Football 9/11/2024 4:53:00 PM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Football Hosts Findlay For Home Opener This Saturday

Warriors and Oilers renew old rivalry.

GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University football squad looks to bounce back after a week one loss. The Warriors will face the Findlay Oilers in the home opener of the 2024 season. This year's match-up will be the 24th all-time meeting between the Warriors and the Oilers, and the first since Findlay left the GLIAC.

The Green and Gold aim to make it three straight years claiming victory in the home opener after defeating Shaw 30-22 in 2022, and Missouri S&T 31-24 a year ago.

SCOUTING FINDLAY
The Oilers enter week two 1-0 after winning at Truman State 37-21. This win broke a three-year streak of week one losses for UF.

Findlay is led by Kory Allen, who has been at the helm since 2022. Prior to being named head coach, Allen served as the team's offensive coordinator, and has been on staff for 19 seasons.

After spending four years with Boston College, Matthew Rueve has taken over as the signal caller for the Oilers. Rueve's first collegiate start came last week in 37-21 a victory at Truman State. Against The Bulldogs, Rueve completed 21-of-35 pass attempts for 318 yards and two scores.

Cam Childers is the top returning pass catcher from 2023. The All-G-MAC selection caught 38 passes for 531 yards in 2023 and crossed the goal line four times. The graduate senior appears to be poised for another strong campaign, as he hauled in seven passes for 150 yards in week one.

Despite losing five-time All-G-MAC tailback Brian Benson, the Oilers ground attack did not lose a step as senior Jayden Farmer ran the ball 18 times for 82 yards and a score in week one. Although he only appeared in two games last year, Farmer possesses a lot of experience, as prior to the 2024 season, the back had rushed 92 times for 420 yards in his career.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Findlay holds a 12-11 lead in the all-time series, but Wayne State has claimed eight of the last 10 match-ups. The most recent meeting came in 2016, which saw the Warriors come out victorious, winning 37-21 in Ohio. The Warriors prevailed in the first meeting, defeating the Oilers 28-0 in 1923 when WSU was Detroit Junior College.

While WSU has had success in their past 10 contests, both losses came at Tom Adams Field in overtime. The Warriors are 5-6 all-time when hosting the Oilers.

EARLY SEASON SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2008 season, WSU has a 35-31 record for games played in August and September. The Warriors are 32-34 in October during that same time period, 15-19 in November and 2-1 in December.

GLIAC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
1. Ferris State (46 points, four first-place votes)
2. Grand Valley State (44 points, three first-place vote)
3. Davenport (38 points, one first-place vote)
4. Saginaw Valley State (30 points)
5. Michigan Tech (26 points)
6. Wayne State (20 points)
7. Northern Michigan (13 points)
8. Roosevelt (7 Points)

WARRIOR DEBUTS
Of the 69 players who traveled to Tiffin for the season-opener, 56 saw game action. Ten (10) Warriors made their collegiate debut in the contest vs. the Dragons (Jobe Benschoter, Amarion Brownlee, Kejuan Houston, Jordan Hutchinson, Kristian Kilpatrick, Jayden Lewin, Roshuan McGee, Raymond Payne, Jasir Rahaman, and Richardo Wourman). In addition, another 11 Warriors made their WSU debut (Jaylon Banks, Mekhi Battle, Kaleb Coleman, Champion Edwards, Will Fennema, Shamilyn Joppy, Jordan Lewis, Myles McKatherine, Lester McManaway, Jonathan Tillman, and Justyz Tuggle).

VETERAN OFFENSIVE LINE CONTINGENT
Arguably the most experienced position group for the Warriors in 2024 will be the offensive line with two returning starters in redshirt junior Aidan Tweedy (13 career starts, including the last 12 games at center) and redshirt senior Charles Wesley (16 career starts from three different spots). Another five student-athletes who have started games also return in redshirt sophomore Tomi Bisiriyu (three starts at left tackle); redshirt sophomore Will Edwards (three starts at right guard); redshirt sophomore Ethan Gates (one start at right tackle); redshirt junior Owen Salingue (two career starts); and redshirt senior Tyler Schompert (13 career starts).

Tweedy was a Second Team All-GLIAC selection in 2023 and was very durable as he saw action on every offensive play in eight games a season ago. Wesley was named WSU's Offensive Most Valuable Player last fall, while earning Honorable Mention All-GLIAC recognition. He is WSU's nominee for the AFCA Good Works Team (based on community service) this fall.

The five additional offensive linemen that have started boosted the number of career starts for this group to 51. Schompert is the most veteran of this group with action in 20 contests and starting at both left tackle (nine times) and left guard (three). Salingue enters his fourth year in the program, while Bisiriyu, Edwards and Gates all begin their third year with the Warriors.

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
After a 2023 season that saw Wayne State play the toughest schedule in Division II, according to the NCAA, the Warriors will face another challenging task in 2024. Of the 11 teams that the Warriors will compete against this fall, 10 finished the 2023 season at or above .500. In all, WSU's opponents had a combined record of 80-41 (.661).

