Photo by Brooks Nuanez
Box Score
Bozeman, MT – Fifth-year senior wide receiver
Denzel Knight returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and senior running back
Ryan Fulse rushed for 181 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns to spearhead a gallant Wagner effort but Montana State was able to stave off the Seahawks, 47-24 on Saturday.
With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 1-2 on the season while the Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference improve to 2-1.
A 5-11, 195-pound preseason All-American, Fulse was sensational yet again on a big stage. In 14 career games since transferring in from Monroe College, the Fort Meade, FL native has now rushed for 100 yards or more nine times and has eclipsed the 150-yard plateau six times, including a pair of 200-yard plus efforts.
Following Knight's opening-game fireworks, Montana State tied the game with a quick-strike, two-play drive. After taking over at the Seahawk 30 following a short Seahawk punt, and following a three-yard rush on first, QB Tucker Rovig hit RB Isaiah Ifanse for a 27-yard score with 5:28 left in the first quarter.
The Bobcats then marched 79 yards on 10 plays with Tyler Natee capping the drive with a four-yard TD to run to make it a 14-7 game.
On the first play of the second, Fulse bounced it to the right for an 18-yard score to knot the game at 14-14 and give the Seahawks scores on the first play of both the first and second quarters. Fulse's TD capped a two-play 49-yard drive which began with a 31-yard strike from fifth-year senior quarterback
T.J. Linta to senior WR
D'Erren Wilson.
After Montana State opened a 23-14 lead with nine unanswered points, Fulse exploded for a 66-yard touchdown run up the right sideline which made it a 23-21 game.
Following an exchange of punts, WR Kevin Kassis snared a 10-yard TD in the back of the end zone on a well-thrown ball from Ifanse, to cap a 9-play, 80-yard drive that took just 1:57 as MSU took a 30-21 lead into the halftime locker room when
Montana State opened the second half scoring when a 39-yard punt return by Kassis gave MSU a first down at the Seahawk 29. On the next play, Rovig found Kassis for 29 yards and a score that extended the Bobcats' lead to 37-21.
Midway through the third quarter, sophomore
Eric Silvester banged home a 21-yard field goal after a Seahawk seven-play, 69-yard drive stalled at the MSU three, which drew Wagner within 37-24 before the Bobcats closed out the day's scoring with 10 unanswered points to fashion the final score at 47-24.
Linta, who came off the bench to play the majority of the snaps last week at Syracuse, gained the first start of his Seahawk career. A graduate student, who started the last two seasons at Brown, the 6-4, 230-pound Linta completed 15-of-32 passes for 208 yards with no TD passes and no interceptions, in directing an offense that accumulated 377 total yards on the afternoon.
Defensively, redshirt junior inside linebacker
Santoni Graham led the Seahawks with nine tackles, including seven stops while fellow inside linebacker, senior
Quintin Hampton, wound up with seven tackles (5 solo).
For Montana State, Rovig was 23-of-34 for 310 yards through the air with three TDs and no interceptions. Ifanse was MSU's leading ground-gainer, finishing with 146 yards on 23 carries.
After two straight road games, the Seahawks return to Hameline Field on Saturday, September 22 when the Seahawks begin Northeast Conference (NEC) play with a Homecoming tilt vs. Sacred Heart in a 6:00 p.m. start.
NOTES
Knight's TD Kickoff Return First For Seahawks since 2015
Denzel Knight's game-opening 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the first Wagner kickoff return for a TD since September 19, 2015 when a then freshman
Otis Wright had an 83-yard return for a score vs. vs. Monmouth at Hameline Field.
Knight's TD Return First Seahawk Opening-Game Score Since 2012
Knight's return was also Wagner first game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown since October 27, 2012 when the senior
Otis Wright had a 90-yard kickoff return vs. Robert Morris. This was one of two kickoff returns for touchdown by Wright in the Seahawks' run to the 2012 NEC Championship.
First Opening-Game Kickoff Return for TD Allowed By MSU AT Home Since 2003
The return also marked the first opening-game kickoff return for a TD that Montana has allowed a at Bobcat Stadium since 2003.
Denzel Knight's Big Plays
*On the afternoon, Knight's big plays included:
98-yard game-opening TD return
49-yard first-quarter kickoff return that set up Fulse's 18-yard TD eun
47-yard reception from QB
T.J. Linta that set up
Cam's Sack-Streak Continues
With a third-quarter sack this afternoon, the athletic junior outside linebacker has now had at least one sack in each of Wagner's first three games.
Wagner Scores TD on First Play of Each of Games First Two Quarters
Wagner scored on the opening play of each of the first two quarters,
Denzel Knight's 98-yard opening game kickoff and RB
Ryan Fulse's 18-yard TD scamper which opened the second quarter.
Young Start
Sophomore defensive lineman
Xavier Young made the first career start.
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