William Penn Upset by Evangel 19-14
William Penn University Athletics
Springfield, Mo.–The Statesmen football team had shown early on this fall that it is a second-half squad, but the team could not keep that reputation in tact Saturday in falling 19-14 to Evangel in a Heart of America Athletic Conference North South Crossover game.
#12 WPU (3-2) trailed 16-14 at intermission, but for the first time all year, it was shut out in the second half.
The Statesmen stopped the Crusaders (3-2) on the first drive of the evening and then went right to work, going 79 yards in just five plays. Their first score came on a 63-yard pass play from Tyler Hafner (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Communications) to Jatavius Stewart (Sr., Rock Hill, S.C., Biology) just 3:29 into regulation.
Hafner finished 10-for-28 for 153 yards, while Stewart hauled in four receptions for 106 yards.
The home team answered right back and then put up another touchdown (extra point no good) to lead 13-7 after one period of action. An EU field goal extended the margin to nine at 16-7 before the navy and gold produced their final score. Nate VanVelduizen (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) pounded through the line and rumbled nine yards for the TD to cut the deficit to 16-14 at the break.
VanVeldhuizen managed team highs in rushes (13) and yards (73) on Saturday as WPU collected 181 of its 334 total yards from the ground attack. The Crusaders passed for 243 yards and ran for another 176 en route to their 419 total yards.
Entering Saturday, William Penn had dominated the latter parts of its first four games, outscoring the opposition 92-41 in the third and fourth quarters combined. Unfortunately, the Crusaders stopped that trend abruptly. The visitors moved the ball into opposing territory three times, but failed to come up with points in any of those trips.
Hafner was intercepted late in the third quarter for the contest’s lone turnover. Conversely, Evangel tacked on one final field goal midway through the fourth stanza.
Amos Johnson (So., Rock Island, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) was another force on offense with 64 rushing yards.
Defensively, Isaac Samek (Sr., Bolivar, Mo., Industrial Technology) had a squad-best 11 tackles, while Walter Eastwood (Jr., Garden City, Mo., Computer Science) and Jake Baptiste (So., Salt Lake City, Utah, Psychology) each had nine stops. Kevin Shrauger (Sr., Nixa, Mo., Physical Education) sacked the EU quarterback once.
WPU snapped 22 more plays than EU (84-62), had nearly 14 more minutes of possession, and was a solid 7-for-17 on third-down conversions, but all of those factors were not enough to take the win.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to host Avila (Mo.) for Homecoming in another Heart crossover game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
