William Penn pulls away from Pride late in 28-7 final
OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Playing in their fifth road game of the 2024 season, the Clarke University football team saw William Penn University pull away from them late on the way to a 28-7 Statesmen victory.
A defensive battle early, only one possession in the entire first half resulted in points as WPU would break the scoreless tie with 5:30 left in the second quarter on a Destynd Loring one-yard touchdown run that finished a drive that took eight plays to go 28 yards.
The first half saw 241 total yards of offense between the two teams but an inability to put points on the board with two missed field goal attempts, four interceptions, two turnovers on downs, and three punts finished 11 of the 12 first half drives.
The Statesmen would add on to their 7-0 halftime lead out of the locker room, starting the second half receiving the kickoff and driving 48 yards on four plays for Loring to score his second of three touchdowns on the day with a 10-yard run just 2:19 into the third quarter.
Late in the third quarter, the Pride offense would finally show some life as they would cut the WPU lead in half on a 51-yard touchdown run from Jaden Alveranga for his third rushing touchdown of the season to make it 14-7 right with 1:58 remaining in the third.
The very next William Penn possession, Gabe Guyton would produce some momentum for the Pride with his teaml-leading fourth interception of the season and return it to the Clarke 43 yard line as a Statesmen penalty pushed CU into WPU territory to start the drive.
Just four plays later, the Statesmen would force a Clarke fumble and get the ball right back right around midfield and answer with a Sterling Ramsxey II touchdown pass to Branden Powell to put the game back to a two-possession lead.
Clarke would be unable to get the ball across midfield for the remainder of the game as Loring sealed the game away with his third touchdown, a seven-yard run, to cap off his 157-yard, three-touchdown game with 1:29 remaining in the game to put it at the eventual final of 28-7.
CU's three interceptions of William Penn passes came from Jordan Summage, Mysun Rush-Esdaile, and Guyton as Guyton also forced and recovered a fumble on the day while being the team's second-leading tackler with five solos and four assists while Bryan Valdes led all players with 14 tackles on the day with 2.5 tackles for a loss of seven total yards.
Pride football will return home for two-straight home games to start off the month of November when they first host Baker University at Dalzell Field for a 1:00 p.m. CT kickoff on Nov. 2 against the Wildcats.