Fall camp began in early August for the Wayne State College football team.
Student-athletes for Wildcat football were able to move-in on August 4 before the first practice was the morning of Aug. 5.
Logan Masters will be entering his third year as the head coach. He was a standout wide receiver from 2006-09, started coaching on the Wildcat sidelines from 2010 – 2016 and also served as the offensive coordinator for a second stint in 2020-2021 (2015-16).
Coach Masters said the team has been putting in the work all summer and talked about the emphasis of their first week of practice.
“The big thing with having so many guys return is consistency,” said Masters. “We’ve played a lot of football, we got to be better with our technique and doing the little things right. Keeping our composure, if something doesn’t go our way we just got to be mentally tough to fight though it and to get to the next play.”
All of the returners and some true freshmen lived in Wayne over the summer. Starting June 1, members of the WSC football team worked out four days a week with head strength and conditioning coach Dakota Coon and staff to get bigger, faster and stronger.
Spring ball wrapped up late last school year and the team had May off before starting their summer workouts.
Coach Masters added he’s been impressed with the true freshmen getting everyone on the same page and the competitiveness with the returners.
“They want to, they have that inner-determination to be great so it’s been a lot of fun coaching them,” Masters added. “The old guys is competitiveness in a good way. It’s just like brothers, I got four boys myself. They’re around each other a lot. So, it’s been a fiery at practice but directed the right way.
The Wayne State College offensive player to watch is senior quarterback Nick Bohn.
“Nick’s been our quarterback now going on his fourth year,” Master mentioned. “Obviously, he’s really talented but the leadership standpoint he keeps growing there. He makes plays with his arm and his legs. He’s doing a great job of helping the younger guys because he’s the old man and there’s a bunch of young guys within the quarterback room.”
One of many defensive leaders returning will be senior linebacker Dexter Larsen.
“Great leader, he’s intense, he practices and plays his butt of for us,” said Masters. “He’s in a group that’s a little bit older at linebacker. They’re doing a good job with the younger guys. Nice to have AK (Alex Kowalczyk) back. Never fun when you lose your All-American to injury last fall camp.
Some of the younger guys who received a redshirt last year are putting the pressure on the returners.”
After posting an 8-3 overall record and finishing fifth in the NSIC with a 7-3 mark last year, Wayne State College was preseason selected fourth in 2024.
Coach Masters said… “If you can win our league, you can win the whole stinking thing (NCAA DII),” Masters added. “There’s some really good teams, but our expectations is obviously one practice at a time and lead up. If we play well, we got a chance to beat everybody on our schedule. But we got to do that starting tomorrow with having a great practice.”
Wayne State College will open the 2024 season with a non-conference opponent hosting Missouri S&T on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 6 p.m.
