Battle of Unbeatens Favors Kohawks at Spartans Homecoming
Oct 15, 2016
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The #16-ranked University of Dubuque football team held the lead 12-7 through three quarters of action at homecoming on Saturday afternoon. The #23-ranked Coe College Kohawks would score 16 points in the final 15 minutes to capture the battle of the two unbeaten teams 23-12. The two defenses made it a struggle for either team to mount a breakaway in the largest crowd of the season at Chalmers Field.
Fans expecting the high flying offense witnessed all season for the Spartans would leave disappointed. Fans wanting a very competitive defensive battle among two quality top-ranked teams would get what they wanted. UD finished the afternoon with 62 yards on the ground and 161 yards in the air. The Kohawks would feed running back Trevor Heitland 51 times (a new Kohawk record) who ended with 216 yards for an average of 4.2 yards a carry. The Kohawks Gavin Glenn completed 14-19 pass attempts for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
UD's Maurece Herrion rushed 15 times for 55 yards for an average of 3.7 yards a carry. Conor Feckley completed 16 of 36 attempts and two touchdowns. Austin Morgan led the receiving corps with five catches for 56 yards with his longest grab being for 20 yards and a touchdown. The tell of the tape would be the Spartans time of possession in the second half. UD held the ball just 4:41 in the third and only 2:21 in the fourth quarter and would convert just two of 14 third down conversions. Coe held the overall edge in time of possession 36:50 to UD's 23:10.
Derek Trotter led the defensive effort with 13 tackles trailed closely by teammates Drek Schambow and Le'Devin Smith who collected 12 tackles each. Smith and Michael Joseph would both finish with a sack in the loss.
The Spartans 6-1 overall, 4-1 in the IIAC will travel to Buena Vista University (2-4 overall, 2-2 in IIAC) for next week's match-up at 1:00 p.m. in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Beavers beat the Luther College Norse 48-24 at J.Leslie Rollins Stadium after compiling 476 yards of offense.
