Statesmen Win 24-7, Share League Crown, Await Playoff Fate
William Penn Defense playing strong versus St. Francis
Oskaloosa–For the first time in 34 years, the Penn football team can call itself conference champions after defeating St. Francis (Ill.) 24-7 in Midwest League play Saturday.
The #13 nationally-ranked Statesmen (10-1, 6-1 MWL) end the regular season sharing the league title with McKendree as the Bearcats also finished the year at 6-1 in MWL action (8-2 overall). McKendree collects the automatic berth to the NAIA playoffs, however, with its 24-14 win over Penn last month.
The Statesmen have now done all they can do and will wait to see if they qualified for the playoffs as an at-large bid. The live selection show will be broadcast on the internet by Victory Sports Network at www.victorysportsnetwork.com beginning at 1:30 p.m. (CST).
William Penn recovers a St. Francis turnover
Senior Day/Fill The Stadium Day was tarnished by cold, windy conditions, with temperatures dipping under 40 degrees. A good-sized crowd still braved the weather and witnessed Penn not only take its fourth-ever crown (also in 1972, 1975, 1976), but also set NAIA records for single-season rushing yards (4,476) and rushing yard average (6.9 yards per attempt over 649 runs). The old records were 4,348 yards by Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) in 1990 and 6.13 yards per attempt by Pittsburg State (Kan.) in 1986.
The Statesmen also matched the 1975 team for most wins in a season with ten.
William Penn dominating vs St. Francis
Shawn Davis (Fr., Hamersville, Ohio, Western Brown HS) started the day with a big run. After the Penn defense stopped the Fighting Saints (7-4, 5-2 MWL) on their opening drive, Davis took the ball on the first play of the next drive, broke free of a tackler and nearly outran the defense, finally getting pulled down at the St. Francis one-yard line. Highlighted by that scamper, the freshman finished the day with a game-high 143 yards on 14 carries.
Taylor Parsons (Fr., The Woodlands, Texas, College Park HS) then finished the scoring possession on the next play, putting Penn up 7-0 just 3:16 into the game. The freshman ran 19 times for 69 yards.
Two St. Francis drives later, a familiar tune began to play as the Fighting Saints turned the ball over on a fumble deep in Penn territory. It would be the first of six turnovers for St. Francis (three fumbles, three interceptions).
The teams exchanged fumbles early in the second quarter with the Statesmen getting the ball last at their own 39-yard line. Ten plays and 61 yards later, Penn was up 14-0 after Parsons found Jimmy Deegan (Sr., Farmington, Minn., Farmington HS) in the end zone on a 16-yard pass.
Parsons completed 6-of-11 passes for 64 yards. Deegan, who had not recorded a receiving touchdown in his career until last week, finished the season with back-to-back games with scoring grabs.
That lead would hold through halftime and well into the third stanza before the Fighting Saints finally got on the board to make it 14-7 with 4:24 remaining.
Both teams then punted and then each committed a turnover before the home team marched 59 yards in 13 plays to go up 17-7. Penn burned 6:35 off the clock and the drive was capped by a 30-yard Marcus Kerrigan (Fr., Cary, Ill., Cary-Grove HS) field goal into a stiff wind.
The Statesmen defense, which allowed just 271 yards (Penn had 376), shut down St. Francis on four plays on the ensuing drive and the win was secured six plays down the road with a five-yard rushing score by Corey Ketchum (Jr., El Dorado Springs, Mo., El Dorado Springs HS) with 2:00 left in regulation.
Jonques Wells (So., Columbus, Miss., New Hope HS) added 49 yards on the ground in helping Penn to a total of 312 rushing yards. It was the ninth time this season that the program eclipsed the 300-yard mark on the ground.
Chris Ruff (Sr., Highland Park, Mich., Grand Rapids CC), one of 20 seniors recognized before the game, was everywhere on the defensive side of the ball. The senior tallied 17 tackles (four for loss) and also intercepted a pass. Aaron Palacios (Sr., Castroville, Calif., North Monterey County HS) and Jacob Batterson (Fr., Eddyville, Eddyville-Blakesburg HS) posted the other two picks.
“What a game!” Statesmen Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “It was a physical battle between two really good teams and we were just a bit better today. Our kids were outstanding. They were physically and mentally tough. Our defense was great and our offense did what they had to do to win.”
We put ourselves in the best position possible to earn a bid to the playoffs and hopefully that will be the case tomorrow when the pairings are announced,” Hafner added.
Wade Steinlage
