OSKALOOSA — The Statesmen football team earned a homecoming victory by defeating Missouri Baptist 48-14 in a Heart of America Athletic Conference North-South crossover game Saturday.
William Penn (6-1) got back in the win column and outgained Missouri Baptist 451-322, including a 201-136 edge in rushing. This game sealed a winning record for the Statesmen for the first time since the 2020 season.
On the first drive of the game Missouri Baptist had the ball to the William Penn 6-yard line before fumbling the ball away to Sherman Johnson (So., Tampa, Fla., Sports Management) and the Statesmen.
Both the Spartans and Statesmen struggled on the offensive side of the ball in the first quarter, unable to score.
Early in the second quarter Missouri Baptist drove the ball to the Statesmen 13-yard line before Marquis Harry (So., Pompano Beach, Fla., Business Management) took back an 86-yard pick-six, the longest interception return for a touchdown by the Statesmen since 2018.
Missouri Baptist responded with a touchdown of its own to tie the score at 7-7.
The next time the Statesmen had possession, Sterling Ramsey II (Sr., Broken Arrow, Okla., Business Management) found Amir Everett (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Sports Management) for a 92-yard touchdown pass.
The was the longest passing touchdown in William Penn history. The previous record was an 87-yard touchdown, when Ramsey threw a touchdown to Trey Mosley against MidAmerica Nazarene in 2023. This also tied the all-time scoring play record of 92-yards, set on a touchdown run by Donald Carpenter in 2001 against Bethel.
Everett had a stellar day, leading the Statesmen receivers with 3 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
The next drive for William Penn saw Destynd Loring (Sr., Charleston, S.C., Sports Management) break away for a 39-yard touchdown run, pushing the score to 21-7, which would stay the score until the end of the first half.
Loring finished the game having carried the ball 16 times for 193 yards and three touchdowns on the day.
The Statesmen suffered a poor start to the second half on offense when the Spartans defense came up with a quick interception.
Missouri Baptist drive started at the William Penn 28-yard line, but the Statesmen defense held strong, forcing a failed fourth-down attempt at the William Penn 19-yard line.
When William Penn took over on offense, the possession saw a 42-yard toss from Ramsey to Rafael Irizarry (Sr., Cypress, Texas, Engineering Technology). Loring finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run: his second of the day.
The next Statemen drive went for nine plays and 87 yards before being capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run at the hands of Zachary Crump (Fr., Jackson, Mo.). This was Crump’s first touchdown for William Penn and gave the Statesmen a 35-7 lead.
Once the fourth quarter came, the Spartans were able to find the endzone for its second and final score of the day.
William Penn responded quickly on only the second play of the next drive with a 75-yard touchdown run by Loring: his third and final time finding the endzone against the Spartans.
The Missouri Baptist drive was short lived and saw the Spartans punt the ball away after a three-and-out.
After the punt, William Penn’s offense started with an impressive catch by Kendrick Canon (So., North Miami, Fla., Wellness and Recreation) for 31-yards. The Statesmen worked the ball down field until Alexander Price (Sr., Dallas, Texas, Sports Management) caught a pass from Ramsey for a 1-yard touchdown.
Sterling Ramsey II finished 12-for-17 for 250 yards and two scores.
The Statesmen defense held strong for the final Spartan drive before the ball was punted back to the navy and gold, who were then able to drain the clock to the final whistle.
Defensively, Omari Campbell (Jr., Pompano Beach, Fla., Sports Management) led William Penn in tackles with nine. Marquis Harry led the Statesmen in tackles-for-loss with 1.5.
“Proud of how our team showed up and controlled all three phases of the game.” Head Coach Marc Benavidez said, “A great team win in front of a great crowd of family and alumni! We challenged our guys to stay focused over the bye and during homecoming week and they showed up to perform!”
