Interceptions Doom Statesmen in Upset Bid
William Penn Statesmen Football
Des Moines–With much more than the Rock and Ladder Trophy up for grabs Saturday, the William Penn football team gave the third-ranked team all it could handle but fell just short in a 25-17 Midwest League loss to Grand View Saturday.
The Statesmen (4-6, 2-3 MWL) were in the Vikings’ red zone in the waning seconds, but a turnover ended their hopes of breaking up Grand View’s perfect season, which now stands at 10-0 (6-0 MWL) entering the NAIA Football Championship Series.
Down by eight with 3:00 left, William Penn marched from its 25-yard line to the GVU 14-yard line in less than two minutes. Unfortunately, the rally ended as Tyler Hafner (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Undecided) was intercepted near the goal line.
Hafner completed 15 of 28 passes for 118 yards, but was picked off three times, including on the third play of the game. The interception was returned for a touchdown as the Vikings took an early 6-0 edge.
The hosts recorded another interception later in the first quarter and parlayed it into another score to double the advantage to 12-0.
Sam Tvedt (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management), who led WPU with 116 rushing yards, finally got things going in the second stanza. The junior capped off consecutive drives with touchdown runs of 22 and 24 yards to put the Statesmen up 14-12 at halftime.
Grand View responded with back-to-back scores in the second half, giving the hosts a 25-14 lead early in the final quarter.
A blocked punt put the ball in William Penn’s possession near midfield halfway through the fourth. Six plays later, Marcus Kerrigan (Sr., Cary, Ill., Sociology) had a chance to narrow the deficit, but could not connect on a 46-yard field goal.
Malik Young (Fr., Peoria, Ill., Physical Education) gave his senior teammate a chance at redemption soon thereafter when he recovered a fumble in Viking territory. This time Kerrigan was good from 52 yards out, making it 25-17 with 3:40 left on the clock.
A big defensive stop helped WPU have one more shot at the home squad, but the Vikings recaptured the Rock and Ladder Trophy on their third interception.
William Penn was outgained just 341-325, picking up 207 of its yards on the ground. Evan Ressler (Jr., Cascade, Iowa, Biology) helped his team with 46 rushing yards as the main fullback option with Shawn Davis (Sr., Hamersville, Ohio, Physical Education) out with an injury.
Aaron Broyles (Sr., Escondido, Calif., Physical Education), with five receptions for 46 yards, and Kramer Patterson (So., Ozark, Mo., Secondary Education), with three grabs for 49 yards, were Hafner’s biggest targets.
Micheal Welch (Sr., Houston, Texas, Physical Education) headlined the defense with nine tackles and two sacks, while Deshon Conley (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) also tallied nine stops.
Next: William Penn travels to Deerfield, Ill. next Saturday to face MWL foe Trinity International at 1 p.m. in its season finale.
