU signal caller since Mickey Mohner went 17-for-22 on Nov. 12, 2011, in overtime loss to Findlay in the regular-season finale. Zezula's 261.96 passer rating is the best since Carl Roscoe had a 307.5 rating in last year's victory over Walsh.

MATURING QUARTERBACK
Zezula's 253 passing yards are the most since Mohner passed for 291 in the aforementioned Oiler contest.

CAREER DAY FOR BRODBECK
Junior tight end Trent Brodbeck entered last Saturday's game with one career touchdown, but hauled in two TD receptions from Zezula.  Brodbeck equaled a career-best with four catches vs. Malone, while notching a career-high 126 receiving yards.

ANOTHER WEAPON
Sophomore running back Demetrius Stinson recorded his first collegiate 100-yard rushing game with 26 carries for a game-high 130 yards and two touchdowns.  It was the first 100-yard rushing effort by a Warrior this season.

FINISHING STRONG
In the three final quarters this season, D.J. Zezula  is:
- 10-16 passing for 146 yards and 3 TD in 26:33 (team has scored five TD's with him at the helm; other two were rushing).
- He has rushed five times for 33 yards and accounted for 179 yards of total offense.
- WSU has ran 57 plays for 292 yards and collected 17 first downs (9 rush, 7 pass, 1 penalty) and Zezula has accounted for 8 of those first downs (7 pass, 1 rush).

TRUE FRESHMAN SIGNAL CALLER
There have been 10 previous true freshman to see significant playing time at quarterback prior to D.J. Zezula.
1951 - Richard Lisabeth, 15-34, 370 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT, 112.0
1980 - Greg Goldstein, 31-85, 402 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 79.3
1986 - Mike Grennier, 18-52, 246 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT, 65.3
1992 - Anthony Frederick, 10-17, 73 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 83.1
2001 - Randy Hutchison, 30-62, 362 yards, 4 TD, 6 INT, 99.4
2003 - Chad Blair, 18-34, 167 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 98.0
2004 - Nolan Martin, 68-177, 747 yards, 1 TD, 6 INT, 69.0
2006 - Zack George, 18-34, 320 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 141.7
2006 - Trent Pohl, 93-184, 1233 yards, 8 TD, 8 INT, 112.5
2008 - Kevin Smith, 74-159, 805 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT, 100.2
2015 - D.J. Zezula, 37-60, 478 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT, 167.1

- Zezula has the third-most passing TDs by a true freshman QB with seven (Kevin Smith - 9, Trent Pohl - 8).
- He already has the fourth-most passing yards with 478 (Trent Pohl - 1233, Kevin Smith - 805, Nolan Martin - 747).
- He owns the highest passing efficiency rating at 167.1 (2nd - Zack George - 141.7, 3rd - Trent Pohl - 112.5, 4th - Richard Lisabeth - 112.0).

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAYS
The weekly Winters on Wednesday's radio show began its fourth season earlier this month with head coach Paul Winters joining host Rod Beard and co-host Nicole Stoll. The Winters on Wednesday's radio show airs every Wednesday from 7-8 PM on 1400 AM / 92.7 FM and is simulcast on WDTKAM.com.  A new feature this year is that the broadcast will occur live at Tony V's Tavern in downtown Detroit. Fans are encouraged to attend and participate in the exciting event leading up to each game this season. There was not a show on Sept. 16 due to the Presidential debate.

JUCO CAPTAINS
The last three Junior College players to be a captain at WSU prior to Ashawn Butler this season were Daunte Akra in 2010 after playing two years at Grand Rapids CC, Andrew Bates in 2008 after also playing two seasons at GRCC and Craig Duppong in 2003 after playing two years at Joliet JC.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Prior to a scrimmage on August 22, head coach Paul Winters selected his captains for the 2015 season. The 2015 WSU captains are senior quarterback Carl Roscoe, senior safety Zak Bielecki, senior tight end Ethan Walsh and senior defensive end Ashawn Butler. All four are first-year captains. Prior to the announcement of the 2015 captains, nine previous WSU captains spoke about their time in Detroit:  Leit Jones (1967-69), Tom Sheppard (1967-70), Enrico Odorico (1961-63), Ed Skowneski (1972-75), Tom Hurley (1972-75), Dale Dwojakowski (1989-92), Grant Fodor (2003-06), Leo Wells (2002-05), Frank Lietke (2004-07) and Steve Lee (1988-91).

2015 SIGNING CLASS
The 30 NLI signees for 2015 marks the second largest class in Paul Winters 12 years at WSU.  The only larger signing class was in 2012 (31).

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters has become the second-longest tenured football coach in program history this fall with 12 seasons.  He was tied with the founder of WSU athletics David Holmes at 11 seasons (1918-28).  Hall of Fame coach Joseph Gembis holds the WSU record with 14 seasons (1932-45).

STAFF CONTINUITY
The football coaching staff entered the 2015 season with several names that have been with the program for a number of years. Along with Winters entering his 12th season, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Scott Kazmierski is in his 12th season with the Green & Gold. Linebackers coach Keith McKenzie is in his eighth season, offensive line coach Scott Wooster is in his seventh season, defensive coordinator and secondary coach Brad Wilson is in his fourth season and quarterbacks coach Jeff Reardon is in his third season with the Warriors. E.J. Henderson returns to the program after serving three years previously (2004-06).

MODEL OF SUCCESS
Wayne State has compiled at least a .500 season in six of the last seven years combining for a 50-31 mark in that span.  Prior to Coach Winters arrival in 2004, the Tartars/Warriors had 10 consecutive losing seasons on the field and only one winning season on the field in 19 years.

ALL HOME GAMES TELEVISED
All four of Wayne State's remaining home games will be broadcast on Comcast Xfinity Channel 900.  The broadcast team of Joe Abramson, Rod Beard and Kevin Brechmacher will have the call from Tom Adams Field.  Every contest will be shown live plus each game will also be available On-Demand.

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. Former Warrior Ryan Oshnock will serve as the color analyst for three contests.