Loring’s Trio of TDs Pushes Statesmen to Homecoming Win Over Clarke
Oskaloosa–Destynd Loring (Jr., Charleston, S.C., Sports Management) crossed the goal line three times on Homecoming and the William Penn football team pulled away late in a 28-7 Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division win over Clarke Saturday.
WPU (3-4, 2-2 North), which outgained the Pride 301-273, is 18-3 in Homecoming games since 2004.
The Pride (1-7, 0-4 North) moved into Statesmen territory on their opening drive, but eventually stalled out and missed a long field goal–one of two field goals missed by CU.
William Penn, on the other hand, turned the ball over on each of its first two drives as the sides were scoreless through the first quarter.
Following its two turnovers, WPU finally took the ball away from Clarke on an interception near midfield by Daequan Johnson (Sr., Marion, Iowa, Kinesiology). The senior returned the ball 28 yards to the Pride 28-yard line.
Eight plays later, Destynd Loring (Jr., Charleston, S.C., Sports Management) scored on a one-yard plunge on third-down-and-goal.
Headlined by interceptions on back-to-back plays, no more points were scored in the first half as William Penn headed into the locker room up 7-0.
Loring was a workhorse to open the second half, rushing four consecutive times for 58 yards, capping the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to double the Statesmen advantage. The junior tallied 157 rushing yards on 22 carries.
Johnson picked off the Pride for the second time on their next drive, but WPU came up empty. It was one of five total takeaways (four interceptions) for the home squad. Conversely, the navy and gold committed four turnovers.
CU scored on its next possession, and then got the ball back on a Statesmen interception.
Fortunately, the hosts forced and recovered a fumble, setting up a touchdown that returned the advantage back to 14 points. On fourth-down-and-goal with 11:42 left in regulation, Sterling Ramsey II (Jr., Broken Arrow, Okla., Business Management) connected with Branden Powell (Fr., Waco, Texas, Wellness and Recreation) from three yards out to make it 21-7. Ramsey II completed seven of his 18 passes for 78 yards. Overall, eight different Statesmen caught a pass Saturday.
William Penn’s defense stiffened down the stretch, including an interception by Jeremiah Dennard (So., St. Petersburg, Fla., Business Management). The offense, meanwhile, put the game on ice inside the final two minutes of play when Loring rushed seven yards to paydirt. A 27-yard pass from Ramsey II to Nureini Mohamed (So., Everett, Mass., Sports Management) on the previous play (4th and 11) set up Loring’s final touchdown.
Keegan Simmons (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Elementary Education) added an additional 43 yards on the ground as the Statesmen finished with 208 total rushing yards.
The trio of Brandon Young (So., Houston, Texas, Computer Science), Brian Weatherspoon (So., West Memphis, Ark., Business Management), and Malcolm Bryant (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio, Sports Management) paced the defense with seven tackles apiece, while Young also forced the late Clarke fumble.
Matt Mehrhoff (Jr., Fenton, Mo., Business Management) had six stops and shared a sack with Joshua Barclay (Fr., Houston, Texas, Mechanical Engineering). Mehrhoff also notched one of WPU’s four interceptions.
Barclay finished with 1.5 sacks, while Kameron Cummings (Fr., Houston, Texas, Business Management) had a sack along with a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.
“I am proud of the way the guys finished as a team for a true team victory,” Head Coach Marc Benavidez said.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines next Saturday to face Grand View in Heart North Division action at 12 p.m.
