Senior-Led Statesmen Dominate Trojans to End 2014
The William Penn Statesmen Football team ended their season in the snow on Saturday.
Oskaloosa–It was not exactly the Snow Bowl, but Mother Nature did make Saturday’s season finale a memorable one for the 2014 Statesmen senior class as William Penn pounded Midwest League opponent Trinity International (Ill.) 42-8 Saturday.
While #21 WPU (7-4, 3-2 MWL) finished the regular season with a big victory, it will unfortunately come up just shy of making a postseason trip, likely finishing a few slots out of an at-large bid.
After being stopped on their first possession, the navy and gold got on the board as Tyler Hafner (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Communications) connected with Kramer Patterson (Jr., Ozark, Mo., Secondary Education) for a 33-yard scoring pass with 3:58 left in the first quarter.
WPU marched 87 yards in its next drive to double the advantage at the start of the second stanza. Michael Thomas (Sr., Visalia, Calif., Undecided), one of 19 seniors who were recognized before the contest, finished it off with a four-yard run.
The Trojans (3-7, 0-5 MWL) then attempted to get back in the game, moving into William Penn’s red zone. Fortunately on third-down-and-goal, Deshon Conley (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) came up with the play of the game, stepping in front of a pass and returning his interception 97 yards to paydirt. The 97-yard play is the longest interception returned for a score in program history, breaking the old mark of 95 set back in 1924.
Hafner, without the services of top receiver Jatavius Stewart (Jr., Rock Hill, S.C., Biology) who was out with an injury, found a new go-to man Saturday. Patterson hauled in another long reception–this time of 41 yards–as the Statesmen led 28-0 at the break.
Freddy Griggs (Sr., Tallahassee, Fla., Business Management) opened the second half by taking the kickoff 62 yards. Four plays later, Sam Tvedt (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) punched it in from seven yards out to make it 35-0. Tvedt had a team-high 89 rushing yards to pace a ground attack that tallied 341 yards. WPU ended the win with a 485-279 edge in yards.
Hafner connected with Patterson one last time on a 31-yard play midway through the third period. The junior signal-caller was 7-for-8 for 144 yards, while Patterson’s grabs all went for scores as he managed 105 receiving yards overall.
The only blemish on the day came early in the fourth as TIU broke up the shutout with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
The first snow of the year began to fall in the second half, but it did little to slow WPU down. A total of 12 individuals carried the ball with Tyler Goble (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa, Secondary Education & Sociology) ranking second with 52 yards, while Hafner had 51.
Hunter Barry (So., Morris, Ill., Physical Education) and Scott Adams (Sr., Park City, Utah, Sociology) each tallied seven tackles; Barry had three for loss, including one sack.
Keegan Murphy (Jr., Ark City, Kan., Physical Education) matched Conley with an interception, while Alvin Reels (Jr., Inkster, Mich., Digital Communication) and Cameron Colbert (Jr., Jenks, Okla., Business Management) shared a sack as did Greg Beatty (Sr., Brooklyn, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Chris Spurgeon (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education).
“I think today was a fitting end for a great group of seniors!!” Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “They all played great today and our underclassmen did everything in their power to help them. We were outstanding in all facets of the game and really came out played great! I am so happy for this group of kids that we ended their season with a victory!!”
Saturday’s marked the end of the collegiate careers of Jake Adams (Park City, Utah, Psychology), Scott Adams, Marshall Arnold (Liberty, Mo., Biology), Beatty, Conley, Keshun Cowan (Olive Branch, Miss., Physical Education), Joseph Frye (Detroit, Mich., Physical Education), Griggs, Caesar Harris (Memphis, Tenn., Sociology), Judson Humphries (Phenix City, Ala., Secondary Education), Carl Lewis (Memphis, Tenn., Business Management), Justin Lewis (Florence, Ala., Sociology), Brandon Owen (Hutchinson, Kan., Physical Education), Taylor Parsons (The Woodlands, Texas, Sociology), Evan Ressler (Cascade, Iowa, Biology), Spurgeon, Thomas, Tvedt, and Nate Wilmes (Carlisle, Iowa, Sociology.
