Salina, Kan. — In a scary good offensive display by both teams, it was the Friends University Falcon defensive unit that made a final stop to pave the way for a 49-48 victory at the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes in a KCAC Bissell Division matchup today (Oct. 31) in Salina, Kan.
After Caleb Deal threw his fifth touchdown of the day to make it a one-point game with 21 seconds left,
Amare Johnson broke up Deal's two-point pass attempt and the Falcons recovered the ensuing onside kick to close out the big victory.
In a game that featured just two punts (both by the Coyotes), Friends started quick by turning an onside-kick recovery at the Kansas Wesleyan 44 into a three-play opening touchdown drive, with
E'derian Sykes rushing 32 yards on the first snap and finishing from four yards out before
Connor Tillman's extra point made it 7-0.
After AJ Woods hit from 41 yards out to make the score 7-3, Sykes returned the kickoff 28 yards to help the Falcons add another short-field touchdown on
Nick Cordova's 2-yard run after gains of 20 yards by
Elon Conley and 15 by
Walker Overman.
Kansas Wesleyan answered with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Deal to Daylan Moore as the Falcons carried a 14-10 lead into the second quarter.
Friends generated two long second-quarter touchdown drives, first going 89 yards with a 44-yard
Joey Millspaugh run before Conley scored from five yards out. After Deal threw another touchdown pass, the Falcons this time went 83 yards, with
Michael Lopez breaking a 28-yard run and later scoring from three yards to push the lead to 28-17. Following a missed field goal by Woods and an interception by
DJ Dingle, KWU scored again with 22 seconds left on a nine-yard pass from Deal to Kevo Taylor to cut the Falcon lead to 28-24 at the half.
Friends put together the third quarter's key response with a 12-play, 67-yard drive that ended on Dingle's 2-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead to 35-27 after the Coyotes began the half with a 10-play drive that ended with a 31-yard field goal by Woods. The Coyotes then continued the pinball affair when Deal found Taylor for a 36-yard touchdown pass the next possession to again make it a one-point game at 35-34.
With the game now even at 42-42 after a seven-yard scoring run by Dingle was answered with a Troy Sylve one-yard rushing score and a successful two-point conversion, the Falcons came right back with a critical seven-play, 80-yard drive, getting runs of 16 yards from Millspaugh, 11 from Sykes and 27 from Dingle before Cordova scored from 9 yards out to regain a 49-42 lead with 2:55 left.
Sykes rushed for a team-high 117 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. Lopez added 111 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Dingle ran for 74 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries along with completing one pass for 43 yards.
Zamarion Manuel led Friends defensively with 10 tackles and
Cooper Skrobecki had a sack.
Deal completed 34 of 55 passes for 489 yards and five touchdowns and Will Wilcox caught 13 passes for 154 yards for the Coyotes (6-3 2-1 KCAC Bissell). Taylor added six receptions for 96 yards and three touchdowns and caught a conversion pass. Myles Elam recorded a team-high 16 tackles.
The Falcons, now 8-1 on the season and 2-1 in KCAC Bissell Division action, will play next Saturday (Nov. 7) at Sterling College for their final regular season road game. Kickoff is set for 1 pm in Sterling, Kan.
