Wayne State rushed for 415 yards and gained 559 yards of total offense in rolling to a 62-0 shutout win over Upper Iowa Saturday afternoon in the 31st annual Egg Bowl Game played at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne.
The Wildcats scored on their first two possessions of the game to take an early 14-0 lead. Redshirt freshman quarterback Andy McCance fired a 27-yard TD pass to Taurean Grady on fourth-and-4 to take a 7-0 lead. Redshirt freshman Devin Merkuris followed with an 85-yard TD run, the third-longest run from scrimmage by a Wildcat running back, to grab a 14-0 advantage with 8:14 to play in the quarter.
Wayne State closed out the scoring on the final play of the first quarter as senior Ethan Knudson made a 32-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 17-0 lead. It was his 37th career field goal, making him the school’s all-time leader in field goals, ecplising the 36 made by Nick Hope from 2006-09.
The lone score in the second quarter was on a 15-yard scoring strike from McCance to Mason Lee at the 1:12 mark giving the Wildcats a 24-0 lead at intermission.
The opening drive of the third quarter for Wayne State was Merkuris rushing the ball on every play as the drive covered 75 yards on eight plays with Merkuris capping the drive on a one-yard run putting Wayne State in front 31-0. The last score of the third quarter for the Wildcats came from the defense as junior linebacker Jalen Burgess intercepted a Peacock pass and raced 48 yards for a touchdown, putting Wayne State in front 38-0.
Reserves played the fourth quarter for the Wildcats. Knudson opened the scoring for Wayne State with a 25-yard field goal, followed two Ryann Wilkins touchdown runs of 13 and eight yards for a 55-0 Wildcat lead. Wayne State closed out the scoring on a Deshawn Massey 20-yard run. Wayne State finished the game with 559 yards of total offense that included 414 yards on the ground, the most by a Wildcat team since 415 yards gained against Minnesota Morris in 1999.
Merkuris collected Egg Bowl Game MVP honors for Wayne State with 237 yards of total offense. He gained 187 yards rushing on just 16 carries and two scores to go with two receptions for 50 yards. Massey added 136 yards rushing on 21 carries and one score while Wilkins finished with 64 yards on eight rushes and two scores.
McCance completed 9-of-10 passes for 144 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Merkuris led Wayne State receivers with 50 yards on two receptions followed by Taurean Grady with two grabs for 44 yards.
Linebacker Nicholas Joynt led Wayne State on defense with nine tackles followed by linebacker Tyler Thomsen with seven. Defensive end MJ Blankenfeld had six tackles with one sack and one fumble recovery while Jacob Protzman had four tackles with two sacks and three tackles for loss.
It was the largest shutout win for the WIldcats since a 41-0 win over MSU Moorhead in 2009. The 4-6 Wildcats will close out the 2019 season at home next Saturday, hosting University of Sioux Falls at 1 p.m.
