Oct. 13, 2024
Ferris State football overcomes adversity to top Wayne State 27-14 in game played over two days
Ferris State University’s football team topped Wayne State University 27-14 in a game spread out over two days because of lightning and inclement weather.
The game was halted on Saturday with 8:04 left in the second quarter with the Bulldogs atop 10-0. Ferris State finished on Sunday with 27 points in the victory – the lowest the 5-1 team has scored since an opening week setback against Pittsburg State.
“The Warriors were the Warriors – give them credit,” Ferris State head coach Tony Annese said. “They played really hard. It’s not easy being where they are. Coach (Tyrone Wheatley) is trying to build a program. Mad respect for how they performed against us. Also, we played the game over two days. No excuses, but I don’t ever want to play back-to-back days ever again. The third thing for us that was big was self-inflicted wounds. That has been our topic.”
The Bulldogs, ranked fourth in the nation, got off to a fast start on Saturday evening as Ferris State drove 71 yards in seven plays before settling for a 24-yard field goal from Mitch Middleton, giving the team an early 3-0 lead midway thru the first period.
Ferris State pushed the lead to 10-0 with a 13-play, 66-yard drive on Saturday night in the second quarter capped by a one-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. The score came just prior to the lightning stop, leaving the score 10-0 in favor of FSU when play was stopped for the night.
The game resumed right before 11 a.m. on Sunday midway thru the second quarter and the Ferris State offense drove 63 yards in nine plays shortly before halftime to push the lead to 17-0 on a one-yard scoring throw from Chambliss to slot receiver Brady Rose.
In the third quarter, though, the Warriors stopped Ferris State on a key fourth down conversion try at the Bulldog 40-yard line and moved 40 yards in only six plays with D'Marco Singleton finding pay dirt from 14 yards away.
Soon after, the Warriors, 0-6, got the ball back and drove 87 yards in eight plays on a drive that was aided by several costly Bulldog penalties. The Warriors pulled within 17-14 on a seven-yard scoring throw from Champion Edwards to Myles McKatherine with only 3:09 left in the period.
However, the Bulldogs answered quickly as Ferris State needed only two plays to drive 75 yards to increase the lead again. Chambliss reached the two-yard line on a 73-yard run to the doorstep before tailback Zak Ahern capped the drive with a two-yard blast to make it a 24-14 game.
Ferris State later added a 28-yard field goal from Middleton with 13:31 remaining in the game, finishing off a seven-play, 51-yard drive to account for the final margin.
"The weather changed our plans," said Rose. "It was tough to go back to the hotel, yesterday, and then come back to play, today. We did a really good job of adjusting to what happened. We came out ready to go today. I don't think anyone blinked about what our job was and what we needed to do to get a win."
The Bulldogs finished with 510 yards of total offense, including 275 on the ground and 235 in the air in a balanced effort. Chambliss ran for 148 yards and a score while completing 22-of-38 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown. Kannon Katzer had 43 yards rushing while Rose hauled in seven passes for 57 yards.
The Ferris State defense forced three interceptions and limited Wayne State to only 234 yards of total offense. The Warriors had 103 yards rushing, including 46 from Singleton, while Edwards was 15-of-27 in the air for 131 yards and a score. McKatherine caught six passes for 70 yards.
Defensively, Mike Edwards paced FSU with nine tackles on the back end while Sefa Saipaia had eight tackles and Gyasi Mattison notched seven stops.
"Well, playing a game over two days was different for sure," said senior defensive tackle Victor Nelson. "The majority of us have never had to delay to finishing a game the next day. We adjusted well, didn't get as much sleep, but we stayed focused on our end goal of winning the game."
The Bulldogs, who are now 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC, will host Michigan Tech on Saturday, Oct. 19, starting at 1 p.m. at Top Taggart Field.