William Penn Runs Homecoming Streak to Eight in 31-7 Dismantling
William Penn Statesmen overpowered Trinity International to win homecoming
Oskaloosa–In the early parts of Saturday’s game against Trinity International, there were serious concerns it would not be a joyous return for the many William Penn alum in attendance, but the Statesmen football got on track in the second half and pulled away for a 31-7 Midwest League win.
In securing its eighth-straight Homecoming victory, #8 William Penn (8-1, 4-1 MWL) kept itself right in the middle of the playoff hunt. Grand View added to the intrigue as the Vikings upset #9 St. Francis (Ill.) 24-21 in Des Moines.
The result leaves #13 St. Ambrose, the Statesmen’s next opponent, as the lone undefeated team in the league at 5-0, while Grand View, St. Francis, and William Penn are all one game back with one loss.
The home team accumulated 154 yards in the first quarter, but led just 7-0 as Taylor Parsons (So., The Woodlands, Texas, College Park HS) broke the scoreless tie on a 61-yard run with 3:01 left in the stanza.
Unfortunately, the Trojans (1-7, 0-5 MWL) were eager to ruin the festivities and evened the contest a few possessions later on a Morgan Hall-to-Daniel Beals’ 16-yard pass play at the 9:25 mark of the second.
Marcus Kerrigan (So., Cary, Ill., Cary-Grove HS) had better kicking days than Saturday (1-of-3 in field goals), but returned the lead to William Penn for good with a 31-yarder with 5:31 until halftime.
At that juncture, the Statesmen had posted 245 yards of offense, but two failed trips inside the red zone (one missed field goal and one interception) kept the game too close to call entering the break.
A proverbial fire was ignited under the home team in the locker room, though, and William Penn scored touchdowns on each of its first three second-half drives to claim its seventh win in a row versus Trinity International.
The first score came on a one-yard plunge by Shawn Davis (So., Hamersville, Ohio, Western Brown HS) to cap a drive that lasted 5:18.
Evan Ressler (Fr., Cascade, Cascade HS) then crossed the goal line from eight yards out, but the biggest run of the day again came from Parsons as he dashed through a monster hole and outran the defense for an 80-yard score with 13:05 left in regulation.
Parsons finished the day with 24 rushes for a career-high 237 yards. It is his third 100-plus yard game of 2011 and it is the highest single-game tally since James Jackson posted 268 yards against Olivet Nazarene on October 22, 2005.
William Penn recorded 532 total yards, including 455 on the ground. Parsons also completed five-of-14 passes for 77 yards. The Statesmen owned a massive 36:20-23:40 edge in time of possession.
Ressler led the rest of the offense with 49 rushing yards, while Davis added 48 and P.J. Perry (Sr., Orlando, Fla., East Ridge HS) had 37.
DeMarco Sanders (Sr., Horn Lake, Miss., Horn Lake HS) caught two passes for 56 yards.
A balanced defensive surge limited the Trojans to just 206 yards with the trio of Brock Peery (So., Payson, Utah, Payson HS), Jordi Vernor (Sr., Ripley, Miss., Northeast Mississippi CC), and Damon Harrison (Sr., Lake Charles, La., Lake Charles Boston HS) all posting a team-best five tackles.
Brandon Dunbar (Jr., Houston, Texas, Booker T. Washington HS) collected one sack as well.
William Penn won despite losing the turnover battle 2-0.
At halftime, four former student-athletes were inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame, including Frank Martucci (football), Wayne ‘Sky’ King (men’s golf), Steph Christner (softball), and Ken Spielbauer (men’s basketball).
Next: William Penn travels to Davenport next Saturday to face St. Ambrose in MWL play at 1 p.m.
