OSKALOOSA — The Statesmen football team was outdueled in a rare Thursday night game, falling 52-0 to #2 Grand View in its Heart of America Athletic Conference North opener.

In the fight for the Rock and Ladder Trophy, William Penn (2-4, 0-1 North) struggled out of the gate as the first play of the contest went in favor of the Vikings (7-0, 1-0 North) in the form of a touchdown, putting the Statesmen on their heels early.

Offensively, the navy and gold could not find any success in their first drive, being forced into a three-and-out.  The WPU defense took the field again and slowed GVU to just a field goal.  Unfortunately, the Statesmen saw an interception (the lone turnover of the game for either squad) returned for a touchdown on their ensuing possession, making the score 17-0 after one quarter of action.

Little changed in the second quarter as the Statesmen permitted two more touchdowns and entered the locker room down 31-0.  At game’s end, WPU was outgained 483-80 in total yards.

William Penn was unable to get much traction versus Grand View in the second half as the Vikings tacked on three more touchdowns.  The Statemen did force GVU into a pair of fourth-quarter punts, but failed to come up with a takeaway.

William Penn played two quarterbacks in the game, but starter Emilio Monsivais (Grad., St. Louis, Mo., Master’s of Sports Management) had his night ended early with an injury.  He finished 11-for-15 passing for 59 yards, while Sterling Ramsey II (Fr., Tulsa, Okla., Business Management) came off the bench and played the entire second half.  Ramsey II completed three of his 10 throws for 15 yards.

The defense was led by Jagger Blubaugh (Jr., Wichita, Kan., Exercise Science) with a team-best 18 tackles, including nine solo stops.  Harlan Plumber (Jr., Bryan, Texas, Exercise Science) also eclipsed double figures with 12 tackles (one for loss), while Jaden Curtis (Sr., Glendale, Ariz., Digital Communication) and Jhquan Bass (So., Cordelle, Ga., Sports Management) combined for the crew’s lone sack of Grand View’s quarterbacks.

“This is not how we envisioned the game going,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said.  “They have an outstanding football team and we did not play up to that level.  We will take a couple days off and refocus and get ready to play a very good Peru State team next weekend.”

Next Up: William Penn will travel to Peru, Neb. next Saturday for a Heart North game at 1 p.m.