Statesmen on Losing End in Rock and Ladder Bout with GVU
Des Moines–The Statesmen football team was unable to pull the upset and get the Rock and Ladder Trophy on the bus back to Oskaloosa as it fell 38-0 to #4 Grand View in Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division play Saturday.
WPU (1-6, 0-1 North) was outgained 479-216 and has now lost four in a row in the head-to-head series with 2017 the last time the Rock and Ladder Trophy remained on William Penn’s campus.
The visitors, who lost the rushing battle by just five yards at 191-186, stopped the Vikings (7-0, 1-0 North) on the game’s opening drive. GVU marched into Statesmen territory, but Colton Horak (So., Crawfordsville, Iowa, Business Management) and Gavin Ozmun (Fr., Swisher, Iowa, Sports Management) stopped the home team in its tracks on fourth down at WPU’s 31-yard line.
The navy and gold then tallied a first down and pushed across midfield at the Grand View 46-yard line. Unfortunately, they failed to convert on their own fourth-and-one just like their foes.
Making matters worse, the Vikings got on the board just seven plays later and they never looked back.
Following a quick unsuccessful drive, the Statesmen bent but did not fully break as they only permitted a field goal in trailing 10-0 after one quarter of action.
The Vikings added a touchdown early in the second period before WPU produced its best possession to date, going 49 yards. The push came to a grinding halt, however, at the GVU 22-yard line with William Penn’s lone lost fumble of the afternoon.
The home team made the Statesmen pay for the error and WPU trailed 24-0 at intermission.
The visiting crew got off to a rousing start in the third quarter as Gavin Rountree (Fr., Stephenville, Texas, Sports Management), who was moved into the quarterback slot for Saturday’s contest, darted 47 yards on the first play of the half. The Statesmen continued all the way down to the three-yard line, but they shot themselves in proverbial foot first with a penalty and then with a huge loss of yards on a fumble that they recovered. On fourth-and-goal from the 25-yard line, they could not convert and turned the ball over on downs.
WPU, which allowed two more touchdowns in the latter minutes of the matchups, would venture onto Grand View’s side of the gridiron one final time. Unfortunately, the navy and gold came up empty again. Ben Sherman (Grad., Troy, Pa., Master’s of Sports Management) clicked off 16 yards on that final drive, finishing with a team-best 75 on 19 carries Saturday.
Rountree ended his day with 44 rushing yards, while Archer Charles (Jr., Guntersville, Ala., Sports Management) contributed 39 more. Rountree, who shared quarterbacking responsibilities with Danny Amezquita (Fr., San Antonio, Texas, Kinesiology), also posted the team’s lone completion, hooking up with Conner Hasz (Fr., Paola, Kan., Sociology) for 30 yards.
D’Mauryon Hunter (So., Bolingbrook, Ill., Sports Management) led the defense with 10 tackles, while Rogan Pforts (So., Wapello, Iowa, Industrial Technology) was next for the Statesmen with seven stops.
“I continue to be proud of our players,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “They continue to fight and battle and work hard to win each and every week. I love our players and know they will not stop giving us everything they have.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to host Peru State in Heart North play at 3 p.m.
