Late Jacket Field Goal Rains On CMU Homecoming
Fayette, MO - The Graceland football team took another step in the right direction Saturday as a 4th quarter, 41-yard Anthony Wood field goal sent the Jackets to a 17-14 win at the Eagles rainy homecoming.
Head football coach Jeff Douglas praised his team after the game for its ability to bounce back and learn from its mistakes following last week's loss.
"That's the best football game we've played as a team since I took over as head coach three years ago," said Douglas after the win. "No one came off the field complaining, we didn't have a single personal foul, had only one turnover and finished the entire game with only 18 yards in penalties."
Both teams endured horrible conditions Saturday, as Faytette was pelted with a heavy rain from opening kick until the final play. Central Methodist finished the contest with 160 yards of total offense and Graceland ended with 159.
The most telling stat, however, was the Eagles inability to get anything going through the air. CMU quarterback Jacob Jackson finished the afternoon 0-10 with two interceptions and the Eagles didn't gain a single yard through the air all day.
"Our defense made it tough on them today," added Douglas. "We knew coming in they were pretty banged up and we had to put pressure on them to make things happen. Defensively we did that and offensively we were consistent, only turning the ball over once."
The Eagles were able to tally the first score of the contest following the only Jacket turnover of the day, taking advantage of the short field. Jacob Jackson scampered in from 20 yards out for the touchdown.
Terrence Wells countered the CMU touchdown with an 8-yard rushing TD at the 11:16 mark in the second period and with the Anthony Wood point after good, Graceland and CMU were tied at seven all.
Later in the quarter Graceland would score again, capitalizing off of an Eagle turnover on a two-yard touchdown pass from Matt Fink to Damon Bryan.
CMU would score the only touchdown of the second half on the longest play from scrimmage in the game; a 71-yard touchdown run. With the extra point good, the two teams stood deadlocked at 14-14.
After the Eagles missed a chip-shot 21-yard field goal to take the lead late in the fourth, the Jackets once again took advantage of its opponents miscue.
Graceland drove the ball down the field on its second to last possession and place kicker Anthony Wood drilled a season-long 41-yard game winner.
"It felt great to have a total-team effort win like that," said fullback Jeff Kline. "This team is headed in a good direction and especially with us being so young, it feels like we're taking the steps we need to.
"Spoiling their homecoming was fun and now we get to come home and try and get a homecoming win ourselves over a great team," finished Kline.
In large part due to the rainy conditions, both teams struggled to generate much offense. Andrew Gayles led Graceland in rushing with 99 yards on 27 carries.
Terrence Wells and Damon Bryan scored the only two Jacket touchdowns and quarterback Matt Fink finished with 52 yards through the air.
Defensively conference tackling leader Billy Wendt again paced the Jackets. Wendt finished with 11 tackles in the win. Eric Escamilla and Clarence Counts both had interceptions and defensive end Reggie Ramey finished with two sacks and David Edmondson added one.
Graceland now stands at 4-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The Jackets will host #3 Missouri Valley in Lamoni, next Saturday, at 2pm in their annual homecoming game.
Stay tuned to GUjackets.com for continuing coverage of the Graceland football team and all of Jacket athletics.