Mavs take down No. 12 Washburn 31-21 in Homecoming victory
Zach Seastedt
Issue date: 10/13/09 Section: News
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Senior quarterback Greg Wunderlich was 21-for-30 for 304 yards and three touchdowns to lead the offense. The defense gave up only 175 yards of total offense and zero points in the second half to limit the Ichabods' potent offense to three first-half touchdowns.
"One thing I wanted to make sure when they went out on that field was that they didn't forget who we are," head coach Pat Behrns said. "We're a good program and we're a good team also."
The Mavs improve to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The win gives the Mavs three in a row.
The first half was full of fireworks as both offenses were able to move the ball at will against the opposing defense.
"I did not think we played very good defense in the first half," Behrns said. "The first half was a game of plays."
The Mavs fumbled on the opening possession after freshman running back Levi Terrell coughed up the ball at the Mavs' 44-yard line.
The Ichabods took over and quarterback Dane Simoneau completed a couple of nice passes before running back Vershon Moore barreled into the end zone to give Washburn an early 7-0 lead with 11:27 in the first quarter.
The Mavs scored on their next possession when Wunderlich found junior tight end Mike Higgins 10 yards downfield near the 50-yard line. The big tight end from Pickrell, Neb., found himself wide open and rumbled 50 yards for the score but not before running through the tackle of a desperate Ichabod defender near the Washburn 10-yard line. Higgins finished with seven receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
"They ran a blitz and we called the right play into it," Higgins said. "I was just running hoping I wasn't going to get caught. Just trying to get into the end zone."
"Mike is an athlete," Behrns said. "Those are the kind of plays you need to make to [the offense] go."
The offensive fireworks continued on the Ichabods' next possession. Wide receiver Drameago Powers made a great catch on a 46-yard pass before Simoneau threw his first touchdown of the game to help Washburn regain the lead 14-7.
"You kind of shake your head and wonder when [the scoring] is going to slow down a little bit," Behrns said. "I thought we played the first half on defense to keep from getting beat instead of playing to win. You cannot play defense cautiously and that's what we did."
After a Washburn fumble, UNO drove the ball 62 yards before Terrell scored his only touchdown to tie the game again at 14-14 with 32 seconds left in the first quarter. Terrell finished with 37 carries for 119 yards, his third consecutive 100-yard effort.
The Mavs' defense came up huge early in the second quarter. Washburn was at the UNO 1-yard line looking to retake the lead when Moore fumbled the ball into the end zone. The Mavs recovered for a touchback, but a penalty on UNO gave them possession on their own 10-yard line.
"That was huge," junior safety Danny Pelster said. "That's big for the energy on your team and for them, that's a big momentum shift and that's hard to come back from."
The Mavs drove down the field using a balanced offense before Wunderlich hit sophomore tight end Austin Wells for a 2-yard touchdown pass to put UNO up 21-14 with 5:08 in the half. The drive covered 90 yards in 16 plays.
"What that does is develop the confidence," Behrns said. "We're creating some consistency and getting confidence in our offense, and that's when things start working."
After Simoneau threw a couple incompletions, the Ichabods punted, giving UNO the ball with 4:06 in the half. After a couple of completions with help by Terrell to move the chains, Wunderlich threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Higgins to give the Mavs a 28-14 lead. The touchdown gave Higgins two for the first half.
"That's a play we had been working on all week," Higgins said. "We called it at a good time."
Momentum appeared to be building for UNO, but Washburn answered with a critical touchdown drive highlighted by some nice throws by Simoneau. The secondary was gashed on the drive many times including the 5-yard touchdown completion to wide receiver Ryan Mertz with 14 seconds in the half. The score going into the break was 28-21 UNO.
It was clear that both teams made defensive adjustments at halftime, as both offenses were only able to score a combined three points for the second half.
"You've got to play to win every battle, every snap that's out there and that's what we did in the second half," Behrns said. "To be able to put pressure on a quarterback with four down lineman, get sacks, get fumbles and things like that…it really makes [the secondary's job] back there a lot easier."
After both teams exchanged punts to start the third quarter, UNO got the only score of the half when junior kicker Greg Zuerlein kicked in a 29-yard attempt to give the Mavs a 31-21 lead.
Washburn threatened to score early in the fourth quarter when they faced fourth-and-1 from the UNO 9-yard line, but the Mavs stiffened up and stuffed Moore for a 2-yard loss.
UNO finished with 427 yards of offense while Washburn had 470 for the game. Despite the high number, the Mavs' defense played an exceptional game, as the Ichabods are leading the MIAA in thee offensive categories, including scoring offense and total offense. Washburn only had 78 rushing yards.
"I feel like we came out and did what we wanted to do, and that was stop the run," junior defensive tackle Nate Wissink said. "I think we took a major step today."
Two safeties led the Mavs on defense, with Pelster and senior Jason Zabka finishing with six tackles each.
The Mavs will be back on the road again as they take on Fort Hays State next Saturday at 2 p.m.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
JC
posted 10/17/09 @ 10:06 PM CST
That 1st pict might be the coolest ever.
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