WPU Drops Battle of Option Offenses
William Penn University at Peru State (Mandy Hafner photo)
by Wade Steinlage
Peru, Neb.–The Statesmen football team had Peru State on its heels, but could not put its opponent away in a 17-14 Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division loss Saturday.
The Statesmen (5-3, 1-1 North) limited the Bobcats (5-3, 1-1 North) to just 252 total yards, but failed to do much with the ball themselves in tallying 193 yards.
The contest started with both sides losing fumbles, including the visitors coughing up the pigskin inside PSC’s redzone.
WPU began its second drive in Peru State territory as well, but capitalized this time around. On fourth-and-goal from the PSC four-yard line, Tyler Wood (So., Newton, Iowa, Education) found Tyler Phillips (Jr., Altus, Okla., Physical Education) deep in the corner of the endzone for the touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. It ended up being a tough day passing for Wood, however, as he finished just 3-for-9 for 41 yards.
The Bobcats failed to score after moving onto William Penn’s side of the field and then WPU gave the ball right back, but the punted ball happened to bounce into a PSC player and Mason Wisse (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education) recovered the loose ball at the 36-yard line.
Wood gobbled up 33 yards on the next play and then crashed over the goal line from three yards out to push the Statesmen advantage to 14-0 with 6:22 left in the first half.
The Statesmen defense then stepped up with a goal line stand late in the half as the Bobcats had to settle for a short field goal to make it 14-3 at intermission.
WPU moved into PSC territory to start the third period, but nothing came of it and then Bobcats trimmed the margin a little more at 14-10. The next two drives had moments on Peru State’s side of the gridiron, but once again, the navy and gold came up empty.
The hosts unfortunately took advantage of the visitors’ failure to put the game away, eventually taking their first lead at 17-14 with only 2:02 left in regulation.
The Statesmen were forced to air it out in the waning seconds, but could not answer in their next possession. The game was virtually over, but WPU earned one last chance by forcing and recovering a fumble.
Wood hooked up with Grant Smallwood (Jr., Wichita, Kan., Exercise Science) and Jeremiah Benson (So., Kansas City, Mo., Physical Education) in the final minute to get to the PSC 30-yard line, but the squad’s last hope was squelched with an interception.
Offensively, Wood paced his team with 72 rushing yards, while Nate Van Veldhuizen (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) finished with 51 and Ben Sherman (Fr., Troy, Pa., Elementary Education) added 39 more.
Wisse topped the defensive effort with 14 tackles, including 2.5 for loss. Winston Green (Sr., Sacramento, Calif., Psychology & Sociology) and Josh Vasquez (So., Draper, Utah, Undecided) joined Wisse with a fumble recovery. Winston also forced a fumble.
“I am just sick for our players,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said. “We came out and played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and really controlled the game for three quarters. We got away from our game plan for a couple of series, though, in trying to put the game away and it cost us in the end. Some bad play-calling on my part put us in a tough situation.”
“We will go back to work tomorrow and do everything in our power to beat a very good Benedictine team next week,” Hafner added.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to host #12 Benedictine in Heart North action at 11 a.m. The game is on ESPN3.
