Statesmen Fall Just Short in 29-28 Heartbreaker Against Wildcats
Canton, Mo.—The William Penn football team fell just short in a 29-28 loss to Culver-Stockton in a Heart of America Athletic Conference North matchup Saturday.
No. 21 WPU (5-2) narrowly fell to C-SC (2-5, 1-2 Heart North) despite outgaining the Wildcats 472-462. The two teams were nearly even in both passing and rushing yards, with the Statesmen recording 233 yards through the air and 239 on the ground.
The Statesmen got off to a hot start, marching 68 yards down the field in six plays on their opening possession, capped by a 32-yard touchdown run from [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/carey_jr._anthony_duq5]Anthony Carey Jr. (Fr., Lauderhill, Fla.). Culver-Stockton then cut into the WPU lead on their first drive with a 20-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
The ground game continued for the Statesmen as quarterback [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/floyd_emery_p4oc]Emery Floyd (Grad., Tampa, Fla.) found the endzone on an eight-yard run, extending the advantage to 14-3. The Wildcats matched the Statesmen with a rushing touchdown of their own, however, capping a 10-play, 75-yard drive and cutting into the lead to 14-9.
WPU continued to click on offense when Floyd found [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/powell_branden_7c8o]Branden Powell (Jr., Waco, Texas, Kinesiology) for a 35-yard touchdown reception, extending the Statesmen lead to 21-9 going into the second half. WPU went with a dual-quarterback situation like they have all year with [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/benning_christian_309z]Christian Benning (So., Streator, Illinois, Business Management) finishing the evening 10-for-15 for 123 yards, while Floyd was 6-for-12 for 110 yards.
C-SC responded immediately after the halftime break with a touchdown pass of its own to get within five at 21-16. The back-and-forth game continued when Floyd found [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/davis_keithon_er0v]Keithon Davis (So., McKinney, Texas) for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 10:28 remaining in the third stanza for a 28-16 edge.
After a WPU three-and-out, Culver-Stockton cut into the Statesmen lead with an 11-yard touchdown run to make it 28-22. Then, with 2:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats claimed their first lead of the game at 29-28 on an 11-yard touchdown pass. William Penn’s comeback hopes came to an end when Floyd threw an interception in the final seconds.
The duo of Carey Jr. (14 carries, 102 yards) and [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/morris_derion_qt37]Derion Morris (Fr., East Chicago, Ind.) (5 carries, 59 yards) did most of the work for the Statesmen.
The Statesmen defense was anchored by [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/butler_tierre_imlk]Tierre Butler (Sr., Springfield, Ill., Business Management) who finished with nine tackles. [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/campbell_omari_c9l1]Omari Campbell (Sr., Pompano Beach, Fla., Sports Management), [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/dennard_jeremiah_y5bs]Jeremiah Dennard (Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla.), and [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/cummings_kameron_jgsz]Kameron Cummings (Jr., Houston, Texas, Business Management) followed close behind, all recording seven tackles. Brian Weatherspoon (Sr., West Memphis, Ark., Business Management) added a sack, while [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/guillory_roger_g9mi]Roger Guillory (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) and [/sports/fball/2026-27/bios/sewell_rhyan_d0y4]Rhyan Sewell (Fr., Little Elm, Texas) each added a blocked extra point attempt.
“We lost the game and it falls on me,” Head Coach Marc Benavidez said. “We made too many mistakes in all three phases. We will need to bounce back this week against Clarke.”
Next Up: The Statesmen return home next Saturday for Homecoming as they face off against Clarke in a Heart North matchup at 12:30 p.m.
