OSKALOOSA — The William Penn Statesmen football team defeated the Peru State Bobcats 42-21 at home in North Division play Saturday.
William Penn (8-1) outgained the Bobcats by a tight 412-404 margin in a cold and rainy contest to earn their eighth win of the season to stay in the playoff hunt for the Heart of America Athletic Conference ‘Clash of the Week’.
Peru State started on offense and drove 59 yards in 17 plays to take 10:58 off the clock before the William Penn came up with the stop to force a 21-yard field goal.
The Statesmen responded with a touchdown quickly and scored in 6 plays, finished off by a 35 yard touchdown pass when Sterling Ramsey II (Sr., Broken Arrow, Okla., Business Management) found Rafael Irizarry (Sr., Cypress, Texas, Engineering Technology) wide open on the right side of the field.
Ramsey had a solid outing, completing 12-22 for 273 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bobcats had a short drive going before coughing the ball up to Sherman Johnson (So., Tampa, Fla., Sports Management) and the Statesmen defense at the William Penn 38-yard line.
To go along with the fumble recovery, Johnson finished the competition with 6 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
William Penn’s offense took over and saw the first quarter come to an end with a 7-3 advantage for the Statesmen.
The next few drives came up futile for both squads as neither were able to put points on the board.
This came to an end after a short punt by Rafael Irizarry gave the Bobcats possession at the William Penn 31-yard line. On the second play of the drive Marquis Harry (So., Pompano Beach, Fla., Business Management) took back an 89-yard pick-six, his third interception returned for a touchdown in as many games.
The three defensive touchdown tied Cody Hackett in 2005 and Winston Green in 2016 for the most defensive touchdowns in a season by a Statesmen since the stat was first recorded, starting in 2001.
Peru State put together a drive in response that ended in a field goal to make the score 14-6. Each team struggled on offense and the score stayed the same until halftime.
William Penn’s opening drive of the second half was short lived and the Bobcats took advantage of a short field to score and, after two-point conversion, tied the game at 14-14.
The next drive for William Penn went 91-yards over 11 plays. Destynd Loring (Sr., Charleston, S.C., Sports Management) highlighted the drive with a run of 18 yards as well as a reception for 30. A 3-yard touchdown run by Loring gave the Statesmen the 21-14 lead.
Loring led the Statesmen backfield again this week with 24 carries for 140 yards and two touchdowns. In the receiving game he also had 4 catches for 48 yards.
After a quick 3-and-out, the navy-and-gold offense was back on the field. A few plays into the drive, Alexander Price (Sr., Dallas, Texas, Sports Management) caught a pass in stride from Ramsey and left the defense in the dust for a 69-yard touchdown.
The Statesmen defense forced another 3-and-out and the offense took over at its own 13-yard line. On the first play of the drive Branden Powell (So., Waco, Texas, Kinesiology) hauled in a 41-yard pass from Ramsey. On the very next play Loring broke free for a 39-yard run, making it to the Peru State 8-yard line. The Statesmen made the score 35-14 after Sterling Ramsey II found Kendrick Canon (So., North Miami, Fla., Wellness and Recreation) from 8 yards out for the touchdown. The score stayed the same until the end of the third quarter.
Peru State failed a 4th-down conversion attempt on its next drive and William Penn took over the ball at the Bobcats 48-yard line. The next two plays were runs by Destynd Loring. The first was for 14 yards, the next was a breakaway 34-yard touchdown.
The touchdown was the 21st for Destynd Loring on the season, the most in William Penn history. The previous record was held by Taylor Parson with 20 rushing scores in 2010.
In response, the Bobcats scored for the last time of the contest.
The next time the Statesmen defense was on the field, Jeremiah Dennard (So., St., Petersburg, Fla., Business Management) came up with the second William Penn interception for the day.
After the interception the Statesmen offense pulled its starters and rode out the clock to a 42-21 victory.
The win was the first time William Penn has defeated Peru State in nine years over 7 meetings.
Defensively, Lloydarius Garner led William Penn in tackles with eight; he also shared a sack with Quincy Classeus (So., Pompano Beach, Fla., Business Management). Marquis Harry had a pick-six and broke up three passes. Dennard also had an interception and five tackles.
“It was a great team win, glad we could finally get over the hump and beat those guys! Couldn’t be prouder of our guys and how they respond to adversity! Biggest game of the season up ahead!”
