The University of Sioux Falls converted five Wayne State turnovers into 27 points as the Cougars defeated Wayne State 41-21 Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
The lone score of the first quarter came from Wayne State redshirt freshman running back Devin Merkuris on a 63-yard run that put the Wildcats in front 7-0 at the 8:24 mark of the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, USF tied the game when the Wildcats fumbled a punt return with USF recovering at the Wildcats’ 22. The Cougars capitalized as quarterback Cade Walters fired a 20-yard scoring strike to Nate Johnson to even the score at 7-7.
On Wayne State’s ensuing play from scrimmage, Wildcat quarterback Andy McCance fumbled, giving Sioux Falls the ball at the Wildcat 23. Walters tossed a 26-yard scoring pass to Jermain Broadnax to capitalize on another Wildcat turnover as the Cougars took a 14-7 lead with 5:50 to play in the first half.
Wayne State responded on the following series, as McCance found sophomore wide receiver Mason Lee for a 73-yard touchdown play to even the score at 14-14 with 4:40 to play before halftime.
Just before halftime, Wayne State had the ball and McCance was sacked, giving the Cougars the ball back right before halftime. They moved to the Wayne 4-yard-line and got a 21-yard field goal from Daniel Esparza to take a 17-14 lead at halftime.
Sioux Falls dominated the time of possession in the second half – 22:32 to 7:28 – not allowing Wayne State a chance to get back into the contest.
The Cougars took the opening drive and marched 74 yards, capped by a 28-yard pass from Walters to Thuro Reisdorfer that gave USF a 24-14 lead.
Wayne State answered on the following drive, covering 68 yards on 10 plays, with McCance finding Taurean Grady in the end zone for a six-yard scoring play to pull the Wildcats within 24-21 with 5:51 to play in the third quarter.
The next drive saw Sioux Falls drive 80 yards on 16 plays, eating 9:16 off the clock, taking a 31-21 lead when Walters fired a 10-yard strike to Nate Johnson.
Wayne State fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Cougars turned that into a field goal, then used an interception to score their final touchdown and go on to the 20-point win, ending Wayne State’s season at 4-7.
Merkuris led WSC on the ground with his fourth 100-yard game of the season, accumulating 120 yards on 17 carries.
In the passing department, McCance was 8-of-17 for 159 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Grady led Wayne State with three catches for 59 yards and one score while Lee had two receptions for 80 yards and one TD.
Defensively, senior linebacker Tyler Thomsen had a game-high 11 tackles with two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks for 12 yards. Ian Ailts added eight tackles and one forced fumble with freshman Trey Albert contributing a 37-yard interception to go with six tackles.
