WPU Survives to Take Homecoming Win 14-10
William Penns Evan Ressler takes advantage of a hole in the Taylor defense on Saturday.
Oskaloosa–A strong defensive effort saved the Statesmen football team as it escaped with a 14-10 Homecoming victory over Taylor (Ind.) in a MSFA crossover game Saturday.
#15 WPU (4-1), which won its third game in a row, was outgained by one yard, 268-267, in the defensive battle. The win is WPU’s tenth in its last 11 Homecoming contests.
The first score of the afternoon was actually set up by a big defensive play as Freddy Griggs (Sr., Tallahassee, Fla., Business Management) forced and recovered a Taylor (2-3) fumble at the Trojans’ 11-yard line.
On the very next play, Hunter Collins (Jr., Jenks, Okla., Mechanical Engineering) lofted a pass into the corner of the end zone and Jatavius Stewart (Jr., Rock Hill, S.C., Biology) turned around in time to haul in the score with 6:55 left in the first quarter. Collins finished 4-for-10 passing for 29 yards.
WPU doubled the advantage on its next drive, marching 54 yards on seven plays. Evan Ressler (Sr., Cascade, Iowa, Biology) capped the possession with a six-yard rush on the first play of the second stanza. Similar to William Penn, Ressler started slow, but finished strong with 85 yards on 17 carries. He also headlined the receiving crew with three grabs for 18 yards.
The visitors responded with a 47-yard field goal in their ensuing drive, but could not narrow the margin anymore before half as a 38-yard attempt in their next chance sailed right of the goal posts.
The navy and gold were methodical in moving the pigskin down the field to start the third period, but Ressler had the ball stripped right out of his hands and a lengthy Taylor drive made the score 14-10 in favor of WPU with 6:53 remaining in the third.
Both sides had some success offensively in the final stanza and a half, but neither added to their tallies, including the Trojans being stopped twice in Statesmen territory.
With 5:41 left on the clock, William Penn needed desperately to pick up a first down or two. Fortunately, it produced one of its few successful drives with four first downs and milked away the final seconds up to the final whistle.
Sam Tvedt (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) picked up a huge five yards on a fake punt on four-down-and-two, while most of the final drive was a heavy dose of fullback dives with eight of the 12 plays going up the middle (last five by Ressler). Tvedt tallied 61 yards as the hosts picked up 238 yards on the ground.
The Statesmen came into Saturday averaging over 35 minutes of possession, but had limited time with the ball against Taylor, losing the battle 36:27-23:33. Both teams committed two turnovers.
Isaac Samek (Jr., Bolivar, Mo., Industrial Technology) topped the tremendous defensive effort with 13 tackles, while Hunter Barry (So., Morris, Ill., Physical Education) and Deshon Conley (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) managed nine stops. Barry forced a fumble and Conley recovered one. Six other players finished with at least five tackles.
Taylan Ybarra (Jr., Wellington, Kan., Education) and De’Meris Terrell (So., Richmond, Texas, History/Government) both sacked the Trojan quarterback once each.
“We made some great plays today to keep us in the game, but in the end it was a special teams play that basically sealed the deal,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “The conference season starts next week so we will have to be at our best all week in order to play well on Saturday.”
Next Up: William Penn opens Midwest League play next Saturday by traveling to Davenport to face St. Ambrose at 1 p.m.
