William Penn Football Game Notes: Week Ten: Waldorf
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen gridiron squad hits the road one final time in the 2010 regular season as it takes on Waldorf in Midwest League play Saturday.
#14 nationally-ranked Penn (8-1, 4-1 MWL) travels to Forest City to play the Warriors (2-7, 0-5 MWL) in A. David Bostorff Stadium at 1 p.m.
STATESMEN ON THE RADIO/TV: Every WPU football game can be heard live on KBOE 740 AM and also accessed on the World Wide Web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wpu.portal#
Mahaska Communication Group (MCG) will also provide television coverage for all home games on its cable network.
SERIES HISTORY: Penn is 3-0 all-time in its series with Waldorf, including winning last year’s meeting 65-6.
The Statesmen scored touchdowns on seven of its first eight drives (nine of 13 total) to win on Senior Day 2009.
Ryan Van Dalen accounted for four touchdowns, two on the ground (169 yards) and two through the air (117 yards). Skyler Crouch hauled in two long passes, both for touchdowns, for 115 yards.
Penn rolled up 446 rushing yards, just eight yards shy of the school mark at that point in time. The Statesmen owned a 565-188 advantage in total yards.
2007 Penn 16-9
2008 Penn 41-3
2009 Penn 65-6
SEEKING DOUBLE DIGITS: Although the dream of a perfect season has been thwarted, Penn can still get to double figures in victories if it wins its final two contests.
It would be just the second time in school history that the program has met that mark, also doing so in 1975 when the Statesmen finished the regular season 10-0 and made their lone playoff appearance.
PENN RANKED IN NAIA & VSN POLLS: Getting back on the winning course, and doing so in convincing fashion, helped the Statesmen move back into serious at-large playoff conversations. Penn hopped to #14.
The Statesmen also advanced one spot to #18 in Victory Sports Network’s unofficial poll.
DOING WHAT THEY DO WELL: Penn is ranked high statistically in the NAIA with a potent running attack.
Penn tops the NAIA in total rushing yards (3,716) and rushing yards per game (412.9).
The Statesmen’s 404 total points (fifth) and 44.9 average (seventh) are strong amongst the division, while their tally of 493.9 total yards per game is fifth.
Miscellaneously, the Statesmen are tops in the NAIA with just two sacks allowed (0.2 per game).
Individually, Taylor Parsons (Fr., The Woodlands, Texas, College Park HS) and his 114 points (19 rushing TDs) put him first on the NAIA’s list. His 12.7 point average is second.
WPU/WC IN PRESEASON POLLS: Penn was picked to finish fourth out of eight teams in the MSFA’s Midwest League, while Waldorf was selected last in the conference.
COACHES: Todd Hafner is in his seventh year as head football coach at Penn, entering the campaign with a 33-34 career record.
Hafner led his 2009 squad to a 7-5 record, including a 5-2 Midwest League mark. The team has now had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1975 and 1976.
The 2008 Midwest League Coach of the Year also guided Penn to the program’s first winning season in 29 years in 2005 when the team was 6-5. Over his six years, Hafner has produced 74 all-conference players and nine All-Americans.
Prior to his career at Penn, Hafner had coaching stops at Carl Junction HS, Southwest Baptist University, Emporia State University, and Pittsburg State University (student coach).
Hafner graduated from Pittsburg State in 1994 with a degree in mathematics.
Greg Youngblood is in his fourth season as head football coach at Waldorf, owning a 4-28 record entering this campaign.
Youngblood brings 16 years of coaching experience at both the high school and college levels. Prior to his appointment at Waldorf, he was an assistant at Taylor University and before that was head and assistant coach at three different high schools in New Mexico.
A 1994 graduate of Bates College (Maine), Youngblood was a three-year letterwinner and earned the team’s Bob Schmidt Award for courage, strong character, and positive attitude.
He earned his master’s in sports administration from the University of New Mexico.
THE STATESMEN LAST WEEK: Penn bulldozed Peru State (Neb.) 70-6 in non-league action.
The Statesmen broke two major game records for points (70) and rushing yards (607), while Parsons broke the school mark for single-season touchdowns (19).
