Offense struggles as Bethel knocks off Coyotes 13-8
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

The Kansas Wesleyan offense struggled throughout the night as the No. 20 ranked Coyotes dropped the season opener 13-8 to Bethel on Saturday night at Salina Stadium.

Wesleyan only had 94 yards of total offense heading into the fourth quarter, when the Coyotes turned to the air, racking up 80 yards of offense in the final frame, finishing with 174 for the game.

With the offense not clicking, the Coyotes turned to the defense to set-up the only score of the game for Wesleyan. Scott Moore stripped Bethel’s Beau Cox at the KWU-16 with 2:36 left in the fourth and scooped up the loose ball and scampered down the field and appeared to set the Coyotes up inside the Bethel 10, but a clipping penalty during the return forced Wesleyan to start at its own 43 yard line.

Drew Dallas, in his first year with Wesleyan after transferring from Fort Hays State, led the Coyotes down to the Bethel-9, converting a fourth-and-11 play to Jason Dolan with 1:52 left. Dallas’ next pass appeared to be picked off in the endzone by Brandon Kaufman, but a defensive pass interference call on the play gave the Coyotes first-and-goal at the Bethel-2, where Dallas hit John Pope on a corner fade pass with 1:34 left, getting the Coyotes within seven at 13-6.

The Coyotes used a little trickery on the PAT. Steven Valliere took the handoff from Dallas and then fired a pass to Pope for the two-point conversion getting Wesleyan within five at 13-8.

The Coyotes would go for an onside kick, and appeared to recover the kick, but the officials ruled that the player who caught the ball had stepped out of bounds, giving Bethel the ball at the KWU-25, where they ran out the clock for the win.

Wesleyan’s offense did not see the Bethel side of the field the entire first half, finally getting into Thresher territory on its first drive of the third quarter.

The usual stout Wesleyan defense was shredded for 335 yards of offense by the Threshers, who had 184 on the ground and 151 in the air.

The Coyotes (0-1, 0-1) were led on the ground by Valliere, who carried 17 times for 41 yards, while Dallas added three carries for nine yards. Wesleyan only managed 55 yards rushing as a team. Dallas was 10-of-26 passing in the game for 119 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Derryl Hill led the way with four catches for 70 yards, while Jason Dolan had two grabs for 26 yards.

Bethel racked up 335 yards of total offense and were led on the ground by Beau Cox with 26 carries for 80 yards, while Josh Rogers had three carries for 50 yards and Anthony Melton had six carries for 40 yards. Brett Clow was 11-of-19 passing for 147 yards, while Rogers added 1-for-2 passing for four yards for the Threshers.

Up next for the Coyotes is a trip to McPherson to take on the Bulldogs next Saturday at McPherson Stadium at 7:00 p.m.

-- KWU SI --