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Sept. 3, 2011

Detroit, Mich. – The ninth-ranked Wayne State University football team kicked off the 2011 season in record-breaking fashion, scoring a school-best 69 points, on its way to a 69-24 victory over Urbana University on Saturday afternoon.

Redshirt freshman running back Desmond Martin (Redford, Mich.) scored on an 89-yard run with 1:35 remaining, helping the Warriors eclipse the old mark (65 points) set by the 1937 squad against Hillsdale College.

The Warriors have won four consecutive season openers and five of their last six and are 15-4 in their last 19 games at Tom Adams Field.

Offensive execution was flawless as the Warriors piled up 569 yards (297 rushing and 272 passing) and nine touchdowns.

Captain and junior quarterback Mickey Mohner (Painesville, Ohio / Harvey) threw for 208 yards on 11-for-17 passing and four touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Troy Burrell (Port Huron, Mich.) was on the receiving end of two scores (44 and 27 yards). Burrell ended the day with five catches for 125 yards.

The Blue Knights struck first in the contest with an 86-yard touchdown strike from DJ Mendenhall to Joe Webb on the second play from scrimmage.

After a Warrior fumble, the defense forced an Urbana three-and-out, and the offense quickly countered with a five-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 40-yard scamper from running back and captain Josh Renel (Rochester Hills, Mich. / Rochester Adams), who ran for 106 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. 

Wayne State and Urbana remained deadlocked at 7 to end first, but the final three quarters depicted a different story as the Warriors outscored the Blue Knights 62-17 the rest of the way.

The Warriors did most of their damage in the second stanza, tallying 34 points and only allowing three. Ahead 28-7, the defense flexed their muscles when redshirt junior cornerback Aaron Cornett (South Lyon, Mich.) forced a fumble and redshirt senior safety Kenny Loney (Novi, Mich. / Walled Lake Western) picked it up and scampered 23 yards for the score.

Just before halftime, sophomore tailback Toney Davis (Muskegon Heights, Mich. / Muskegon) plunged in from two yards out to give the home team a 31-point advantage (41-10).

The Warrior offense accumulated 300 yards in the opening 30 minutes despite being on the field less than 11 minutes.

The tempo remained the same in the second half as WSU recorded 28 points.

Redshirt junior safety Mazen Jaddou (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice) led the defense with five tackles, while senior defensive end Jon Robinson (Livonia, Mich. / Churchill), senior linebacker Jordan Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio / Colerain), Nores Fradi (Dearborn Hts., Mich. / Dearborn) all registered four tackles.

Mendenhall went 15-of-23 for 211 yards and two touchdowns, and carried 11 times for 30 yards. Joe Webb tallied 198 receiving yards on six catches and two touchdowns, and Matt Hightower added 97 yards on eight catches with one TD.

Wayne State (1-0) opens GLIAC play next Saturday at home against the Tiffin Dragons. Kickoff is set for Noon.

Notes:

The 69 points by Wayne State surpassed the previous school record of 65 set by Wayne University in the 1937 season finale (Nov. 20) 65-0 triumph over Hillsdale.

Senior safety Jeremy Jones (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Rockford) moved into third place in the WSU all-time interception return yards chart with his 35-yard return in the second quarter.  Jones has 245 yards and trails Stan Thornton (346 yards) and Chuck Aldrich (373 yards).

Renel had his fifth consecutive 100-yard game despite playing only one play in the second half.  He is tied-for-eighth in career rushing touchdowns with 16.  Jim Gendron (1976-78) is seventh with 17.  Renel also passed Pierre Brown (1998-2001) for seventh place on the career all-purpose yards list.  He has 3,390 entering the Tiffin contest.

Four WSU starters were making their Warrior debut:  redshirt freshman center Thom Box (Milan, Mich.), senior defensive tackle Chris Pyant (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Harrison), redshirt freshman linebacker Steve O'Shell (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Warren De La Salle) and senior cornerback Anthony Hollis (Detroit, Mich. / Northwestern).

Martin's 89-yard TD run in the game's waning minutes was one-yard shy of the school record for longest TD run set by A.J. Vaughn (Sept. 30, 1967 vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and equalled by New Orleans Saints running back Joique Bell (Oct. 20, 2007 at Indianapolis).

The 740 all-purpose yards were the most by a WSU squad since garnering 756 yards at Ashland on Nov. 3, 2007.

Mohner moved past Paul Kroll (1989-91) for seventh place on the all-time completion list with 242.  With his four passing scores vs. Urbana (which is one shy of his career high), Mohner climbed to fourth place with 27 career TD passes.

Burrell had his fifth career 100-yard receiving game.  He is fifth in career receiving yards (1,624), just 21 behind Jimmy Hill (1996-98).