WICHITA, Kan. – Eight fumbles and four fumbles lost on a rainy night in Wichita, but none of that mattered once Cole Thompson split the uprights on a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give the No. 21-ranked Friends University Falcons their first win over the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes since 2014 tonight (Sept. 21) at Adair-Austin Stadium.
The skid snapping win over KWU also gives the Falcons their first 4-0 start since the 2008 season.
Trailing 26-25 and backed up to the shadow of their own goal line, the Falcons turned to Jett Cheatham and got a 15-yard run for some breathing room and then a clutch 10-yard burst on third and 10 to advance the Falcons to their own 45.
Another pivotal play on the drive was a pass interference penalty by KWU on third and seven that set the Falcons up at the Coyote 27.
Following a four-yard run by K'Vonte Baker, Thompson trotted on and calmly hit the game-winning walk-off field goal that set up a massive celebration on the field for the Falcons.
"Very proud of Cole," said Friends football head coach Terry Harrison. "It takes a lot of guts to come back from some of our early mistakes. I am proud of him for nailing the final kick."
The game started in ominous fashion for the Falcons with fumbles on their first two possessions of the game before getting on the board on a 38-yard field goal by Thompson that made it 3-3 early in the second quarter.
The two teams then exchanged turnovers as Nolan Ewing intercepted a pass for Friends, but that was offset by another fumble lost and KWU paid it off with Talen Cope's second field goal of the night with 7:32 left in the first half.
The Falcons finally had a sustained drive on their next possession when Baker rushed for 33 yards and then scored from one-yard out to give the Falcons their first lead of the night at 10-6.
But KWU closed out the half strong, getting a 54-yard field goal by Cole Segraves as time expired to cut the Falcon lead to 10-9 at halftime.
Friends kept the momentum going in the first drive of the second half when Elias Pino ripped off a 24-yard run before Baker hit Austin Pratt for a 34-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to eight points at 17-9.
But the momentum was short-lived as Luke Armstrong ran the ensuing kickoff back 95 yards to again make it a one-point game.
The turnover bug then hit the Falcons again when Baker was sacked and fumbled to halt a promising drive and give the Coyotes the ball back at their own 34-yard line.
A 42-yard pass from Byron McNair to Caleb Smith set up another field goal by Cope to put the Coyotes in front again 19-17.
The Falcons responded in a big way and kept the back-and-forth action going on the next possession, with a 22-yard run by Baker and a 23-yard scamper by Kerrion Hadnot leading to Pino running in for a 10-yard touchdown and then converting the two-point conversion for a 25-19 lead.
The offenses then cooled down a bit for a stretch, with each team punting on their next two drives until Armstrong got free for a 37-yard score to give the Coyotes a 26-25 lead with 5:20 left in the game.
Friends immediately threatened when Cheatham passed 51 yards to Maxwell Delgado Williams, but Thompson's 30-yard field goal was blocked to allow the Coyotes to hang onto the lead.
But the Falcon defense stood strong and forced a three and out to give the offense a chance to pull out the win that they would fully capitalize on.
Pino (134 yards) and Baker (110 yards) paced the Falcon ground attack, with Cheatham completing both of his passes to Delgado Williams for 99 yards.
Armstrong ran for 79 yards for KWU (1-3) and McNair had 85 yards passing.
Ewing led the Falcons with six tackles, while Marco Torres and Andrew Arnold each had a sack. Torres had 2.5 tackles for loss and Demarieo Sims had two stops behind the line of scrimmage. Barrett Roads and Leshaon Davis also each had half a sack for Friends.
Quatama Massaquoi and Jamison Price each had a team-leading eight tackles for the Coyotes.
The Falcons will next play at Tabor College Saturday afternoon (Sept. 28) starting at 1 pm in Hillsboro, Kan. before returning to Adair-Austin Stadium for Homecoming on Oct. 5 vs. Sterling College.
NOTE: Tonight's game was delayed 45 minutes due to lightning in the area.
