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2009-11-21

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2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Monday, November 02, 2009 9:25 PM

Sports Photo Gallery of OU vs. KW football: Purchase Photos!

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Ottawa University senior Andy Otto attempts to slip through the tackle of Kansas Wesleyan University sophomore linebacker Adrian Thomas in Saturday’s game at Peoples Bank Field. Ottawa defeated Kansas Wesleyan 42-10. For more photos, go to www.ottawaherald.com.

Braves' defense ties QB sack mark in victory

OU sacks Coyotes

By Greg Mast/Herald Sports Editor

The Ottawa University defensive players and coaches had a rough week.

The Braves surrendered more than 500 yards of offense to Saint Mary a week ago. That was unacceptable.

The defense went to work to iron out the problems — returned to the basics.

Ottawa came out with a defensive focus not seen since early in the season. The Braves were all over the field, keeping the Kansas Wesleyan offense from doing much of anything Saturday at Peoples Bank Field.

Ottawa limited the Coyotes to 201 yards and recorded a school-record single-game 11 quarterback sacks in the 42-10 victory.

“We came out with a [hard-nosed] mindset,” linebacker Ross Diehl said. “We knew we had to bring it. We wanted to show what kind of defense we can play. We were pretty embarrassed [about last week].”

Ottawa limited the Coyotes to three of 17 on third down. Kansas Wesleyan did not convert a third down on its first 10 attempts. Ottawa forced 12 punts.

“Our defense was the strength of our team,” Ottawa assistant coach Wendell Smith said. “They had a lot of questions thrown at them. All of those sacks were huge. Hats off to our defense.”

Kansas Wesleyan, one of the top rushing teams in the conference, finished with minus-11 yards on the ground.

Coyote coach Dave Dallas said the difference was how the Ottawa defense came to play.

“Their defense took our run game away,” Dallas said.

Kansas Wesleyan was forced to pass and Ottawa came from everywhere. Eight Braves had sacks.

“Everybody seemed to get a sack,” Diehl, who had one sack, said. “It was awesome. The coaches got us in the right spots. They never knew where the extra guys were coming from.”

Ottawa coach Kent Kessinger could not have been happier for the defense.

“Our defense was outstanding,” he said. “The coaches put together a tremendous game plan. They executed it. They came out with a focus and determined to improve.”

The offense turned to big plays in the passing game.

Corey Schultz caught a 75-yard touchdown pass, a 49-yard touchdown strike and had a 52-yard catch that led to another score. He finished with 221 yards on eight receptions.

Schultz was the conference’s offensive player of the week.

Taylor Burnett caught a 51-yard touchdown pass.

Kessinger said Ottawa took advantage of what the Coyote defense gave them.

“They tried to take Clarence [Anderson] away,” Kessinger said.

That left the other guys open. Five Braves caught three or more passes.

“It is nice to have that many weapons and spread it out,” Kessinger said.

“Our offensive line was outstanding. They gave Ethan [Haller] time to move around.”

Haller finished 23-of-41 for 391 yards and five touchdown passes.

“Haller is a good quarterback,” Dallas said.

The Coyotes stayed close early. Scotty McKeon’s 36-yard field goal cut Ottawa’s lead to 7-3 with 11:41 left in the first half.

Ottawa answered with two touchdowns — one each to Taylor and Schultz — to take a 21-3 halftime lead.

The Braves scored its third unanswered score, a 49-yard pass to Schultz, to take a 28-3 lead with 5:14 left in the third.

Kansas Wesleyan’s only touchdown drive started early in the fourth quarter.

The Coyotes marched 71 yards in 13 plays, picking up a key fourth down and two of their three third down conversions.

Corey Ham caught an 11-yard touchdown pass to close the Coyotes within 28-10 with 9:23 left.

Ottawa struck quickly with a three-play drive and scored on its next possession on Taylor’s 51-yard touchdown.

The seventh-ranked Braves (8-0) plays their final regular-season home game 1:30 p.m. Saturday against Bethany.

Scoring

O — Anderson 12 pass from Haller (Hall kick).

K — McKeon 36 FG.

O — Burnett 25 pass from Haller (Hall kick).

O — C. Schultz 75 pass from Haller (Hall kick).

O — C. Schultz 49 pass from Haller (Hall kick).

K — Ham 11 pass from Webster (McKeon kick).

O — Burnett 51 pass from Haller (Hall kick).

O — Baer 6 run (Cebold kick).

Individuals (leaders)

Rushing: Ottawa (28-39) — Otto 19-57; Baer 3-20; Haller 5-(-37); KW — Cooper 5-7; Winship 10-6; Webster 17-(-23).

Passing: Ottawa — Haller 23-41-1 391; KW — Webster 22-42-0 212.

Receiving: Ottawa — C. Schultz 8-221; Anderson 5-42; Otto 4-27; Burnett 3-81; Z. Schultz 3-20.

Greg Mast can be reached at sports@ottawaherald.com