Box score Senior placekicker Boston Hensley booted a 33-yard field goal as time expired, giving Wayne State a 21-20 victory at Nebraska-Kearney Thursday evening in nonconference football played at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field. It was Wayne State's first trip to Kearney in 15 years, but it is the third straight win for Wildcat football in Kearney dating back to 2008.
The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and scored points on their first drive of the season as senior placekicker Boston Hensley booted a 47-yard field goal to cap a 12-play, 42-yard drive, putting WSC in front 3-0.
After forcing a UNK punt, WSC got the ball back at its own 39-yard line and drove 61 yards with senior Dawson Forgy finding the end zone on a 7-yard run with 47 seconds left in the opening quarter, giving the Wildcats a 10-0 lead.
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The Wildcat defense forced another Loper punt and the snap went over the head of the UNK punter and through the end zone for a safety, increasing the Wildcat advantage to 12-0.
Following the safety, WSC got the ball at its own 15 and drove inside the UNK 9 thanks to a 54-yard run by Forgy, but on a third-down screen pass to Forgy Nebraska-Kearney defensive lineman Caleb Kinkaid stepped in front of the screen pass and rambled 88 yards for an interception return for a touchdown, putting the Lopers on the scoreboard and reducing the Wildcat lead to 12-7 with 11:00 left in the second quarter to close first-half scoring.
Wayne State ended the first half with a 226-61 advantage in total offense and had the ball for 22 minutes of the opening half.
Nebraska-Kearney got the ball to open the third quarter and scored on a 33-yard field goal by Kaden Kiernan to culminate a 10-play, 60-yard drive that cut the Wildcat lead to 12-10.
On the ensuing kickoff, Wayne State fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Lopers, setting up UNK at the Wildcat 17. Three plays later, Loper quarterback Devin Tate ran the ball in from 4 yards out, giving the Lopers their first lead of the night at 17-12 with 8:43 to play in the third quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Wayne State got the ball at its own 32-yard line following a missed 50-yard UNK field goal. The Wildcats used passes of 45 yards from Brady McGill to Keaten Bonderson and a 19-yard hookup from McGill to Dane Petersen to give the Wildcats a first-and-goal at the 5. Forgy then scored his second touchdown of the game from 5 yards out, putting the Wildcats back in front 18-17 with 6:20 to play.
UNK then drove 41 yards on eight plays on its next drive and used a 52-yard field goal by Kaden Kiernan to go back ahead 20-18 with 1:10 to play.
The Wildcats got the ball at their own 15-yard line to start the final drive of the game with 1:02 left. McGill found Bonderson on a 21-yard connection for the first big play of the drive, followed by a 37-yard hookup with Maliki Sik to move the ball to the Loper 20. A UNK 5-yard penalty and a 2-yard run by Brennan Hayes set up Hensley for the game-winning 33-yard field goal on the final play of the game, giving Wayne State the win.
Wayne State ended the contest with a 379-236 edge in total offense. The Wildcats had 194 yards on the ground and 185 passing, while UNK gained 136 on the ground and 100 through the air.
Forgy rushed for 122 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns to lead the ground attack, followed by Hayes with 69 yards on 11 attempts.
Throwing the ball, McGill was 13 of 21 for 185 yards with one interception. Bonderson hauled in three catches for 76 yards, followed by Petersen with three grabs for 21 yards and Sik with two catches on the final drive for 44 yards.
Defensively, linebacker Kaden Johnson had eight tackles, followed by Brayden Chaney, Dayne Mauk and James Frank with six apiece.
Wayne State is on the road again next Thursday evening, visiting Minot State in a 6 p.m. contest.
