Statesmen Open North Division Play with Road Win Over Pride

Dubuque--The William Penn football team led wire-to-wire as it began Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division action with a 41-20 victory over Clarke Saturday.

WPU (3-3, 1-0 North) outgained Clarke 453-350, owned a 34-13 edge in first downs, and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, but needed a couple of late scores to put away the Pride (1-6, 0-1 North).

The afternoon began with both teams being forced to punt, but on their second possession, the Statesmen marched 76 yards on eight plays.  After connecting with Lukas Hamilton (Jr., Columbus, Ohio, Secondary Education) three times on the drive, Sterling Ramsey II (So., Broken Arrow, Okla., Business Management) found Chauncey Andrews (Jr., Tulsa, Okla., Psychology) on a screen pass and the junior sprinted into the endzone to make it 6-0 (extra point was missed) at the 4:17 mark of the opening quarter.

Ramsey II completed 24 of his 39 throws for 242 yards and two touchdowns.

Ethan Olivas (Jr., Eddyville, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) then lofted the ensuing kickoff high and short and the coverage team got to the pigskin first.  Unfortunately, WPU's drive stalled out.

CU turned the ball over on downs in its own territory on its next possession and the Statesmen took advantage this time around, doing its damage on the ground.  Following three rushes by Andrews, Destynd Loring (So., Charleston, S.C., Sports Management) took the handoff twice, eventually scoring from four yards out to double the edge to 12-0 (extra point was blocked).

After each squad punted on its next drive, WPU's defense gave the ball back to the offense when Kyriee Lewis (Jr., Eight Mile, Ala., Sports Management) recorded a strip sack and Marco Simmons (Fr., Houston, Texas, Communications) came up with the loose ball.  Lewis posted a pair of sacks on the day.

Ramsey II and Hamilton kept the next possession alive with a fourth-down pass play.  Ramsey then capped the drive as he faked the pitch and carried the ball up the middle to push the Statesmen lead to 18-0 (two-point conversion failed) late in the second quarter.

Clarke was again forced to punt and following completions to Hamilton and Mosley, the navy and gold got close enough for Olivas to knock home a 32-yard field goal as William Penn led 21-0 at intermission.

The hosts finally broke through, taking just three plays on their first drive of the second half to cut the margin to 21-7.

Both teams came up empty on a combined four drives (all punts) before the Statesmen answered the Pride touchdown with one of their own late in the third period.  Loring broke free and scored on a 42-yard rush, putting the visitors comfortably ahead 28-7 with just 1:24 left until the fourth quarter.  Loring tallied 19 carries for 159 yards Saturday.

Unfortunately, Clarke caught fire and struck back with back-to-back quick scores and the William Penn advantage was suddenly trimmed to eight at 28-20 with 9:31 still left in regulation.

The navy and gold regrouped and squelched CU's momentum with a long drive.  Courtesy of one third-down conversion and two fourth-down successes, the Statesmen milked 6:35 off the clock and finished off a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Ramsey II to Hamilton.  Hamilton was his quarterback's top target, hauling in 13 balls for 121 yards and the fourth quarter score.

In a contest where the victors had 87 offensive plays compared to just 48 for the Pride, WPU was 4-for-5 on fourth downs.  Conversely, CU converted just one of its nine third downs while also going 1-for-3 on fourth down.

The Statesmen defense stopped the home squad one final time near midfield and Andrews put an exclamation point on the win by crossing the goal line from four yards out in the final minute of play.  Andrews was a solid complement to Loring, tallying 55 rushing yards.

In addition to Hamilton's big day, Trey Mosley (Jr., Fort Dodge, Iowa, Kinesiology) also had four receptions; six different players caught a pass Saturday.

Donavin Brewer (So., Marion, Ark., Business Management) led the way defensively with six tackles, while Harlan Plumber (Sr., Bryan, Texas, Exercise Science) tacked on five of his own.

David Campbell (So., Miami Gardens, Fla., Sports Management) matched Lewis with two sacks as well.

"It is a great feeling to get another win under our belts," Head Coach Marc Benavidez said.  "Clarke gave us a fight for sure.  We are excited to move on to another big game next Saturday."

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to host Peru State in Heart North play at 2:30 p.m. for Homecoming.