BC bows on TD with :03 left
By Steven Allspach, Journal sports writer | Posted: Monday, September 17, 2007
Briar Cliff's Brandon Franklin tackles Bethany's Kawika Kalawe during football action at Memorial Field on Satukrday. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
Posted from 09/16/07:
A stunning finish left Briar Cliff players, coaches and fans in somber disbelief.
With just three seconds remaining, Bethany's Sean Dahley plunged a yard for the winning touchdown as the collegians from Lindsborg, Kan., handed the Chargers a 21-14 setback Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field.
"This one is so hard to take, so hard to accept," said Charger junior linebacker Joe Melton of a somewhat bewildering finish. "But, adversity makes you a better man and a better team.
"We fought so hard to get back in the game and then have it slip away at the end. But, we win together and lose together. There's no finger pointing with this team."
It was Briar Cliff's third loss in as many outings this season and Bethany improved to 2-0.
Briar Cliff rallied from a 14-0 deficit with two second-half touchdowns and appeared to be on the verge of sending the non-conference encounter into overtime.
The Charger defense, which forced Bethany into three-and-outs on its first six possessions of the second half, stopped the threatening Fighting Swedes on downs at the 35 with just 27 seconds left to play.
Coach Dick Strittmatter wasn't content with accepting an overtime fate, however.
Instead, quarterback J.D. Lindsay threw an interception on first down and Bethany made the absolute most of the 15 remaining seconds.
Setting up at the BC 33, quarterback Kawika Kalawe hooked up with Robert Bieger on a 32-yard pass that carried to within inches of the goal line.
Dahley decided the issue on the next play.
"Sure, I thought about just trying to run out out the clock, that was certainly a viable option," said Strittmatter. "But I don't think that's the message that I want to send to this bunch of guys I'm so proud of - that I'll settle for a tie and not go for the win.
"If I get second-guessed, then so be it. I'm the guy that has to make the decisions."
Jeff Simplice, a 180-pound freshman linebacker from Lake Worth, Fla., made the dramatic interception at the BC 45 and tacked on a 12-yard return.
"I saw it (the ball) coming all the way," said Simplice. "Our coaches told us they'd probably try to throw the ball.
"Just before the play I tried to picture myself making an interception and being a big hero by taking it the house (end zone)."
Bethany, a proud NAIA program that had recorded 28 straight winning seasons before struggling through 2-8 campaigns each of the last two seasons, dominated the first half and went to the break with a 14-0 lead.
Kalawe, a junior transfer from Ewa Beach, Hawaii (San Jose, Calif., City College), tossed second-quarter TD passes of six yards to Willie Edwards and five yards to Adam Garza.
Edwards, an acrobatic 6-3, 215-pound transfer who led NCAA Division I Alabama-Birmingham with 39 receptions for 719 yards last season, caught nine passes for 78 yards.
"I missed most of my first three seasons at UAB because of health problems and after last year I decided to leave," said the native of Mobile, Ala. "There were some personal things with the school and I had a friend who went to Bethany."
The biggest pass reception in the contest, though, was by Bethany's Bieger, who set up the winning TD by pulling in a short throw from Kalawe and rambling down the sideline in front of the Swedes' bench.
It was just the second catch in two games for Bieger, a junior from Hollywood, Fla., who led the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference last season with 50 pass receptions.
In the dark cloud of the dismal setback played before a sparse crowd of 498, Strittmatter found some silver lining.
"We finally moved the darn football on the ground and our offense dominated things," said BC's only coach in the five-year history of the program. "You never dwell on the negatives.
"These kids won't let that happen. We're still a family with eight football games to play."
With Milford senior Adam Robards pounding out 72 yards on 14 carries and speedy freshman David Smith (Houston, Texas) darting for 70 more on 23 totes, Briar Cliff rushed for a season-high 151 yards.
Smith, furnishing a 27-yard scamper on the first BC touchdown drive, scored from three yards out with 7:57 left in the third quarter.
The Chargers barged into a tie with 13:42 left in the game when Robards bowled over three would-be tacklers to score from 27 yards out and Josh McKean booted the extra point.
First-year Bethany Coach Jamie Cruce credited Briar Cliff with a strong second half.
"Give all the credit to Coach Strittmatter's team," said Cruce. "They made adjustments and stopped us cold in the second half.
"We had a lot of trouble handling their big guy in the middle (6-5, 290-pound Brandon Franklin)."
Defensively, Billy Mousel led BC with 10 total tackles, while Franklin and linebacker Eric Bolin each had 1.5 sacks. Bethany was limited to 95 yards of total offense in the second half.
Kyle Gerdes started at quarterback for BC, handling first-half duties before Lindsay took over in the second half.
