Football Game Notes: Week Five: Olivet Nazarene
Recent William Penn Statesmen Football action at the Lacey Complex Stadium
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen football squad will look to keep a long Homecoming winning streak intact as it plays an Olivet Nazarene program seeking its first win of 2012.
#7 William Penn (4-0, 1-0 MWL) will host the Tigers (0-4, 0-2 MWL) in Midwest League play. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Lacey Complex Stadium. The Statesmen have won eight consecutive Homecoming contests.
STATESMEN BROADCASTING: Every William Penn football game can be followed through several different mediums.
Radio (all games): Heard live on KBOE 740 AM or 104.9 FM
Internet (all games): Heard live at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/kboe.portal
TV (home games): Viewed and heard live on Mahaska Communication Group’s local channel
Internet (home games): Viewed and heard live at http://origin.peg.tv/pegtv_player?s=wpenn
SERIES HISTORY: William Penn is 4-4 all-time in its series against Olivet Nazarene.
The Statesmen evened up the series with a 35-14 win last year. Taylor Parsons (Jr., The Woodlands, Texas, Sociology) threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another two (209 total yards) to lead the navy and gold. The squad nearly doubled up the Tigers in total yardage, 418-210, including 119 rushing by Shawn Davis (Jr., Hamersville, Ohio, Physical Education).
2002–Olivet Nazarene, 18-13
2003–Olivet Nazarene, 10-7
2004–Olivet Nazarene, 14-3
2005–William Penn, 31-24
2006–William Penn, 21-13
2007–Olivet Nazarene, 37-24
2008–William Penn, 42-24
2011–William Penn, 35-14
WILLIAM PENN PROFILE: Todd Hafner is in his ninth year as head football coach at William Penn, entering the campaign with a 52-37 career record.
Hafner guided William Penn to a 9-2 record last year and the team again led the NAIA in rushing with 3,634 yards. He was also at the helm in 2010 when the navy and gold won their fifth league crown (first since 1976). The team finished 10-1, tying the school record for wins, and also broke NAIA single-season marks for total rushing yards and yards per attempt. Numerous other school marks were set in 2010.
The 2008 and 2010 Midwest League Coach of the Year, Hafner was also the recipient of the VSN NAIA Coach of the Year and the NFCA Region 2 Coach of the Year honors. As skipper, he has produced 119 all-conference players and 14 All-Americans.
Prior to his career at William Penn, Hafner had coaching stops at Carl Junction HS, Southwest Baptist University, Emporia State University, and Pittsburg State University (student coach).
Hafner graduated from Pittsburg State in 1994 with a degree in mathematics.
The Statesmen utilized two defensive scores to pummel Waldorf 48-14 in their Midwest League opener two weeks ago.
William Penn gained 459 of its 469 yards on the ground, while the defense bent a bit in giving up 343 yards. Five turnovers were forced, though, including two in their red zone. One of those takeaways was returned 96 yards for a touchdown by Brock Peery (Jr., Payson, Utah, Secondary Education).
Perry King (Jr., Valdosta, Ga., Physical Education) also had two interceptions, returning one of those 39 yards for a score.
Offensively, Sam Tvedt (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) rushed for a career-high 133 yards, while Evan Ressler (So., Cascade, Iowa, Biology) hit paydirt twice.
For the year, William Penn is averaging 43.0 points and 403.5 yards per game, including 370.0 rushing and 33.5 passing.
The squad leads the NAIA in total rushing yards (1,480) and rushing yards per game. The Statesmen are also fifth in scoring per game and sixth in total scoring (172).
Ressler leads the Statesmen offense with 304 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Five other players, including Parsons with 262 yards and three scores, are also over the century mark. Ressler ranks in the top ten nationally in total scoring (tenth, 36 points).
Parsons is pacing the lesser-used pass game, going 10-of-29 for 134 yards and one TD. Two players have three receptions, while Dalton Phelps (Sr., Tipton, Physical Education) has collected 43 yards through the air.
William Penn has only committed five turnovers this year.
Defensively, the Statesmen are giving up an average of 9.2 points and 240.0 yards, including 138.2 passing and 101.8 rushing.
William Penn is strong nationally in points allowed per game (third), total yards allowed per game (fifth), and passing yards allowed per game (ninth).
