Late Push by Defending National Champs Sinks Statesmen
The William Penn Statesmen took on defending National Champion Marian (Ind) Saturday.
Oskaloosa–The William Penn football team went toe-to-toe with last year’s top NAIA program for much of the afternoon, but fell short of a nice non-conference win in a 31-21 setback to Marian (Ind.) in an MSFA crossover game Saturday.
The Statesmen (3-4) led 21-17 at the start of the fourth quarter, but witnessed the Knights (4-3) score twice in the final eight minutes to secure the victory.
In the evenly-matched contest, both sides had 56 yards of offense in a scoreless opening stanza. Marian finally broke through with a field goal at the 12:39 mark, and then after a WPU fumble on the second play of the ensuing drive, the Knights tacked on a touchdown (extra point was muffed) to make it 9-0.
The navy and gold eventually narrowed the deficit later in the second quarter by marching 80 yards in 11 plays. Tyler Hafner (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Undecided) capped the drive on a 19-yard scamper with 3:12 remaining. The sophomore then found paydirt on the two-point conversion, leaving the Statesmen down just one at intermission, 9-8. Marian held a slight 127-122 edge in yards at that juncture.
The third quarter almost matched the first quarter by being void of scoring. That was until Shawn Davis (Sr., Hamersville, Ohio, Physical Education) finished off another 80-yard possession with a three-yard touchdown run with 49 seconds left. That put WPU ahead 14-9.
The lead unfortunately did not stand for long; it lasted only 15 seconds to be exact. The Knights picked up big yards on the ensuing kickoff, and added a 15-yard penalty on top of that. Then, on their first play of the drive, a 24-yard scoring pass gave the visitors the edge back at 17-14 entering the final period.
William Penn punched right back, though, beginning with a 59-yard run by Aaron Osborne (Sr., Houston, Texas, Physical Education). Three plays later, Sam Tvedt (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) rushed in from ten yards out and it was 21-17 in favor of the Statesmen with 13:37 left in regulation.
The rest of the afternoon belonged to Marian as it scored a field goal and touchdown in the waning minutes. The hosts failed to respond as their final three drives had negative endings–missed field goal, interception, and loss on downs.
William Penn outgained Marian 322-282 on the final stat sheet, including 298 yards on the ground. Tvedt led his squad with 91 yards on just seven carries (long of 51), while Osborne finished with 80 and Evan Ressler (Jr., Cascade, Iowa, Biology) had 66.
Brock Peery (Sr., Payson, Utah, Secondary Education) guided the defensive effort with ten tackles and an interception–the lone takeaway by WPU. Nick DiMarco (Jr., St. Charles, Mo., Physical Education) and Isaac Samek (So., Bolivar, Mo., Industrial Technology) each had a sack Saturday.
Next: William Penn travels to Chicago, Ill. next Saturday to face Saint Xavier in Midwest League play at 1 p.m.
