LEAVENWORTH – Another near-perfect first half produced another Kansas Conference and Bissell Division victory for Kansas Wesleyan.
The Coyotes thoroughly dominated the first 30 minutes and rolled to a 38-19 victory over Saint Mary on Saturday afternoon at Charles Berkel Memorial Stadium. They led Avila 35-3 at halftime enroute to a 38-3 victory a week earlier.
KWU improves to 3-3 overall, 2-0 in the Gene Bissell Division. Saint Mary falls to 1-6 and 0-2.
A juggernaut rushing attack paved the way Saturday as the Coyotes finished with 384 yards on 38 attempts – a whopping 10.1 yards per carry.
Luke Armstrong had 264 yards on 19 carries – an average of 13.9 yards – and scored three touchdowns. He scored on a one-yard run in the first quarter for KWU’s first score and scored twice in the second quarter on runs of 96 and 63 yards. He had 203 yards on 10 carries at halftime.
Zarek Fewell had a huge game as well, gaining 115 yards on 17 carries. He accounted for the Coyotes’ second touchdown of the day on one-yard run later in the first quarter.
“We’re pretty blessed to have Fewell and Luke,” KWU co-interim head coach Chris Snyder said on the postgame radio show. “It’s literally a 1A and 1B punch and the O-line played great. I thought coach (James) Bauer (offensive coordinator) did an amazing job of running what was working.”
After punting on their initial possession, the Coyotes scored six of the next seven times they had the ball.
Leading 14-0 following Armstrong and Fewell’s touchdowns the Spires’ attempted a fake punt on fourth down but a pass by their punter fell incomplete. Richard Lara promptly threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Woody Banks on the first play from scrimmage making it 21-0 with 45 seconds left in the quarter.
After a USM punt early in the second quarter pinned the Coyotes back at their 4-yard line Armstrong took a handoff and sprinted 96 yards for a touchdown that Wesleyan a 28-0 lead with 11:03 left in the half.
Colby Klieman’s interception on the Spires’ next possession gave the Coyotes the ball at the Saint Mary 39 and five plays later Talon Cope kicked a 39-yard field goal to push the lead to 31-0 with 8:10 left in the half.
Saint Mary scored on Raymond Webster’s 37-yard run with 1:52 remaining making it 31-7. On KWU’s first play following the kickoff Armstrong was off to the races once more going 63 yards for his third touchdown of the half and gave the Coyotes the 31-point halftime advantage.
Lara and Byron McNair alternated at quarterback once again. Lara was 9 of 14 passing for 60 yards and one touchdown while McNair was 1 of 3 for 17 yards. Banks had four catches for 42 yards.
It was another solid day for the defense as well. The Spires had 366 total yards, but quarterback Cesar Vela was 15 of 30 passing for 121 yards, one touchdown and the three interceptions.
Deyondre Gomez and Quatama Massaquoi had first half interceptions along with Klieman. Myles Elam had nine tackles and Jordan Diggins had seven tackles.
“I think coach (Nolan) Jones and his staff had a great (defensive) gameplan,” Snyder said. “Really good effort by the kids. I couldn’t say anything more, really proud of them.”
The Coyotes play their next two games Gene Bissell Field at JRI Stadium and the Graves Family Sports Complex starting with Tabor at 1 p.m. next Saturday. The Bluejays (4-4, 2-0 Bissell) defeated Avila 41-28 Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.
“(Saint Mary) made a run in the second half and we had some adversity but I thought for the most part we handled it pretty decent,” Snyder said. “The kids got off the bus ready to go. That’s always your fear as a coach on a long road trip and having to be on the bus at 7 (a.m.).
“It’s always good to win, it’s one of the hardest things to do especially in football at any level. It’s hard because everybody is going to have their fair share of good players too so it’s something you don’t want to take for granted.”