Peery tops William Penn with 42 stops. Jason Johnson (Jr., Geneseo, Ill., Industrial Technology) and Nick DiMarco (So., St. Charles, Mo., Physical Education) have three sacks each, while King has recorded three interceptions. The Statesmen have forced 13 turnovers.
Marcus Kerrigan (Jr., Cary, Ill., Sociology) is nearly perfect this year, going 16-of-17 in point-after-attempts and 3-of-3 in field goals.
The team is again utilizing a two-punter formation with Kerrigan and Johnson. Johnson has kicked six times for a clip of 37.2 yards, while Kerrigan has nine punts for a 34.4 yard average.
Tvedt is topping the kick return game with four runbacks for a 17.2 average (long of 28 yards), while Joel Medina (Sr., Palmdale, Calif., Sociology) has taken four punts back for a clip of 18.0 yards (long of 40 yards).
William Penn is picked to finish second in the Midwest League.
Olivet Nazarene PROFILE: Brian Fish is in his second season as head football coach at Olivet Nazarene, owning a 5-6 record in 2011.
Fish returned to his alma mater (1997 graduate) after spending five years at Sterling (Kan.) as offensive coordinator. He also coached the quarterbacks and was the recruiting coordinator at Malone (Ohio) in the early 2000s.
As a player at Olivet Nazarene, Fish helped the team to the NAIA Championship game in 1998. He was an NAIA Honorable-Mention All-American, a first-team all-conference pick, and an NAIA Scholar-Athlete. He was also selected as the school’s first recipient of the Dr. Selden Kelly Award for leadership in academics and athletics. He received his master’s of teaching degree in 1999 from Olivet Nazarene as well.
The Tigers forced #17 St. Francis (Ill.) to double overtime, but remained winless on the year in a 19-16 MWL loss.
Olivet Nazarene took a 9-3 lead with just over four minutes in regulation, but the Fighting Saints scored late to tie the game. The extra point was missed, resulting in overtime.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the first overtime. The Tigers then missed on their field goal try in the second extra period, while St. Francis (Ill.) hit an 18-yarder for the win.
Olivet Nazarene owned a 392-325 edge in total yards, but committed the only two turnovers in the contest.
Michael Ho-Lewis, with 133 yards, and David Payne, with 121 yards, both eclipsed the century mark in rushing, while Rico Prestia passed for 132 yards.
For the year, Olivet Nazarene, who has started the year against four teams from the top 20, is averaging 8.5 points and 228.2 yards per game, including 133.0 rushing and 95.2 passing.
Payne leads the Tigers with 231 rushing yards, while Ho-Lewis is right on his heels with 207 and a score.
Prestia has completed 33-of-81 passes for 370 yards with his main target being Payne (14 receptions, 129 yards).
Olivet Nazarene has committed seven turnovers this year.
Defensively, the Tigers are giving up an average of 27.2 points and 394.2 yards, including 248.0 passing and 146.2 passing.
Brandon Ruemler has a squad-best 28 tackles and is tied with two other players with two sacks. The team has forced seven turnovers, including a fumble recovery and an interception by Ruemler.
Andrew Muzljakovich has attempted just one extra pointa attempt (made), but is 7-of-10 in field goals. He has a long field goal of 44 yards and ranks second in the NAIA in field goals made and field goals per game (1.8).
Also the team’s punter, Muzljakovich has attempted 27 kicks for a 35.3 yard average.
Will Cummings is topping the kick return game with seven runbacks for a 21.3 average (long of 27 yards), while Lucas Limberg has taken five punts back for a clip of 5.2 yards (long of 11 yards).
Olivet Nazarene is picked to finish fifth in the seven-team Midwest League.
COACH HAFNER SAYS: On the Waldorf game, the bye week, and Homecoming: “I thought we played our best football of the year against Waldorf. We had some breakdowns but we are minimizing our mistakes. The bye week came at a very good time. We were getting a little beat up so the week of non contact allowed us to heal up. With homecoming this week we hope we are healthy and come out ready to play. We are sure to have a big crowd and look forward to playing at home.”
On Olivet Nazarene: “They are a very good football team. Their record is not indicative of how good they are. They have played the toughest schedule in the NAIA to begin the season. They are very sound in all three phases of the game and Coach Fish has done an outstanding job of getting his players to play extremely hard on every snap.
