(Evangel Sports Information)
OZARK, Mo. – The Evangel football team was unable to overcome an early deficit Saturday afternoon, falling 20-25 to William Penn in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
The Crusaders quickly erased a 13-point advantage for the Statesmen after Darrius Lee capped an 8-play 65-yard drive with his first touchdown. Evangel pulled within a point when Taylor Green captured a William Penn fumble on an option pitch for a touchdown pulling the Crusaders within 14-13 with 9:11 left before halftime.
However, William Penn answered with a 9-play 82-yard drive that included a fake punt on fourth down to set up the 3-yard touchdown run.
Evangel would answer again with a 34-yard field goal from Derek Roberts after the ensuing drive stalled at the William Penn 18-yard line. Roberts would connect again from 47-yards later in the fourth quarter, as he is now 4-for-5 on the season.
William Penn took the 19-17 lead into the locker room at halftime and both teams stalled on offense, being able to move the ball, but only the Statesmen would find the end zone. WPU scored on a 74-yard pass with 6:15 left in the third quarter to push its lead to 25-17.
Evangel answered on Roberts’ second field goal with 4:10 left in the game, but was unable to get the ball back after consecutive first downs from the Statesmen sealed the win.
Cameron Hardesty was 20-of-29 for 259 yards, finding 11 different receivers in the loss. Chance Smith caught five passes for 33-yards while Trey Talley added three catches for a team-high 59-yards.
Lee was the leading rusher for Evangel with 33-yards on nine carries and the only offensive touchdown.
William Penn outgained Evangel 407 to 276 in total offense. Each team tallied two turnovers, one each for both teams that resulted in a defensive score.
Malachi Cobb led Evangel with ten tackles as the Crusaders added three sacks. Josh Evans, Dante Young, and Andres Moeller were all credited with the Evangel sacks.
UP NEXT
Evangel enters its bye week before returning Oct. 7 to host Graceland on Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. as the game can be seen regionally on Mediacom 22 and nationally on ESPN3.
