Statesmen Fall from Ranks of Unbeatens

William Penn Statesmen Junior Taylor Parsons takes off picking up some of his 73 yards in rushing on the day, before suffering an injury that would knock him out the of the game.

Oskaloosa–For the first time in nearly three years, William Penn football players did not walk off their home field as victors, falling 28-19 to #9 St. Francis (Ind.) Saturday afternoon.

The fifth-ranked Statesmen (7-1) had their 15-game home winning streak snapped (started on November 7, 2009), and also lost at Lacey Complex Stadium for the first time ever (now 9-1).

Although the loss removes the navy and gold from the list of unbeaten squads (now at four), since it was a non-conference contest, the setback does little to negatively impact the program’s playoff hopes. William Penn continues its drive for a Midwest League title next Saturday by traveling to Deerfield, Ill. to face Trinity International. The season ends with back-to-back home games against #11 St. Ambrose on November 3 and #10 Grand View on November 10.

The Cougars (5-2) came out swinging with a huge kickoff return to the 47-yard line and then marching the remaining 53 yards on 12 plays to lead 7-0 just 5:20 into the afternoon.

The home team answered with a long drive of its own, going 56 yards in just shy of six minutes. The Statesmen eventually settled for a 50-yard field goal by Marcus Kerrigan (Jr., Cary, Ill., Sociology).

The Statesmen defense stiffened over the next two possessions, and was primed to give the ball back to its offense. Unfortunately on 3rd-down-and-14, USF quarterback David Yoder found Cameron Smith wide open down the right side for a 64-yard score, extending the advantage to a game-high 11 points at 14-3.

William Penn tried to steal the momentum away twice in the second quarter, but was unsuccessful both times. The first came as the squad was inside the red zone, but Taylor Parsons (Jr., The Woodlands, Texas, Sociology) was picked off in the USF endzone. The junior was knocked out of the game later in the quarter, finishing the day with 73 rushing yards and three pass completions for 28 yards.

Kerrigan tried a shot of his own by faking a punt and completing a 26-yard pass to fellow punter Jason Johnson (Jr., Geneseo, Ill., Industrial Technology). The ball was unfortunately fumbled back to the Cougars on the next play.

With Parsons out, second-string signal-caller Tyler Hafner (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Undecided) stepped up big and managed to help the navy and gold to the last word in the first half. Kerrigan knocked another long field goal try through the uprights (this one of 47 yards), pulling William Penn to within eight at 14-6 at halftime.

All of that was surprisingly just a footnote to the drama of the third quarter. In 28 of the craziest seconds of football possible, Ed Cazenave (So., Marietta, Ga., Communications) took the opening kickoff of the second half at his own two-yard line and sprinted through a hole 98 yards for a TD. It is the longest kickoff return in school history, replacing a 97-yarder by A.J. Littlejohn on September 9, 2006, also against USF. The returns are the two most recent kickoff scores for the program.

The stadium was rocking, but that enthusiasm was very short-lived as Austin Coleman did Cazenave one better, returning the next kick two yards farther (actually starting halfway into the endzone) to make it 21-13.

Seeking to get right back into it, the hosts charged inside the USF red zone. The end result, however, was another Kerrigan field goal (25 yards). Brock Peery (Jr., Payson, Utah, Secondary Education) set up the score with an interception near midfield to wrap up the third stanza. Both squads committed two turnovers.

Kerrigan continued his amazing day with one more kicking score, connecting from 42 yards out early in the fourth to draw the Statesmen to within two at 21-19 with 11:15 still on the clock.

The Cougars, who had played back-to-back #1 teams entering Saturday, have learned well how to fight it out and had one final answer by scoring inside of eight minutes remaining.

William Penn needed two scores at that juncture and pushed the pigskin deep again, but Kerrigan’s perfect day was demolished as his 22-yard attempt knocked off the right upright. The USF offense burned plenty of clock and then the defense stopped the Statesmen one final time to secure the win.

William Penn outgained USF 367-317, but scoring just six points in four red zone trips proved too costly.

It was one of the more balanced attacks for the Statesmen as they gained 262 yards on the ground and 105 through the air. Hafner finished with a team-high 94 yards rushing and was four-of-ten passing for 51 yards. Cazenave topped the receiving corps with two grabs for 37 yards.

Defensively, Jacob Batterson (Jr., Eddyville, Iowa, Industrial Technology) managed 11 tackles. He also rushed the ball once for nine yards. The navy and gold struggled to get much pressure on the scrambling Cougar quarterbacks with Brandon Dunbar (Sr., Houston, Texas, Biology) notching the lone sack. Andrew Reed (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education) joined Peery with an interception in the second quarter.

“I thought today’s game was one of the most physical ones we have played in a long time,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “Both teams were very well prepared and played extremely hard. The difference in the game was that we did not score touchdowns in the red zone. We got points, but in the end we needed TDs.”

“There will be much to learn from this game, but in the end we just need to prepare and get ready for next week,” Hafner added. “I am very proud of this team for the way they played today and I know they will be ready to get back to work and play another game.”