Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Pioneers earn playoff berth with stirring last-second win

Resilient MidAmerica Nazarene had been in this position before. A poor start led to a big deficit Saturday in Marshall, Mo., where the 10th-ranked Pioneers tangled with No. 9 Missouri Valley.

Starting in place of Tyler Herl, who was suspended for the first half for an undisclosed reason, freshman quarterback Mike Keese threw three-first half interceptions — the first was returned 15 yards for the game's initial touchdown — as MidAmerica fell behind 17-10 at halftime.

The Pioneers did little to help Keese, a 2008 Olathe South graduate, managing only seven yards rushing in the first half and struggled to find any rhythm early in the second half with Herl back under center.

The Vikings pumped the lead to 27-12 by early in the fourth quarter.

Much like its Sept. 26 loss at Lindenwood, it looked as if MidAmerica had dug too deep a hole visiting a top-10 foe to rally for the win.

But the Pioneers mounted a furious comeback in the final quarter, scoring a pair of touchdowns 5 minutes apart in the last eight minutes and eventually winning on a 47-yard field goal by Quentin Weygaerts as time expired.

With the scintillating victory, MidAmerica, which has a bye next weekend, finished the regular season 9-1 and guaranteed itself a spot in the NAIA Football Championship Series.

Herl scored the first fourth-quarter TD on a 11-yard touchdown scramble, capping an eight-play, 79-yard drive.

After a Missouri Valley punt, senior receiver Jared Elmore rumbled 41 yards, busting tackles along the way, for another TD, but the two-point conversion try, which would have tied the game with 2:39 remaining, was picked off.

Once again, though, the defense responded, forcing a Vikings three-and-out and giving the Pioneers' offense one final crack at the win.

With under a minute left, MidAmerica, 9-1, feverishly moved the ball 28 yards on seven plays to the Missouri Valley 30.

Finally, down to literally the final second, Weygaerts, who missed a 49-yard try in the first half, juiced the 47-yarder through with many more yards to spare as the final horn sounded.

Linebackers Brady Croucher and Jake Duren as well as a stingy secondary headlined a defensive front that allowed only 299 total yards.

David Allen, whose 5-yard TD run in the second quarter helped open the 17-10 halftime lead, finished with 202 yards rushing on 34 carries, but the Vikings, 7-2, completed only five passes and managed just 89 yards passing.

Croucher, a 2006 Olathe South graduate, finished with 10 tackles and Duren added nine, including a sack. Both had one tackle for a loss. Branden Griffin, Geoff White and Dantren Anderson each added six tackles, while JD Wood had five.

| Tod Palmer, todpalmer@theolathenews.com

MIDAMERICA NAZARENE 28, MISSOURI VALLEY 27

MNU (9-1) 3 7 2 16 — 28

MVC (7-2) 7 10 7 3 — 27

Scoring summary

First quarter

MVC: Sam Jackson 15 interception return (Adrian Trevino kick), 10:08

MNU: Eric Hronek 20 field goal, 1:48

Second quarter

MVC: David Allen 5 run (Trevino kick), 9:05

MNU: Ashford Johnson 2 run (Hronek kick), 7:07

MVC: Trevino 22 field goal, 0:41

Third quarter

MVC: Chris White 1 run (Trevino kick), 5:37

MNU: Safety

Fourth quarter

MVC: Trevino 35 field goal, 11:31

MNU: Tyler Herl 11 run (Hronek kick), 7:39

MNU: Jared Elmore 41 pass from Herl (pass failed), 2:27

MNU: Quentin Weygaerts 47 field goal, 0:00

Team stats

MNU MVC

First downs 25 15

Rushing-yards 23-30 46-210

Passing yards 386 89

C-A-I 25-45-5 5-17-1

Total yards 416 299

Fum/Lost 1-1 0-0

Pen/Yards 8-205 10-102

Individual statistics

Rushing

MidAmerica Nazarene: Tyler Herl 11-33, Ashford Johnson 7-5, Mike Keese 1-1, Sean Ransburg 4-(-9). Missouri Valley: David Allen 34-202, Ethan Leigh 6-34, Darrell Madry 1-(-10), Chris White 5-(-16).

Passing

MidAmerica Nazarene: Herl 18-27-2 288, Keese 7-17-3 98. Missouri Valley: White 5-17-1 89.

Receiving

MidAmerica Nazarene (25-386): Jared Elmore 7-147, Tim Richmond 6-84, Johnson 5-96, Ransburg 4-21, Juan Redmon 3-38. Missouri Valley: Madry 1-37, Scott Humphrey 1-32, Jacob Cahill 1-13, Bryan Blackley 1-3, Deajon Mitchell 1-4.

Submit an ad