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Football 9/23/2021 8:14:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Football Returns Home in Search of First Victory

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (0-3 overall) will host Saginaw Valley State (1-2 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) in the first of two meetings this season on Saturday night inside Tom Adams Field. The 6:00 PM kickoff will be a non-GLIAC contest as a result of the recent Ashland departure from the league slate.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State hosts Saginaw Valley State in a rare non-GLIAC game on Saturday night at Tom Adams Field. The Warriors are looking to end a three-game losing streak before starting league play next week at Northern Michigan.

SCOUTING SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
The Cardinals are 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the GLIAC. SVSU nearly knocked off #2-Ferris State last week, falling 47-45 in overtime. Head coach Ryan Brady is in his third season with the program. Junior quarterback Matt Considine has completed 41 percent of his passes for 630 yards and three touchdowns with seven interceptions. Senior Tommy Scott is one of the more productive running backs in the conference with 256 yards on the ground and three TDs. Junior Casey Williams is the team's top receiver with 21 receptions for 302 yards and two scores.

Junior linebacker Trevor Nowaske is the defense's top playmaker with a GLIAC-leading 34 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Senior Tim Kidd-Glass, junior Noah Suber and junior Nick Whiteside all have one interception a piece.

SVSU is scoring 25.7 points per game and allowing 45.0, while totaling 278.3 yards of offense per contest. The defense is allowing over 330 yards per night.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SVSU leads the all-time series 30-10-1, but WSU has won three of the last four meetings, including the 2019 matchup, 24-20, at Tom Adams Field, when the Cards were ranked 25th. Wayne State is 5-16 at home in the series that began in 1976. The Warriors won five of the first six contests with the sixth being a 7-7 tie at SVSU. Head coach Paul Winters is 4-8 vs. the Cardinals in his time in Detroit. Prior to WSU's 2016 win in Detroit, SVSU had won 19 out of 20 matchups from 1992-2013.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State fell 51-45 in overtime at Missouri S&T on Sept. 18th. In the fourth quarter, the host Miners missed a 35-yard field goal and Wayne State followed with a 10-play, 80-yard drive with Tre Davis catching a 17-yard touchdown pass from Chase Churchill with 1:36 left. Churchill's two-point conversion pass was complete to Dayton Keller putting the Warriors in front 45-42.

The Miners drove 37 yards following the kickoff with Zach Glaess making a 40-yard field goal attempt on the final play of regulation to knot the game at 45-45. Wayne State had the ball first and after two incompletions, Churchill gained seven yards on third down before a fourth down incompletion ended the drive. Aaron Moya gained 13 yards on the first play before a no gain and a Miner holding penalty. Payton McAlister then had an eight-yard carry to the WSU 1, before a four-yard loss. After a two-yard gain, Moya had a two-yard plunge for the winning touchdown.

IMPRESSIVE OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
The Warriors eclipsed the school record of 671 yards of total offense (set Sept. 30, 1967, at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a 39-31 WSU win) by totaling 673 yards at Missouri S&T. The 673 yards was the second-highest output in Division 2 this season.

The 96 combined points by the Missouri S&T Miners and Wayne State was only the second-highest scoring extra session game in program history. WSU lost 58-50 in triple overtime at Mercyhurst on Sept. 15, 2007. Joique Bell ran for 227 yards and four touchdowns vs. the Lakers.

The 94 offensive plays at Missouri S&T were the fourth-most in program history and the most since the school-record mark of 103 at Ashland on Nov. 3, 2007, as Wayne State fell 63-42 at the 23rd-ranked Eagles. The 94 plays are the most by an NCAA Division 2 team this fall.

The 735 all-purpose yards recorded by WSU was the fifth most in school history and the most since the school-record total of 787 vs. Lake Erie College on Nov. 7, 2015, in a 56-54 Warrior victory at Tom Adams Field.

KULKA'S BREAKOUT
Josh Kulka (286) and Chase Churchill (157) combined to break the school record for passing yards in a game with 443. The previous mark of 439 came against Lake Erie College on Oct. 8, 2011, in a 45-24 Warrior win.

