Statesmen Hosting Texas Wesleyan for First Round of NAIA Football Championship Series
Oskaloosa–For the first time in 13 years, the William Penn football team is headed to the postseason as it will host Texas Wesleyan in the First Round of the 2025 NAIA Football Championship Series.
The No. 13-seeded Statesmen (10-1) will be hosting the No. 20-seeded Rams (7-4) on Saturday at noon at Statesmen Community Stadium. Both teams received at-large bids.
It will be the first home playoff game in program history. WPU is 0-2 all-time in the postseason, including falling 31-0 to Saint Xavier (Ill.) in its previous postseason game in 2012.
A total of 20 teams qualified for the NAIA FCS with the top 12 overall seeds receiving a first-round bye. Three other first-round games will also be played Saturday.
Saturday’s live stream will be free on the Urban Edge Network at https://urbanedgenetwork.net/upcoming?school=heart-of-america-athletic-conference
Live stats will be available at http://www.statesmenathletics.com/sports/fball/2025-26/boxscores/20251122_e1kz.xml
Tickets can be purchased online at https://tickets.statesmenathletics.com/section/football-xdz6
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in football.
William Penn
Marc Benavidez is in his third season as head coach at William Penn, owning an 18-13 record entering Saturday’s matchup.
WPU is currently averaging 40.1 points and 437.5 yards per game. Sterling Ramsey (Sr., Broken Arrow, Okla., Business Management) has completed 136 of his 234 passes for 2,274 yards and 19 touchdowns. Amir Everett (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Sports Management) has been his top target with 43 receptions for 991 yards and nine scores.
Destynd Loring (Sr., Charleston, S.C., Sports Management) is pacing the ground attack with 1,574 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns.
Defensively, the Statesmen are allowing 19.8 points and 326.5 yards per outing. Brian Weatherspoon (Jr., West Memphis, Ark., Business Management) tops the crew with 59 tackles, while Marquis Harry (So., Pompano Beach, Fla., Business Management) has five interceptions, and Lloydarius Garner (Jr., Houston, Texas, Sports Management) enters with 2.5 sacks.
William Penn, which has tied its school record with 10 victories, is +7 in turnover margin, coming up with 20 takeaways and having just 13 turnovers.
The Statesmen enter Saturday on a five-game winning streak and started the campaign with five consecutive wins.
Texas Wesleyan
Brad Sherrod is in his second season as head coach at Texas Wesleyan, owning a 17-5 record entering Saturday. The Rams are in the FCS for the second time in school history (also in 2024). The program was reinstated in 2017 after a 76-year hiatus.
The Rams are averaging 34.4 points and 413.4 yards per contest. The offense is led by Cole Francis with 2,425 passing yards (173-for-308) and 14 touchdowns. Paul Summers is the team’s top receiver with 34 catches for 506 yards.
Mark Benjamin has a team-high 397 yards on the ground.
The Texas Wesleyan defense, which is permitting 27.3 points and 361.5 yards per game, is paced by Sir Hill with 70 tackles. Jordan Crawford’s four sacks are a squad best, while Jaiden Jones has picked off six passes.
The Rams are +6 in turnover margin, having committed 19 giveaways while turning over their opponents on 25 occasions.
TWU, which is on a one-game winning streak, won a season-best three games in a row at one point this fall.
