FORT WAYNE IND. – The University of St. Francis (Ind.) extended its home winning streak to 53 straight games with a 55-0 win over the Iowa Wesleyan College football team on Saturday at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium.
The Cougars, ranked fourth nationally in the NAIA, scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half and then added 21 points in the third quarter to pull away from the Tigers, who dropped to 1-2 this season.
The Tigers posted 172 yards of total offense and finished just 2-for-16 on third-down conversions, struggling offensively for the second straight week against a powerful team. St. Francis had 600 yards of total offense and featured a balanced attack with 303 yards rushing and 297 yards passing.
USF also had several big plays to blow open a game that was still close late in the second quarter, even after the Tigers posted just 41 yards of offense in the first half. In fact, the Cougars’ lead was just 14-0 late in the second quarter when they took over deep in their own territory after a Josh Feliciano (So.-San Diego, Calif.) punt was downed at the one-yard line. Four plays later, though, quarterback Shaine Tierney connected with Brian Schultz for an 88-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0 with 2:59 left in the first half.
The Tigers then took over at their own 40 after the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, but IWC was stopped on a 4th-and-1 play and turned it over to USF near midfield. The Cougars then went 48 yards in six plays, with Daniel Carter scoring from six yards out with 28 seconds left in the half.
St. Francis blew it open in the second half with three more scores in the third quarter, including a recovery of a blocked punt in the end zone to make it 48-0. The Cougars added one more touchdown in the fourth quarter, while Wesleyan never got deeper than the USF 49-yard line in its efforts to get in the end zone in the final quarter.
Jaren Maybin (Sr.-Baltimore, Md.) rushed for 61 yards on 21 carries to lead IWC, while Alvin Williams (Fr.-Opelousas, La.) added 35 yards rushing. Kevin McConnell (Fr.-Kansas City, Mo.) split time at quarterback with starter T.J. Tolliver (Jr.-Bellwood, Ill.), and McConnell completed five of 10 passes for 102 yards. Lawrence Moore (Jr.-Country Club Hills, Ill.) had three catches for 45 yards to lead the Tiger receiving corps.
Darious Watson (Jr.-Bellwood, Ill.) led the Wesleyan defense with eight tackles, while Derek Stover (Fr.-Warner Robins, Ga.) added seven tackles. Dominique Richards (Jr.-Bronx, N.Y.) also had six tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery and Nate Washington (Fr.-Stone Mountain, Ga.) had five tackles and two pass breakups.
IWC gets to come back home for two straight home games now, starting with a meeting with McKendree (Ill.) University next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mapleleaf Stadium. The game will be the Tigers’ Mid-States Football Association Midwest League opener.
For more information regarding the IWC football program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score #4 USF 55 IWC 0
