The Gold (offense) rallied in the second half to edge the Black (defense) 31-30 Saturday in the annual Wayne State College football spring scrimmage that concluded spring drills for 2017.
The Black team dominated the first half, forcing five three and outs to go with an interception and fumble recovery to hold a 22-0 lead at intermission. Aaron Wright had a pass interception while Kolbie Foster recorded a fumble recovery.
The second half saw the offense start to click as the Wildcats used five different quarterbacks in the scrimmage. Redshirt freshman Troyante McConico scored the first touchdown on a six-yard run. The second score came from sophomore quarterback Aaron Bleil, who fired a 40-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Xguery (Gary) Vixamar.
In red zone situations, sophomore placekicker Ethan Knudson booted a 32-yard field goal, redshirt freshman running back Isaiah Otis found the end zone on a two-yard run and McConico then found wide receiver Lavelle McFarland on a fourth-and-goal play from the 4-yard line for the final score giving the Gold team the victory.
Offensively, Arelious Burns had eight carries for 27 yards followed by Otis with nine rushes for 26 yards and one score and McConico added 25 yards on seven attempts.
Throwing the ball, Bleil completed 4-of-7 passes for 57 yards and one TD. McConico was 2-of-3 for 19 yards and one score. Redshirt freshman Victory Sikes was 1 of 4 for 7 yards with Taylor Reedy completing 1-of-6 throws for four yards.
Vixamar was the top receiver with two grabs for 48 yards followed by Willie Walton with two catches for 20 yards.
Defensively, sophomore defensive back Ian Ailts had a team-high five tackles with one for loss. Sophomore linebacker Tyler Thomsen followed with four tackles and a pass deflection. Kolbie Foster had a fumble recovery with Aaron Wright adding an interception.
Wayne State opens the 2017 football season on Thursday, Aug. 31 at Northern State.