Wayne state will cross paths with three teams that appear on the preseason top 25 poll, those being Ferris State (No. 3), Grand Valley State (No. 4), and Indianapolis (No. 16). The Warriors will also face three teams that have been pegged to win their conferences, the aforementioned Indianapolis and Ferris State of the GLVC and GLIAC respectively, along with Findlay representing the G-MAC.

LETTERWINNERS RETURNING
Wayne State has just 30 returning letterwinners from 2023 (including 2022 if missed all of last year due to injury). As mentioned previously, place-kicker Griffin Milovanski is the lone three-year WSU letterwinner on the squad. There are nine two-year letterwinners and 20 student-athletes with one letter for the Warriors.

A FAMILY AFFAIR
WSU currently has three sets of brothers:
Champion and Max Edwards
Devon and Donovan Isaac
Shamarr and Shamilyn Joppy

Plus there are four younger brothers of former Warriors in Ben Griskie (older brother Jackson was a kicker), Aaron Mass (older brother Jacob was also a defensive end), Gabe Mendoza (older brother Manny was a wide receiver), and Mekhi Battle (older brother Tiroca was also on the defensive line).

Jeremiah Sterling and Jordan Bell are cousins as Jordan's dad Joique and Jeremiah's mother Ambie are brother-sister.

Redshirt freshman wide receiver Tyler Swick is the younger brother of defensive graduate assistant coach Trey Swick.

PUNTING AWAY
Graduate student punter Jeremy Taras is currently fifth in program history in punting average (38.75 / min. 26 punts) after a solid 2023 campaign in which he averaged 38.1 yards per punt on 47 attempts. He had five punts over 50 yards and eight Inside the 20 with 11 being fair caught.

Taras' performance at Tiffin ranks as the second-best single game punting average (minimum five punts) in program history. Taras averaged 47.4 yards, which trails only A.J. Vaughn's 1965 performance vs. John Carroll of 52.3 yards.

WARRIORS BY THE NUMBERS
Of the 117 players currently on the roster, 88 came directly from high school, 17 played at another four-year college, 11 played at a junior college, and one attended another four-year school but did not see any playing time.

Football student-athletes represent 12 states with a majority (88) coming from Michigan. The other states include Ohio (9), Illinois (5), California (3), Virginia (3), New York (2), and Pennsylvania (2), along with one each from Indiana, New Jersey, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

With only 15 players in their final year (six graduate students, seven redshirt seniors, and two seniors), the Wayne State roster is loaded with inexperience. There are 20 redshirt juniors, five juniors, 15 redshirt sophomores, four sophomores, 24 redshirt freshmen and 34 true freshmen on the squad.

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE ACTION
For the 23rd season, every contest can be heard live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM) or online at PatriotDetroit.com. Veteran Detroit broadcaster Sean Baligianis in his 16th season calling Warrior football. Former Warrior defensive end Brady Beedon will serve as the color analyst for seven games and will handle play-by-play duties in three contests. He will also conduct the weekly Locker Room Report and Senior Spotlight features for WDTK. WSU Hall of Fame tailback and kick returner Josh Renel will join Baligian in the booth for the road game at Michigan Tech. Warrior basketball broadcaster Kevin Brechmacher will serve as the color analyst for the road contests at Truman State, Davenport and Grand Valley State. In addition, Tony Ortiz will serve as the Sideline Reporter for all six home games.

The radio pre-game show will start 15 minutes before a road contest and 30 minutes prior to a home game. Beedon will also host the Weekly With Wheatley show every Wednesday prior to a home a game. The show will take place at Woodbridge Pub starting at 5:30 p.m. The second show of 2024 will be held on September 18th.

All six home games, plus the road GLIAC contests will be streamed on FloSports. The home games will be via The PreP with the radio announcers broadcast being simulcast on FloSports.

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Players Mentioned

#83 Jordan Bell: WR; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman

#89 Jobe Benschoter: TE; 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman

#77 Tomi Bisiriyu: OL; 6' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore

#62 Will Edwards: OL; 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore

#76 Ethan Gates: OL; 6' 6"; Redshirt Sophomore

#59 Ben Griskie: DT; 6' 1"; Junior

#13 Kejuan Houston: CB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#96 Jordan Hutchinson: DT; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

#78 Jayden Lewin: OL; 6' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore

#58 Aaron Mass: DE; 6' 3"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#83 Jordan Bell
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman
: WR

#89 Jobe Benschoter
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman
: TE

#77 Tomi Bisiriyu
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore
: OL

#62 Will Edwards
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore
: OL

#76 Ethan Gates
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Sophomore
: OL

#59 Ben Griskie
: 6' 1"; Junior
: DT

#13 Kejuan Houston
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: CB

#96 Jordan Hutchinson
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: DT

#78 Jayden Lewin
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore
: OL

#58 Aaron Mass
: 6' 3"; Senior
: DE