WAYNE, NE – Luke Bodine's early season scoring touch for the University of Mary wasn't enough to overcome a run of three Wayne State College touchdowns in under four minutes as the Wildcats outpaced the visiting Marauders 42-7 in the 2025 Northern Sun opener for both teams.
 
Bodine, who caught three touchdowns in the Marauders season-opening win over Midland University, continued his hot start to the season. The UMary senior tight end hauled in an 18 yard scoring strike from Jordan Polo Solomon with 30 second left in the first half. The native of Plymouth, MN, has scored four of his nine career touchdowns in the last two weeks.
 
For the game Bodine caught six passes for 75 yards. The Marauders leader in games played with 37 in his UMary career had a long gain of 31 yards and nearly caught a second scoring pass in the third quarter on a 4^th and goal play.
 
The Marauders defense started fast, forcing the Wildcats to punt on their first two possessions. The complexion of the game changed on Wayne State's third possession. Driving 66 yards on 12 plays, the Wildcats gained a 7-0 lead on an 18 yard touchdown pass from Bennett Dannenbring to Keaten Bonderson with 59 seconds left in the first quarter. On the next play, Wayne State picked off a UMary pass and returned the ball to the Marauders 11 yard line. Two plays later Dawson Forgy ran 9 yards for a score and a 14-0 lead with 40 seconds left in the opening stanza.
 
Unable to gain traction offensively, the Marauders went 3-and-out on their subsequent drive with the Wildcats gaining the ball at the UMary 35 yard line. Just three plays later the Wildcats scored to take a 21-0 lead 59 seconds into the second quarter, wrapping up a 3-touchdown binge in the span of 3:53.
 
The Marauders found an offensive spark late in the first half. Taking over at their own 23 yard line with 1:17 to play after Wayne State scored its fourth touchdown, Polo Solomon drove UMary 77 yards in seven plays that took just 47 seconds. Keyed by a 50 yard catch and run by Andrew Trandahl, UMary found paydirt when Bodine hauled in an 18 yard touchdown pass from Polo Solomon with 30 seconds remaining before intermission.
 
The Marauders posted another impressive drive halfway through the third quarter. Taking over at its 1 yard line, UMary featured the running of Xavier Brackenridge early and a pair of Damani Wilks receptions for 32 yards to drive 95 yards to the Wayne State 4 yard line. Unfortunately the Marauders were unable to find the end zone, misfiring on three straight passes to turn the ball over on downs. For the game the Marauders were 1-of-3 in the red zone.
 
In his first start of the season, Polo Solomon completed 21-of-34 passes for 206 yards and a score. Wilks caught five passes for 47 yards. Brackenridge ran for 58 yards on 13 carries.
 
Sam Logoai paced UMary with 11 tackles (six solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss. Christopher Federico had 10 tackles (three solo), Tuakoi Mahe made seven tackles, broke up a pass and had a QB hurry while Abram Jopp added two pass breakups.
 
Overall UMary (1-1 overall, 0-1 NSIC) posted 18 first downs and 331 yards of offense, including 243 yards passing. Wayne State ran for 314 of its 440 yards and recorded 20 first downs.
 
Forgy led WSC (1-1 overall, 1-0 NSIC) with 172 yards rushing and two scores. Brennan Hayes added 119 yards rushing. Dannenbring threw for 106 yards and three touchdowns.
 
The Marauders return home to face Augustana University on Saturday, September 13. Kickoff is set for 2 pm at the MDU Resources Community Bowl. Tickets are available online at www.UMaryTickets.com.
 
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