Defense Guides Statesmen Past Central Methodist
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–The William Penn football team kept Central Methodist under the century mark in total yardage as it cruised to a 37-7 win in a Heart of America Athletic Conference North-South crossover game Saturday.
WPU (2-2) outgained the Eagles (1-3) by a tally of 278-69, including limiting the visitors to -5 passing yards on just one completion. CMU ran only 48 offensive plays and averaged 1.8 yards per snap.
The hosts were not especially sharp all day, but did what they needed to on both sides of the ball to get back to .500 on the season.
The Statesmen’s opening drive started ominously with an apparent three-and-out, but Tyler Wood (So., Newton, Iowa, Education) turned it all around by picking up 12 yards for a first down on a faked punt. WPU then chipped away, little by little, and more than nine minutes after the opening kickoff, the home crew was in the endzone on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Eric Cooper (Sr., Aguanga, Calif., Human Services).
Cooper replaced Jonathan Thomas (Jr., Americus, Ga., Undecided), who left the game with an injury (did not return) on the play prior to Cooper’s touchdown.
The defense then matched the offense’s scoring production two plays from scrimmage later. Resean Coleman (So., River Rouge, Mich., Exercise Science) tracked down the Eagles’ quarterback and on the sack he forced a fumble that was eventually scooped up by Josh Vasquez (So., Draper, Utah, Undecided) at the CMU 5-yard line and carried the rest of the way to double the advantage.
William Penn marched 80 yards on its next offensive possession and Nate Van Veldhuizen (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) made it 21-0 early in the second quarter with a three-yard plunge. The rout was officially on at that point.
Another long drive–this one of 88 yards–was finished off by a two-yard touchdown run by Amos Johnson (Sr., Rock Island, Ill., Mechanical Engineering).
The home team scored TDs each of the first three times its offense touched the pigskin (236 yards), but the navy and gold were surprisingly quiet after that.
Although Central Methodist put the ball in the endzone in the third quarter, the visitors never threatened WPU. The hosts tacked on nine more points in the final stanza. Two points were collected on a safety via a bad snap through the endzone and then Wood found Carl Sivels (Sr., Washington, Iowa, Physical Education) for a 29-yard pass play to push the score to the final tally of 37-7.
Sivels topped the rushing attack with 60 of William Penn’s 204 yards. Christian Williams (Sr., Elk Grove, Calif., Exercise Science)was next with 46 yards, while Johnson (41) and Thomas (33) also went over 30 yards.
Cooper ended up 3-for-7 passing for 36 yards, while Sivels caught two balls for 36 yards.
Coleman and Mason Wisse (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education) headlined the defensive effort as both managed seven tackles, including a sack each. Clive Manuao (So., Norwalk, Calif., General Accounting) also sacked the CMU quarterback.
Both teams lost one fumble for the only turnovers in the contest.
“This was one of those days where things went well early, then hit a lull, but we finished the way we wanted,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “You have to give a lot of credit to Central Methodist for battling through some tough injuries, but also credit to our team for continuing to fight until the end. This team will continue to improve each week. We will have a tough test next week and look forward to another great week of practice!”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Springfield, Mo. next Saturday to face Evangel in a Heart North-South crossover game at 1:30 p.m.
