William Penn Stunned by St. Francis (Ill.) 36-35
William Penn suffered it's first loss of the season to St. Francis Saturday (photo courtesy Amanda Hudnut)
Joliet, Ill.–Saturday’s emotional rollercoaster ended in heartbreak for the Statesmen football team as it fell 36-35 to #15 St. Francis (Ill.) in Midwest League play.
#4 William Penn (6-1, 3-1 MWL), who lost for the first time since October 23 of last year, nearly held on for one of the biggest wins in program history, which would have given the team the inside track for the league crown and the MWL’s automatic playoff berth.
Instead, the squad now will likely need to be perfect in its final four games (St. Mary-Kan., Trinity International, St. Ambrose, and Grand View) to net a postseason bid.
The visitors led by a touchdown at 35-28 in the waning minutes, but could not milk the remainder of the clock away. The Fighting Saints (5-1, 4-0 MWL) began their final possession with 2:22 left and marched 88 yards over ten plays, eventually scoring on an E.J. White-to-Desmond Page eight-yard passing play with 13 seconds left.
The St. Francis (Ill.) coaching staff then shocked everyone and risked losing the game by going for the two-point conversion. Unfortunately the play, identical to the one before it (White to Page), worked and the home team gained the advantage for good.
DeMarco Sanders (Sr., Horn Lake, Miss., Horn Lake HS) returned the ensuing kickoff 18 yards to the Statesmen 49-yard line and with just three ticks still on the scoreboard, William Penn had one final shot.
The last-ditch effort fell to the ground, but extended life was granted to the navy and gold as a penalty (roughing the passer) was assessed to the Fighting Saints.
Then with no time remaining, William Penn chose a long game-winning field goal instead of a Hail Mary pass. The wind and the leg of Marcus Kerrigan (So., Cary, Ill., Cary-Grove HS) were just not strong enough, though, and the 52-yarder came up short.
For anyone following the game with roughly three minutes to go until halftime, the final score would have seemed unfathomable.
At that juncture, the visitors were in complete control, leading 27-0 and en route to going up by another score. However, deep in USF territory, Corey Ketchum (Sr., El Dorado Springs, Mo., El Dorado Springs HS) fumbled the ball back to St. Francis (Ill.).
The Fighting Saints managed to strike quickly (84 yards on four plays in 1:37) and went into the break still behind 27-7 but with some breath still left in their collective lungs. The second half was all St. Francis (Ill.), minus a mid-fourth quarter punt blocked by Joseph Frye (Fr., Detroit, Mich., Highland Park HS) and returned 15 yards for a touchdown by Nick DiMarco (Fr., St. Charles, Mo., Francis Howell North HS).
The Statesmen began rolling out to what seemed like an insurmountable lead on their first possession of the night. Taylor Parsons (So., The Woodlands, Texas, College Park HS) capped off an 11-play, 65-yard drive with a one-yard plunge.
A quick defensive stop and William Penn was back at it, but this time Parsons aired it out and hooked up with Aaron Broyles (So., Escondido, Calif., Escondido Charter HS) for a 71-yard score to make it 14-0 just 9:10 into the game.
Parsons completed 6-of-12 passes for 149 yards, while Broyles caught three balls for 119 yards (both career highs).
Fullbacks Evan Ressler (Fr., Cascade, Cascade HS), from five yards out, and Shawn Davis (So., Hamersville, Ohio, Western Brown HS), on a two-yard run, added rushing scores in the second stanza to make it 27-0 (Kerrigan’s kick failed after the Davis TD) with 6:49 still left until halftime.
Davis led the ground attack with 21 carries for 92 yards.
The two highly-potent offenses were slowed a bit, but not entirely with St. Francis (Ill.) holding a 434-345 edge. For the first time this fall, William Penn tallied more passing yards (184) than rushing yards (161).
In addition to the Ketchum fumble, USF, who was intercepted three times, had another game-changing play by converting an onside kick in the third quarter. The hosts eventually scored to cut the deficit to six at 27-21.
Frye led the defensive effort with nine tackles, while Rushawn Stewart (Sr., Houston, Texas, Eisenhower HS), Andrew Reed (So., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS), and Joel Medina (Jr., Palmdale, Calif., Canyons CC) all recorded interceptions.
The loss is William Penn’s first in its all-time series against St. Francis (Ill.) (9-1).
Next: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa to host St. Mary (Kan.) next Saturday at 3 p.m.