Kulka had three first-half touchdown passes and Churchill added one late in the fourth quarter giving WSU a 45-42 lead. It marked the first time since Oct. 25, 2014 (a 52-17 Wayne State triumph vs. Walsh), that the Warrior signal callers had thrown four touchdown passes in a game.

A 67 YEAR-OLD RECORD GOES DOWN
Tre Davis finished the Missouri S&T game with a school-record 244 receiving yards on nine receptions, along with two touchdowns. The previous mark of 239, which stood for nearly 67 years, was set by Dick Lisabeth on Oct. 22, 1954, in a 39-0 Tartar victory over North Dakota State. The 244 receiving yards in a single game in the most by a Division 2 wide receiver in 2021. Ironically, the second-highest mark is by Miner Breon Michel who totaled 234 vs. the Warriors last Saturday.

OVERTIME WOES
The overtime contest in Rolla, Mo., was the first for Wayne State since the 42-41 double-overtime triumph over Ashland on Oct. 19, 2019. WSU is 5-10 all-time in overtime contests, including a 3-5 road mark. The Warriors are 2-8 in games that a winner was decided in the first overtime.

NON-CONFERENCE SKID
The Warriors will be looking to end a home non-conference losing streak of four games (Slippery Rock in 2019 & 2021, Truman State in 2021 and Tiffin in 2018). The last win with these parameters was against Walsh to start the 2018 season.

FAN POLICY AT TOM ADAMS FIELD
Fans are required to provide proof of vaccination with their card, or a photo on their phone prior to entering Tom Adams Field. All fans will be required to go through a check-point before entering Tom Adams Field.

Fans that are not vaccinated will be required to wear a mask at all times, as well as children under the age of 12.

A limited number of individually wrapped disposable masks will be available for fans at the game entrance. WSU students will have to show their passed daily screener, and can enter Tom Adams Field through the student entrance. WSU encourages all fans to wear a mask regardless of their vaccination status. Fans are encouraged to stay home if they are feeling sick.

SAMARI SNAGS ANOTHER
Samari Dean's second-quarter interception vs. Truman State was his second career pick. He registered his first career interception, a pass break-up and a solo tackle in the win over Michigan Tech in 2019.

A NEW SIGNAL CALLER
Josh Kulka's 51 offensive plays (40 pass attempts, 11 rushes) vs. Truman State did not make the top 10 all-time, but it was the most since Joique Bell had 51 rushing attempts in a 41-26 victory vs. Hillsdale on October 14, 2006. The 40 pass attempts were the most since Mickey Mohner completed 30-of-45 passes for 355 yards and five touchdowns in a 40-35 setback at home against Ashland on October 16, 2010.

WARRIORS & BROTHERS
The football roster has five sets of brothers on the squad, including Lane and Ty Potter, Myren and Myles Harris, Noah and Max Nicklin, Jacob and Aaaron Mass, and David and Caleb Green. The Harris' and Green's are twins. In addition, senior right tackle Joe Ziedas is the younger brother of former lineman Alex Ziedas. Furthermore, wide receiver Darrin King II is the son of former Tartar Darrin King, who recorded 295 tackles (142-153), while playing in all 41 games during his Tartar career (1988-1992).

HOUSTON MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Tieler Houston picked off his fifth career pass against Slippery Rock and now is tied-for-40th in the program record book. Two more would give him seven and put him in a tie-for-23rd. The WSU record for interceptions is 23 by Charles Aldrich (1979-82).

WELCOME BACK
Wide receiver Kameron Ford made his first appearance for the Green and Gold since Nov. 3, 2018, against Northern Michigan. He missed all of 2019 due to an injury and with no games in 2020 due to COVID, he played for the first time in 1,033 days on Sept. 2nd. Ford caught his first pass last weekend versus Truman State for nine yards.