The freshman crossed the goal line four times as he led Penn to also surpass the single-season team records for points (404), rushing yards (3,716), and total yards (4,445).
Parsons picked up 103 yards, all in the first half, while A.J. Littlejohn (Sr., Gaffney, S.C., Gaffney HS) dominated the second half with 194 yards. His 17 rushes were his first of the season.
Penn outgained the Bobcats 636-218.
WALDORF LAST WEEK: The Warriors were unable to upset St. Francis (Ill.) in a 56-10 league loss.
On paper, Waldorf stuck with the Fighting Saints, only getting outgained 446-402, but it did not convert to victory.
Roc Hobbs completed just nine passes, but they were for 197 yards, while Deonte Lewis rushed for 65 yards. Bryce Rusler passed for 85 yards as well.
Adam Isaacson was the team’s best receiving threat for the day with three catches for 112 yards, while Harold Smith hauled in four for 86 yards.
STATESMEN TOP PLAYERS: Parsons leads the Penn offense with 826 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns (157 carries), while Shawn Davis (Fr., Hamersville, Ohio, Western Brown HS) has 115 runs for 815 ground yards and ten scores.
Seven other players are also over the century mark in rushing.
With such a potent running attack, the passing game has taken a back seat with Parsons completing 41-of-80 passes for 729 yards and five TDs.
Bernard Luster (Sr., Corinth, Miss., Northeast Mississippi CC) has quietly had a nice season with team highs in receptions (22), receiving yards (385), and touchdowns (3).
Defensively, Javaras Thomas (Sr., Miami, Fla., Miami Beach HS) and Chris Ruff (Sr., Highland Park, Mich., Grand Rapids CC) head Penn with 42 stops each. Jacob Batterson (Fr., Eddyville, Eddyville-Blakesburg HS) has a squad-best three interceptions, while Reggie Franco (Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah, Skyline HS) has 4.5 sacks. Damon Harrison (Jr., Lake Charles, La., Lake Charles Boston HS) leads all players with 8.5 tackles for loss.
Marcus Kerrigan (Fr., Cary, Ill., Cary-Grove HS) headlines the kicking effort as he is 38-for-43 in extra points and 3-for-5 in field goals. Penn is utilizing two punters, Kerrigan and Jason Johnson (Fr., Geneseo, Ill., Geneseo HS). Johnson has punted 17 times for a 40.0 yard average, while Kerrigan has kicked 11 times for a clip of 34.1 yards.
Andrew Harris (Sr., Horn Lake, Miss., Northwest Mississippi CC) tops the kickoff return group with a 19.8 yard average on 11 attempts, while DeMarco Sanders (Jr., Horn Lake, Miss., Horn Lake HS) owns a 12.6 yard mark on five punt returns. Sanders actually has the best kick return average (23.0), but on just seven attempts.
WALDORF TOP PLAYERS: The Warriors are very balanced offensively with less than 100 yards separating their passing (1,356) and rushing (1,269) yardages.
Hobbs has completed 59-of-145 passes for 995 and five scores, while Lewis has rushed for 722 yards and four scores.
Smith (16 rec., 304 yards), Luke Gassman (16 rec., 288 yards), and James Loydd (13 rec., 288 yards, team-best three TDs) have been a solid trio in the receiving crew.
Josh Gaedke heads the defensive side of the ball with 81 tackles and eight stops for loss. Cody Cork has intercepted five passes this fall.
Caleb Maki has done well in the kicking game, going 20-for-21 in extra points and two-for-four in field goals. John Larson has been busy punting, kicking the ball 38 times for an average of 36.0 yards.
Loydd has the team high in kickoff returns (19), but Joe Harris has the best average (18.3 on 11 attempts). Camero Jackson has limited opportunities in returning punts, taking five back for an average of 1.0 yards.
COACH HAFNER SAYS:
On Peru State Game: “I thought we came out and bounced back really well from such a tough loss to McKendree. You never know which direction you are going to go after a game like that, but our guys practiced hard all week and played with a lot of focus and performed really well.”
On Waldorf: “This will be another tough conference road game. Even though Waldorf is at the bottom of the conference, they have some really good players and have a solid scheme. We will have to do well in all three phases of our game to win.”
