The Basics
Score: Evangel 28, William Penn 14
Records: Evangel (3-1); William Penn (1-3)
Site: Eagle Stadium
Final Statistics
NIXA, Mo. – Evangel relied on a stingy defense and a pair of first-half scoring tosses by Dyllan Decker to rebound from its first defeat of the season with a 28-14 victory over William Penn Friday evening at Eagle Stadium.
Behind a game-high 11 tackles by Koel Orchard, Evangel’s defense limited the Statesmen to 256 yards of total offense and recorded three times as many sacks (three) as pass completions allowed (one) for the contest.
Decker finished the night an efficient 15-of-18 passing for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while Sammy Robinson paced EU’s ground attack with 53 rushing yards and one touchdown.
EU set the tone early, forcing a fumble—its Heart Conference-leading 10th takeaway of the season—on William Penn’s first offensive snap of the night, then gained the ball deep in Statesmen territory on a muffed punt attempt to set up the game’s first scoring play. After Will Anoa’i came away with the loose football near midfield on WPU’s first drive of the night, EU stopped the Statesmen at the WPU 5 after punter Trapper Behm dropped the snap on a punt attempt.
Two plays later, Robinson gave EU a 7-0 lead with his four-yard scoring run.
Evangel added to its lead early in the second period, capping a 79-yard drive with a Decker-to-Josh Dennie 50-yard scoring strike to make it a 14-point advantage for the home club.
WPU responded with the first of its two 11-play scoring drives, as Archer Charles ripped off a 34-yard run before Ben Sherman plunged into the end zone from one yard out to slice the EU lead in half with just under five minutes to play in the opening half.
Evangel came right back with a lengthy drive of its own, ultimately extending its lead to 21-7 on Decker’s 18-yard touchdown toss to Haaken Friend with just 29 seconds left on the clock. Decker completed 5-of-6 passes for 55 yards on the 82-yard scoring drive.
William Penn turned in its longest drive of the game to open the third quarter, getting rushes of 28 and 19 yards from Rodney Hall before the Statesmen quarterback carried it in from four yards out to pull his club to within one score once again.
Hall rushed six times for 62 of WPU’s 85 yards on the drive, but that would be the last hurrah for the Statesmen. After the WPU stopped EU’s offense to force a Ryan Conner punt, it was Evangel’s time to shine on the defense once more.
Hall and Sherman moved the chains to the WPU 37 before the EU rush defense stiffened to stall the drive and force a punt. Nate Swofford‘s 16-yard return set up another key drive, as EU used three critical Decker completions to three different receivers to power a nine-play, 64-yard scoring drive. Jachin Like’ scored on an eight-yard run with 10:37 left in the game to stretch the lead to 14 points once again.
The Statesmen, who passed only two times in the game, engineered another ground-oriented drive that brought them into Evangel territory, only to see the EU defense tighten the screws again. On a second-and-12 attempt at the EU 39, the Cathey’s—Seth and Armani—teamed up to sack Hall for a two-yard loss, before Bradley Myers stripped Hall on fourth down to effectively seal the outcome.
Behind the running of Like’ and a 13-yard completion to Friend, Evangel ran out the clock to improve to 3-1 overall and 2-0 at home in 2021.
UP NEXT
Evangel will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, next Saturday (Sept. 25) for a 1 p.m. contest against nationally-ranked Grand View.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EUAthletics, Twitter (@EUAthletics), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the new Evangel Athletics Gameday App through Google Play.
