DES MOINES, Iowa – Staying stride-for-stride with the only school in the Pioneer Football League with zero conference losses beside their name, the Presbyterian College football team fought tooth and nail with the Drake Bulldogs in a raucous environment on Saturday afternoon, ultimately ending with a 16-14 loss.
While Drake achieved its first ever 7-0 start to PFL action – thus making them the sole frontrunner in the division following Davidson's defeat to Morehead State – it wasn't an easy route in the slightest for the home side during a game of ultra physicality.
Presbyterian's defensive core – improving on a game-by-game basis beside its best-in-conference passing yardage allowed – gave up a single Bulldog touchdown in the opening quarter and kept their opponent out of the end zone for the remainder of the contest.
This was despite Drake's consistently fortunate starting field position, beginning six separate drives in Blue Hose territory but having to regularly settle for field goal attempts.
Drawing up designs of a nine-point rally in the waning minutes, Presby accounted for its second touchdown with 2:19 to go and nearly gained back possession of the ball with an onside kick formation that narrowly fell into Drake's mitts.
Giving the Bulldogs all they could handle for four full quarters, the Blue Hose will wrap up the 2023 campaign in seven days for a Bailey Memorial duel with Morehead State. Kickoff on Senior Day is scheduled for 1:00 PM, televised by ESPN+.
FINAL SCORE: Drake, 16 – Presbyterian, 14
RECORDS: Presbyterian (3-7, 1-6) – Drake (7-3, 7-0)
LOCATION: Drake Stadium (Des Moines, Iowa)
NOTABLES
- Perhaps no PC player was as impactful at producing momentum-changers than junior corner
Bradley Russ-Martin, responsible for a first-quarter interception and later a blocked field goal on the last snap of the opening half.
- Bradley's twin brother
Brooks Russ-Martin led the way for head coach
Steve Englehart's crew with a seven-tackle performance, trailed by six each from the trio of
Carter Szydlowski,
James Hyland, and linebacker
Alex Herriott (the squad's overall leader with 109 stops this fall).
- Second-year defensive back
Caleb Francis deflected three Drake longballs in the tight loss, the first time in two seasons that a Blue Hose player managed that feat.
- Presby outperformed the Bulldogs in the rushing attack from a statistical standpoint (162-126), a large chunk of which came from
Ty Englehart's legs on a 75-yard TD sprint in the first stanza.
- Going head-to-head with a foe that had conceded just 10 points combined in its last eight quarters, PC found themselves in a grueling sequence of hard-to-come-by third-down scenarios. Put together, both offenses mustered a ratio of 30 percent (9-for-30) when needing to move the chains, leading to 13 punts overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED – FIRST HALF
- Both clubs traded TD's and TO's over the first period, as Englehart's unit answered a 12-play, 77-yard scoring drive with the aforementioned quarterback keeper that went all the way to the house. That particular play went down as Presby's longest carry of 2023 that evened the odds at seven each at the 5:28 clip.
- That's when Russ-Martin snagged the INT on a Bulldog go route, although the Blue Hose inadvertently handed the ball back to the home side on a fumble three snaps later.
- The theme of the afternoon (Drake setting themselves up with a short field but coming up with less than desired) reared it head in the early moments of the 2
nd, as a dropped 4
th-down pass created a turnover on downs for a still-tied scoreboard.
- Presbyterian was forced to punt on their next two drives of the frame, although the difference in the overall tally stood at just three at halftime thanks to PC's persistence on the defensive end of the field.
- Over a series of five consecutive drives that bled into the 3
rd quarter, Drake's worst starting field position landed them at their own 47 yard-line (with four of those drives kicking off in PC's terrain). Despite that continual fortune, the Bulldogs only collected six points in that stretch on two FG's.
- A 34-yard make midway through the 2
nd repositioned the advantage to Drake (10-7), although that's as far as it would get after two thanks to Russ-Martin blowing up a would-be chip shot right as the halftime horn sounded.
HOW IT HAPPENED – SECOND HALF
- The Bulldogs continually couldn't push their way back to paydirt, having to try bursts of three points instead of greater separation. Lucky for them, their next two looks in the 3
rd quarter sailed through the uprights from distances of 29 and 48 yards.
- Presby was unable to grab a first-down over their first two trips in the 3
rd, still in possession as the clock turned to the final chapter while trailing 16-7.
- Progressing to the midfield marker while down by nine, a mini-game of field position developed once again with four straight punts (two apiece) that drained time even further.
- However, the Blue Hose declared that they weren't down for the count yet, finding a TD from the arms of
Tyler Wesley into tight end
Terik Mulder's grasp. Now a two-point edge with under-three left, a sense of nervousness began to creep in on Drake's end.
- PC substituted
Warner Bush into the fray to enact the onside kick, narrowly missing out on the live ball that enabled the Bulldogs to run out the clock and claim at least a share of the PFL regular season crown.
UP NEXT
- Presbyterian will officially close the door on their 2023 trials by battling a Morehead State opponent whom they encountered 13 months back in a similarly-paced outcome in comparison to today's matchup from Des Moines.
- That conference clash in Kentucky (held in October of '22) was settled by a 14-10 margin that tipped to the Eagles' favor.
- The Blue Hose will hope to gain a measure of revenge on MSU in the final home feature for the team's band of seniors. They'll face a Morehead visitor that potentially spoiled Davidson's hopes for an FCS Playoff berth, surprising many with a 47-17 blowout over the Wildcats on Saturday.
