Statesmen Falter Late in Another Heartbreaker
William Penn University Athletics
Olathe, Kan.–For the second week in a row, the William Penn football team was on the cusp of a victory, only to be denied by the slimmest of margins in a 22-21 Heart of America Athletic Conference North-South crossover loss to MidAmerica Nazarene Saturday.
The start of Saturday’s game could not have gone better for the 23rd-ranked Statesmen (0-2), but unfortunately the ending was equally as miserable as the Pioneers (2-0) scored 15 unanswered (12 in the fourth quarter) to rally for the win.
The navy and gold gave up a pair of first downs on the opening drive, but then Walter Eastwood (Sr., Garden City, Mo., Computer Science) put an immediate stop to the push with an interception in WPU territory.
The Statesmen offense was fairly anemic in the season opener against Missouri Valley, but the visitors showed a much different attack Saturday, doing so from their very first play from scrimmage as Desmond Douglas (Sr., Decatur, Ala., Physical Education) took a reverse and sprinted 64 yards for a touchdown.
Kyle Baldassarre (Jr., Webb City, Mo., Industrial Technology) matched Eastwood with another pick near midfield in MNU’s next drive, returning the ball all the way to the opposition’s eight-yard line. Three plays later, Amos Johnson (Jr., Rock Island, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) plunged in from one yard out to double the lead to 14-0 only 5:42 into the contest.
The Statesmen had opportunities to extend the advantage on their next two attempts with the pigskin, but both times they fumbled on the Pioneers’ side of the field. William Penn also drove deep late in the second quarter, but again came up empty as a field goal try by Samson Tamijani (So., Houston, Texas, Communications) was blocked.
Meanwhile, the home squad cut the margin in half with a touchdown and WPU led 14-7 at halftime.
Carl Sivels (Jr., Washington, Iowa, Physical Education) got his team back on track in the third quarter in a eye-dropping way by taking a handoff and darting 71 yards to the endzone, pushing the advantage to 21-7 with 4:20 remaining. Sivels rushed eight times for a team-high 110 yards; WPU picked up 425 of its 431 total yards on the ground.
MNU tallied a field goal at the end of the third period and then made the score 21-16 with another touchdown with 3:30 left in the game.
The Statesmen stayed close a week ago by forcing five turnovers, but on Saturday, their own giveaways were their eventual doom. On its ensuing drive, William Penn fumbled the ball back to the Pioneers and MNU finished the comeback with another TD to go up 22-21 at the 2:37 mark.
Two consecutive long runs by Nate Van Veldhuizen (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) gave William Penn plenty of life, however, but the drive stalled. Hunter Behm (Fr., West Haven, Utah, Mechanical Engineering) then lined up for a possible go-ahead 43-yard field goal, but it sailed outside the goalposts and MidAmerica Nazarene ran out the clock from there.
Van Veldhuizen finished with 93 rushing yards Saturday.
Defensively, Cooper Gosch (So., Reeds Springs, Okla., Education) headlined the Statesmen efforts with seven tackles, while Anthony Jackson (So., Detroit, Mich., Physical Education) and Mason Wisse (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education) both recorded one sack apiece. The Pioneers were limited to 261 total yards, including 117 rushing and 144 passing.
“This loss was heartbreaking for our team,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “As coaches, we are just sick for our team. We were much improved on offense and our defense was again spectacular. We will continue to improve and mature as a team.”
“Our team is a close-knit unit and we will continue to stand by one another through these tough times,” Hafner added. “As a friend of mine once said, ‘Tough times do not last, tough people do’, and that is what we have to do in moving forward.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to face #5 Baker next Saturday in a North-South crossover game at 11 a.m. The game is the Niles Media Heart Game of the Week, also showing online on ESPN3 as well as on television on KSMO-TV (Kansas City) and Mediacom.