NEW FACES
Of the 52 players who saw action vs. Slippery Rock, 23 made their Wayne State debut, including 21 student-athletes who made their collegiate debut. Shavez Hawkins, Jr. played in eight games for Minnesota Crookston in 2017 and for the Papago Pumas (Junior College) in 2019, while Darien Tipps-Clemons appeared in 10 games for Eastern Kentucky in 2018. The lone true freshman to take the field on September 2nd was Davison product Te'Avion Warren, who made a solo tackle on the kickoff coverage team.

Making their collegiate debut in the Slippery Rock contest, in addition to Warren, were Blake Bustard, Damond Duncan, Chandler Edwards, Blake Gilliam, Eli Haddad, Myren Harris, Dayton Keller, Kofe Kimbrell, Darrin King II, Jesse Prewitt III, Kane Quinlan, Donte Reed, Drake Reid, Chrishoun Roberts, Cameron Rogers, Kaveon Ross, Arnold Saidov, Jeremy Taras, A.J. Terry, and Kendall Williams.

Jelani Harbor, Josh Kulka and Cole Price made their collegiate debuts in the Truman game. David Green, Myles Harris, Martell Hill and Griffin Milovanski made their collegiate debuts at Missouri S&T, while Eastern Michigan transfer Karmi Mackey made his WSU debut vs. the Miners.

The lone players in their fourth season of competing were Jake AmRhein, Luke Bevilacqua, Jalen Lewis and Lane Potter. Eleven (11) players began their third season and another 14 started their second year of active competition.

WARRIOR PODCASTS
There will be two podcasts from the WSU Athletic Department this fall - "What I've Heard" with Director of Athletics Rob Fournier and "Inside the Playbook" with Paul Winters. Both can be found on the podcasts page at WSUAthletics.com.

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE ACTION
There are several ways fans can watch or listen to Wayne State Football this season. Every contest can be heard live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM) or online at PatriotDetroit.com. Veteran Detroit broadcaster Sean Baligian is in his 13th season calling Warrior football. Former Warrior tailback and kick returner Josh Renel will again be joining Baligian in the booth. Renel provided color commentary for one game in 2012 and nearly every game for seven seasons (2013-19). In addition, former WSU defensive end Brady Beedon will fill-in for Renel on selected broadcasts and will also handle the Locker Room Report and Senior Spotlight features for WDTK. Former Warrior defensive back Ryan Oshnock will serve as the analyst for the Sept. 25th broadcast.

Every home game can be seen live on Comcast CN900 in the state of Michigan. Check your local listings for replay times. Joe Abramson returns for his 13th year on the Comcast broadcast and sixth as play-by-play announcer. Rod Beard enters his 10th year as a member of the WSU broadcast crew, while WWJ Afternoon Co-Anchor Tony Ortiz is starting his fifth year as a member of the broadcast crew. Kevin Brechmacher, who has served as the radio voice of Wayne State basketball the last six seasons, will fill-in on the crew for selected games. In addition, every home clash will be streamed for free via WSU All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Jake AmRhein: QB; 6' 4"; Graduate Student

#42 Luke Bevilacqua: PK/P; 6' 1"; Graduate Student

#74 Blake Bustard: T; 6' 7"; Redshirt Freshman

#14 Chase Churchill: QB/H; 6' 4"; Senior

#28 Samari Dean: S; 5' 11"; Senior

#93 Damond Duncan: DT; 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore

#1 Chandler Edwards: RB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore

#87 Kameron Ford: WR; 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior

#46 Blake Gilliam: OLB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman

#16 Caleb Green: QB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

#18 Jake AmRhein
: 6' 4"; Graduate Student
: QB

#42 Luke Bevilacqua
: 6' 1"; Graduate Student
: PK/P

#74 Blake Bustard
: 6' 7"; Redshirt Freshman
: T

#14 Chase Churchill
: 6' 4"; Senior
: QB/H

#28 Samari Dean
: 5' 11"; Senior
: S

#93 Damond Duncan
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore
: DT

#1 Chandler Edwards
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore
: RB

#87 Kameron Ford
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior
: WR

#46 Blake Gilliam
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman
: OLB

#16 Caleb Green
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman
: QB