Coyote rally falls short as Sterling tops Wesleyan in overtime
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Kansas Wesleyan rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter, only to lose a heartbreaker 34-28 in overtime to Sterling on Saturday at Smisor Stadium.

The Coyotes trailed 28-14 with 13:39 left in the game, but put together two scoring drives and were able to tie things up at 28-all with 25.1 seconds left in regulation on a four-yard pass from Justin Schropp to Andy Bean, and Michael Barry’s kick.

In overtime, Wesleyan won the toss, and elected to take the second possession. Jake Buchanan hit Josh Oberle from 12 yards out to give Sterling the lead, and a fake PAT kick attempt was fumbled and recovered by Simeon Seiler, but he was caught before he could reach the endzone for a Defensive PAT.

Schropp was forced to throw the ball away on the first play of the Wesleyan overtime possession and was stopped for a three yard loss on second down. On third down, Schropp found Ernest Ballenger in the endzone, but the pass deflected off Ballenger’s shoulder and was picked off by Derek Schneider in the end zone, sealing the win for Sterling.

Wesleyan threw an interception on its first play of the game. Darell Grames took the opening handoff and tossed it back to Schropp, who threw to an open Andy Bean down the middle, but Craig Mans jumped up and made the pick at the Sterling 16 yard line.

Sterling got to the KWU-30, when Buchanan threw a backward pass to A.B. Stokes that was picked up by Mike Holst and returned 61 yards to the Sterling-4, setting up a one-yard Grames run two plays later, and Barry’s kick gave Wesleyan a 7-0 lead.

The Warriors had another chance to score in the first, but after an intentional grounding call on Sterling, Buchanan’s fourth down pass into the endzone was picked off by KWU’s Chase Weber, one of five Sterling turnovers on the day.

Sterling then capped an eight play, 50 yard drive with a 12-yard pass from Buchanan to Tyler Degenhardt to tie things up with 14:13 left in the second quarter. The Warriors grabbed a 14-7 lead with 8:49 left as Buchanan kept it scoring from 13-yards out, and Ryan Heughan’s kick was good.

Wesleyan used a 50-yard run later in the quarter by Schropp to set up its next score. After a Sterling penalty gave the Coyotes first and five at the KWU-18, Schropp rolled out looking to option to Grames, but cut up field, and made a great stop and go move to get past a couple Sterling defenders before being forced out of bounds at the Sterling-32. Four plays later, Grames converted a huge fourth and one with a nine-yard option run, and then Schropp used his legs again for the scoring play from 11-yards out to tie the score at 14-all with Barry’s kick.

Sterling was picked off again on its next possession as Buchanan looked to Stokes, but the ball careened off Stokes and was intercepted by Willie Johnson at the KWU-11. The Coyotes ran four plays and headed to the locker room with a 14-all tie.

Neither team was able to get any offense going on its first two drives of the second half. Sterling however turned to its special teams for the go ahead score with 6:55 left in the third. After the KWU drive stalled at its own 31, Jarod Fronce’s punt was blocked by Justin Hejny and picked up by Josh Oberle who went15 yards for the score, and Heughan’s kick gave the Warriors a 21-14 lead.

The Warriors regained possession after another stalled Wesleyan drive and marched 74 yards in 10 plays to go ahead 28-14 with 13:39 left in the fourth. The drive was extended by two big plays, a 14 yard pass from Buchanan to Stokes on third and eight, and a 26-yard run by Langvardt to give Sterling first and goal at the seven. Two plays later, Buchanan found Stokes wide open in the endzone from nine yards out for the score.

On Sterling’s next drive, Langvardt was stripped by Mike Holst, and Fernando Vargas jumped on the ball to give the Coyotes the ball at the Sterling 27. The Coyotes took advantage of the short field, covering 27 yards in six plays, capped by a Darell Grames tailback pass to Marcus Lowe in the back of the endzone from three yards out with 6:39 left.

Sterling was able to get 30 yards on the first two plays of its next drive, but a holding call negated a 26 yard pass play that would have given the Warriors first down on the KWU-20. Sterling could get no further than its own 48 the rest of the drive, forcing a Heughan punt.

The Coyotes took over with 2:59 left, and turned to Schropp to move the ball down the field. After Grames was stopped for a one-yard loss on the first play of the drive, Wesleyan went to Schropp for a spark. He completed for straight passes, including a 20-yard catch and run to Lowe. After an incompletion and a short pass to Michael Donald, Schropp scrambled for 10 yards on third and three for a first down. Two plays later, Schropp found Lowe again for 13 yards and a first down at the Sterling 22. Andy Bean then made two phenomenal catches, including a one-handed snag for a first down at the Warrior 11. A seven-yard catch and run to Grames set up Schropp’s four-yard pass to Andy Bean for the score, and Barry’s kick tied it at 28-all.

Buchanan hit Stokes and Oberle to get the Warriors into KWU territory, but his hail mary pass as time expired was intercepted in the endzone by Willie Johnson, sending the game into overtime, where Sterling was able to get the big win.

Schropp led the Coyotes (7-2, 6-2) in rushing with 93 yards on 11 carries, while Grames added 64 yards on 24 carries. Grames needs just one yard to move into third place on the all-time career rushing list at KWU. Schropp was 16-of-26 passing for 122 yards and a score, while Grames had the one pass for three yards and a touchdown. Six different Coyotes caught at least two passes led by Lowe with four catches for 40 yards.
Sterling ate up the yards, with 409 yards of total offense, including 255 rushing, led by Langvardt with 12 carries for 27 yards, while Stokes had nine for 68 yards, and Buchanan had 17 carries for 67 yards. Buchanan was 11-of-24 passing for 154 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Stokes led the Warrior receivers with four catches for 48 yards and one score.

The Coyotes conclude the regular season on next Saturday at home against arch-rival Bethany College at 1:30 PM at Martin Stadium.

-- KWU SI --