Kansas Wesleyan provided a template on how it should be done Saturday.
The defense and special teams scored two touchdowns apiece and the offense crossed the goal line four times as the Coyotes steamrolled Kansas Conference rival Bethany 54-16 at Ted Kessinger Family Stadium.
It was KWU’s 10th consecutive victory and 12th in the last 13 games in the 114th game of the series. The Coyotes improved to 1-1 while Bethany fell to 0-2.
“The percentages tell you the chances of you winning the game go up if you get one of those,” KWU coach Matt Myers said. “You get a bunch of those (the percentages) go up astronomically. That’s what you want out of a Saturday. It was good to see everyone execute and go out and get a win.”
Tailback Luke Armstrong had a gargantuan day with 168 yards rushing on just eight carries – an average of 21 yards per attempt – and included scoring jaunts of 90 yards in the first quarter and 30 yards in the third quarter. He also returned a kickoff 85 yards for KWU’s first touchdown of the day in the first quarter.
Defensively Quatama Massaquoi and James Preston intercepted passes and returned them for touchdowns late in the second quarter. Colby Klieman also had an interception.
After a slow start that saw Bethany take a 16-12 lead early in the second quarter the Coyotes caught fire and it quickly became a raging inferno.
Zarek Fewell scored from 3-yard line for the Coyotes capping a 62-yard, seven-play drive that made it 19-16 with 5:39 left in the first half.
Bethany drove to the KWU 21 on its next possession, but Massaquoi made the play that turned the game around when he intercepted a Landry Shields’ pass at the 5 and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown and a 19-16 lead with 1:35 left in the half.
James Preston quickly added insult to injury by intercepting a Shields’ pass and returning 38 yards for a score with 21 seconds remaining that gave the Coyotes a shocking 33-16 advantage at the break.
“Quatama just went up and made an excellent play,” Myers said. “The second one we were just making sure we get into halftime. I wasn’t going to blow any time outs and give them the opportunity to get a first down and maybe try to go get points before half. Then Preston made a big play – it was just good to see.”
The Coyotes led at halftime despite the fact Bethany ran 49 plays the first 30 minutes compared to 16 for KWU.
Armstrong’s 30-yard touchdown run increased the lead to 40-16 with 10:50 left in the third quarter and preceded another special teams’ gem two minutes later. Dejaylon Beal blocked a Bethany punt and Preston recovered it in the end zone that made it 47-16 at the 8:51 mark of the quarter.
Byron McNair hit Latavion Staples with a 16-yard touchdown pass for the final points of the game with 7:44 left. It came three plays after Klieman’s interception that he returned 33 yards to the Bethany 42.
KWU missed a scoring opportunity on its first drive of the game when McNair fumbled at the Bethany 3 after a 15-yard run. McNair had hit Earl Gray with a 46-yard pass to the Bethany 19 two plays earlier.
Klieman, the son of Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, had 10 tackles in addition to the interception from his strong safety position. Daniel Cabrera had a team-best 11 tackles that included a sack.
McNair was 6 of 14 passing for 163 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Gray and Nate Hays had two receptions each, Gray for 95 yards and Hays 39 yards.
Shields was 17 of 31 for 274 yards with two touchdowns and the three interceptions. Michael Young caught seven passes for 122 yards. Bethany had 123 yards rushing on 44 carries – just 2.8 yards per carry.
The Swedes scored on the second play of the second quarter on Shields’ 77-yard pass to Jacob Madu, but the Wesleyan defense suffocated them the rest of the game.
Myers was pleased with his team’s resolve and resilience after losing to No. 14 Evangel in the season opener.
“We needed a big bounce-back performance and we got that today,” he said. “We need to take this momentum and roll it into Southwestern next week.”
Kickoff for the Southwestern game will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at JRI Stadium and the Graves Family Sports Complex.