Bethany 21, Briar Cliff 14
Bethany 0 14 0 7 - 21
Briar Cliff 0 0 7 7 - 14
Second Quarter
Bethany: Willie Edwards 6 pass from Kawika Kalawe (Jonathan Alvarez kick) 8:08
Bethany: Adam Garza 5 pass from Kalawe (Alvarez kick) 1:04
Third Quarter
BC: David Smith 3 run (Josh McKean kick) 7:57
BC: Adam Robards 27 run (McKean kick) 13:42
Fourth Quarter
Bethany: Shean Dahley 1 run (Alvarez kick) 0:03
TEAM STATISTICS
Bethany Briar Cliff
First downs 10 16
Rushes-yards 35-57 52-151
Passing yards 158 64
Passes 16-29-1 8-27-3
Total plays-yards 64-215 79-215
Punts-average 9-37.0 7-35.9
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 4-35 6-45
3rd down conversions 4-16 9-20
4th down conversions 1-3 1-3
Possession time 28:23 31:37
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bethany - Chris Sutton 25-42, Sean Dahley 2-8, De Los Santos 1-5, Kawika Kalawe 7-2. Briar Cliff - Adam Robards 14-72, David Smith 23-70, J.D. Lindsay 10-18, Kyle Gerdes 3-2, Andrew Prohaska 1-0.
PASSING: Bethany - Kawika Kalawe 16-29-1-158. Briar Cliff - Kyle Gerdes 6-15-1-44, J.D. Lindsay 2-12-2-20.
RECEIVING: Bethany - Willie Edwards 9-78, Brandon Akinbiyi 3-33, Adam Garza 2-4, Robert Bieger 1-32, Laran Steele 1-11. Briar Cliff - Michael Langfield 3-24, Joey Cisneros 1-13, Andrew Prohaska 1-12, Shawn Pearson 1-11, Roger Sandau 1-7, Adam Robards 1-(-3).
TACKLE LEADERS
(Solo-Assist-Total)
BETHANY: Lane O'Conner 6-7-13, Eric English 4-4-8, Dylan Bryant 6-1-7, Jay Corwin 5-2-7, Julian Martinez 3-2-5, Jeff Simplice 2-3-5, Kenneth Clary 1-4-5, Ty Russell 3-1-4, Corey Schell 1-3-4, Ryan Johnson 0-4-4.
BRIAR CLIFF: Billy Mousel 4-6-10, Taylor Schumacher 3-6-9, Travis Schumacher 5-3-8, Joe Roberts 3-4-7, Eric Bolin 3-4-7, Michael Loving 3-3-6, Jonathon Smith 5-0-5, Brandon Franklin 2-2-4, Joe Melton 1-3-4, David Willis 2-0-2, Chris Lammers 0-2-2.
A stunning finish left Briar Cliff players, coaches and fans in somber disbelief.
With just three seconds remaining, Bethany's Sean Dahley plunged a yard for the winning touchdown as the collegians from Lindsborg, Kan., handed the Chargers a 21-14 setback Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field.
"This one is so hard to take, so hard to accept," said Charger junior linebacker Joe Melton of a somewhat bewildering finish. "But, adversity makes you a better man and a better team.
"We fought so hard to get back in the game and then have it slip away at the end. But, we win together and lose together. There's no finger pointing with this team."
It was Briar Cliff's third loss in as many outings this season and Bethany improved to 2-0.
Briar Cliff rallied from a 14-0 deficit with two second-half touchdowns and appeared to be on the verge of sending the non-conference encounter into overtime.
The Charger defense, which forced Bethany into three-and-outs on its first six possessions of the second half, stopped the threatening Fighting Swedes on downs at the 35 with just 27 seconds left to play.
Coach Dick Strittmatter wasn't content with accepting an overtime fate, however.
Instead, quarterback J.D. Lindsay threw an interception on first down and Bethany made the absolute most of the 15 remaining seconds.
Setting up at the BC 33, quarterback Kawika Kalawe hooked up with Robert Bieger on a 32-yard pass that carried to within inches of the goal line.
Dahley decided the issue on the next play.
"Sure, I thought about just trying to run out out the clock, that was certainly a viable option," said Strittmatter. "But I don't think that's the message that I want to send to this bunch of guys I'm so proud of - that I'll settle for a tie and not go for the win.
"If I get second-guessed, then so be it. I'm the guy that has to make the decisions."
Jeff Simplice, a 180-pound freshman linebacker from Lake Worth, Fla., made the dramatic interception at the BC 45 and tacked on a 12-yard return.
"I saw it (the ball) coming all the way," said Simplice. "Our coaches told us they'd probably try to throw the ball.
"Just before the play I tried to picture myself making an interception and being a big hero by taking it the house (end zone)."
Bethany, a proud NAIA program that had recorded 28 straight winning seasons before struggling through 2-8 campaigns each of the last two seasons, dominated the first half and went to the break with a 14-0 lead.
Kalawe, a junior transfer from Ewa Beach, Hawaii (San Jose, Calif., City College), tossed second-quarter TD passes of six yards to Willie Edwards and five yards to Adam Garza.
