Saturday's state football: Wassink's six TDs fuel WMU's wild win
Oxford, Ohio — Jon Wassink plowed through a wall of goal-line defenders late in the game to give Western Michigan a 40-39 win over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.
The Broncos (3-2, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) trailed 39-34 late in the fourth quarter when Wassink led a 73-yard drive and scored on a keeper from two yards out for a 40-39 lead with 2:53 to play.
The two-point conversion failed, however, and the RedHawks (1-4, 1-1) came right back into scoring position on their next drive, but Samuel Sloman missed a 50-yard field goal try with 23 seconds remaining.
Wassink threw for 439 yards and five touchdowns for the Broncos. Jayden Reed caught four of those and had 137 yards receiving. D’Wayne Eskridge caught seven passes for 141 yards.
Western Michigan trailed 27-14 at halftime but Wassink threw three touchdowns in the second half, a pair to Reed and one to Drake Harris to take a 34-33 edge with 7:25 to play.
Gus Ragland threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns for the RedHawks.
More MAC
Northern Illinois 26, (at) Eastern Michigan 23 (3 OT): Tre Harbison cracked the goal line on his fourth consecutive carry, lifting Northern Illinois to a triple-overtime win.
Trailing 23-20, Northern Illinois (2-3, 2-0) took seven plays to score the winning touchdown. Harbison’s 10-yard run gave the Huskies a first-and-goal at the 4. He bulled three yards to the 1, was stopped for no gain, then took a handoff straight ahead through a hole in the line for the winner. Northern Illinois has 11 straight wins over Eastern Michigan, the last three decided in overtime.
EMU’s Chad Ryland boomed a high, 28-yard field goal to forge a tie at 13 with three seconds left in regulation. He launched a 42-yarder down the middle to give the Eagles a 23-20 lead in the third overtime.
Harbison ran for 136 yards on 32 carries. Marcus Childers rushed for 77 yards and passed for 121 and a score for the Huskies.
Shaq Vann scored the first TD in overtime for Eastern Michigan (2-3, 0-2).
GLIAC
No. 3 Grand Valley State 52, (at) Northwood 7: Cole Kotopka threw for 186 yards and two touchdowns and Bart Williams threw for 129 and one touchdown for Grand Valley (5-0). Nick Dodson had five catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns, while Chawntez Moss ran for two TDs. Christian Martinez rushed for 63 yards for Northwood (0-5).
(At) No. 4 Ferris State 28, Ashland 21: Ferris State held off a late rally by Ashland in to stay undefeated at 5-0, 3-0. Jayru Campbell was 19-for-26 for 272 yards, and rushed for 111 yards. Sy Barnett rushed for 129 and two touchdowns. For Ashland (2-3, 2-1), Austin Brenner threw for 248 yards, and Andrew Vaughn rushed for 116 and a score.
(At) Davenport 31, Northern Michigan 30 (OT): Northern Michigan's two-point conversion attempt in overtime failed, sending Davenport (5-0) to the victory. Davenport took the lead in OT on Haiden Majewski's 25-yard pass to Nate Couturier. Majewski threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns, while Couturier rushed for 81 yards. For Northern Michigan (1-4), Latrell Giles rushed for 63 yards and a score.
Saginaw Valley State 10, (at) Michigan Tech 0: Chad Gailliard rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown as Saginaw Valley State (5-0) stayed perfect. Jermaih Johnson rushed for 16 yards. Ryan Conklin was 10-for-20 for 161 yards, a TD and an interception. Will Ark was 19-for-46 passing for Michigan Tech (2-3), with three interceptions.
Tiffin 27, (at) Wayne State 13: Jake AmRhein threw for 230 yards but had two interceptions for Wayne State (1-4, 0-2), which fell behind 17-0 and could never recover. Paul Graham made two field goals (24 and 36 yards) and DeOntay Moffett scored on a 1-yard run for the Warriors, who have lost four straight. For Tiffin (5-0, 2-0), Nick Watson threw touchdown passes of 11 and nine yards to Charles Holland and a 78-yarder to Derell Williams.
MIAA
Albion 37, (at) Alma 34 (2 OT): Andrew Fabry's 33-yard field goal won it for Albion (4-0, 1-0) in OT; it was his second field goal of extra time. Kyle Thomas was 28-for-50 for 259 yards, with two TDs and two INTs for Albion. Markell McCoy rushed for 190 yards. For Alma (1-3, 0-1), Mason Ippel threw for 141 yards and Austrin Spratling rushed for 92.
(At) Kalamazoo 31, Adrian 30: Zach VanFaussie's 3-yard touchdown pass to Sam Matthews with 39 seconds left won it for Kalamazoo (4-0, 1-0). Adrian (2-2, 0-1) lost despite racking up 538 yards of total offense. VanFaussien was 24-for-40 for 240 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 96 yards. Jerron McGaw rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns for Adrian.
(At) Olivet 72, Finlandia 7: Olivet racked up 560 yards of total offense, including 356 yards rushing. Six different running backs scored touchdowns for Olivet (3-1, 1-0), led by Noah McMinn's two. Gary Tompkins III rushed for 102 yards, and Lane Porter threw for 133 yards and three TDs. Eric Kostreva rushed for 66 yards for Finlandia (0-4, 0-1).
Trine 35, (at) Hope 25: Mason Opple threw for 203 yards, rushed for 82 and had two total touchdowns for Hope (2-2, 0-1). Evan Johnson booted three field goals, the last from 35 yards to give Hope a 25-21 lead early in the fourth quarter. Trine (4-0) scored 14 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes on Lamar Carswell's rushing scores from seven and 10 yards out.