WICHITA, Kan. — The No. 9-ranked Friends University Falcons ran for 505 yards and six touchdowns in a 61-10 victory over the Avila University Eagles in their home opener and Senior Night (Sept. 5) at Adair-Austin Stadium.
After each team exchanged early turnovers, the Falcons turned two rushing drives into first-quarter touchdowns, with
Elon Conley scoring from 29 yards and
Nick Cordova adding an 11-yard run. The defense also limited the Eagles first two possessions after
Brock Zerger recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff return.
Friends turned its second-quarter rushing game into two more touchdown drives, going 80 yards that
Walker Overman capped from 22 yards out and later covering 75 yards with
E'derian Sykes finishing from the six.
The Eagles got on the board on Joseph Vick's 14-yard pass to Javrin Singleton with 1:53 left, but the Falcons had a big response before halftime with Sykes' scoring run on the next possession and
Zamarion Manuel intercepting Vick with 10 seconds remaining as the Falcons led 27-7 at the half.
Friends came out of the gate quickly in the third quarter with a three-play, 55-yard scoring drive, as Cordova's runs of 12 and 38 yards set up Sykes' 5-yard touchdown for a 34-7 score. The defense continued to keep the Eagles at bay in the quarter and added points late when
Mikah Rocco recovered a fumble and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown with 12 seconds left in the third.
The Falcons continued to break things open and produced 21 fourth-quarter points after Kole Krejny's 31-yard field goal for Avila, getting a 12-yard touchdown run from
Evan Cantu, a 64-yard punt return score by
Michael Lopez and a 45-yard touchdown pass from
DJ Dingle to
Kade Clifton that put an exclamation point on the scoring for the night.
Connor Tillman made all three extra-point attempts in the quarter, including after the one-play Dingle-to-Clifton drive with 3:35 left to finish off the victory.
"Our guys did a really good job, we're at this weird spot of how you find joy in winning but at the same time the last two games we've struggled getting out of the gate," said Friends football head coach
Terry Harrison. "When we didn't turn the ball over we had some really successful drives. Coming out in the second half and starting off with a score was awesome."
Cordova finished with a team-high 97 rushing yards and one touchdown on eight carries to lead a balanced Falcon rushing attack. Sykes scored two rushing touchdowns and added 73 yards on 10 carries while Overman had 81 yards on the ground with a touchdown. Lopez returned two punts for 65 yards, including the one touchdown, and added 36 rushing yards. Conley had 67 yards on five carries and also scored a touchdown. Rocco recovered a fumble and returned it 49 yards for a defensive score.
Vick completed 14 of 20 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles. Patrick Anderson Jr. rushed 15 times for 87 yards and caught four passes for 27 yards. Javrin Singleton finished with three receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. Andreas Hampton recorded a team-high 11 tackles.
Mario Gobert,
Cooper Skrobecki and
Tyson Wallace each contributed a team-leading eight tackles for the Falcons, with Wallace recording 2.5 tackles for loss.
Cale Milleson had five stops with 1.5 sacks.
The Falcons will next hit the road and play at Bethel College on Saturday (Sept. 12) at 6 pm in North Newton, Kan.