Edwards, an acrobatic 6-3, 215-pound transfer who led NCAA Division I Alabama-Birmingham with 39 receptions for 719 yards last season, caught nine passes for 78 yards.
"I missed most of my first three seasons at UAB because of health problems and after last year I decided to leave," said the native of Mobile, Ala. "There were some personal things with the school and I had a friend who went to Bethany."
The biggest pass reception in the contest, though, was by Bethany's Bieger, who set up the winning TD by pulling in a short throw from Kalawe and rambling down the sideline in front of the Swedes' bench.
It was just the second catch in two games for Bieger, a junior from Hollywood, Fla., who led the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference last season with 50 pass receptions.
In the dark cloud of the dismal setback played before a sparse crowd of 498, Strittmatter found some silver lining.
"We finally moved the darn football on the ground and our offense dominated things," said BC's only coach in the five-year history of the program. "You never dwell on the negatives.
"These kids won't let that happen. We're still a family with eight football games to play."
With Milford senior Adam Robards pounding out 72 yards on 14 carries and speedy freshman David Smith (Houston, Texas) darting for 70 more on 23 totes, Briar Cliff rushed for a season-high 151 yards.
Smith, furnishing a 27-yard scamper on the first BC touchdown drive, scored from three yards out with 7:57 left in the third quarter.
The Chargers barged into a tie with 13:42 left in the game when Robards bowled over three would-be tacklers to score from 27 yards out and Josh McKean booted the extra point.
First-year Bethany Coach Jamie Cruce credited Briar Cliff with a strong second half.
"Give all the credit to Coach Strittmatter's team," said Cruce. "They made adjustments and stopped us cold in the second half.
"We had a lot of trouble handling their big guy in the middle (6-5, 290-pound Brandon Franklin)."
Defensively, Billy Mousel led BC with 10 total tackles, while Franklin and linebacker Eric Bolin each had 1.5 sacks. Bethany was limited to 95 yards of total offense in the second half.
Kyle Gerdes started at quarterback for BC, handling first-half duties before Lindsay took over in the second half.
Bethany 21, Briar Cliff 14
Bethany 0 14 0 7 - 21
Briar Cliff 0 0 7 7 - 14
Second Quarter
Bethany: Willie Edwards 6 pass from Kawika Kalawe (Jonathan Alvarez kick) 8:08
Bethany: Adam Garza 5 pass from Kalawe (Alvarez kick) 1:04
Third Quarter
BC: David Smith 3 run (Josh McKean kick) 7:57
BC: Adam Robards 27 run (McKean kick) 13:42
Fourth Quarter
Bethany: Shean Dahley 1 run (Alvarez kick) 0:03
TEAM STATISTICS
Bethany Briar Cliff
First downs 10 16
Rushes-yards 35-57 52-151
Passing yards 158 64
Passes 16-29-1 8-27-3
Total plays-yards 64-215 79-215
Punts-average 9-37.0 7-35.9
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 4-35 6-45
3rd down conversions 4-16 9-20
4th down conversions 1-3 1-3
Possession time 28:23 31:37
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bethany - Chris Sutton 25-42, Sean Dahley 2-8, De Los Santos 1-5, Kawika Kalawe 7-2. Briar Cliff - Adam Robards 14-72, David Smith 23-70, J.D. Lindsay 10-18, Kyle Gerdes 3-2, Andrew Prohaska 1-0.
PASSING: Bethany - Kawika Kalawe 16-29-1-158. Briar Cliff - Kyle Gerdes 6-15-1-44, J.D. Lindsay 2-12-2-20.
RECEIVING: Bethany - Willie Edwards 9-78, Brandon Akinbiyi 3-33, Adam Garza 2-4, Robert Bieger 1-32, Laran Steele 1-11. Briar Cliff - Michael Langfield 3-24, Joey Cisneros 1-13, Andrew Prohaska 1-12, Shawn Pearson 1-11, Roger Sandau 1-7, Adam Robards 1-(-3).
TACKLE LEADERS
(Solo-Assist-Total)
BETHANY: Lane O'Conner 6-7-13, Eric English 4-4-8, Dylan Bryant 6-1-7, Jay Corwin 5-2-7, Julian Martinez 3-2-5, Jeff Simplice 2-3-5, Kenneth Clary 1-4-5, Ty Russell 3-1-4, Corey Schell 1-3-4, Ryan Johnson 0-4-4.
BRIAR CLIFF: Billy Mousel 4-6-10, Taylor Schumacher 3-6-9, Travis Schumacher 5-3-8, Joe Roberts 3-4-7, Eric Bolin 3-4-7, Michael Loving 3-3-6, Jonathon Smith 5-0-5, Brandon Franklin 2-2-4, Joe Melton 1-3-4, David Willis 2-0-2, Chris Lammers 0-2-2.
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