Pioneers pull out homecoming win in OT

Box Score A diving Preston Woodard hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell Parsley to boost Wayland Baptist to a 40-37 win over Howard Payne on Saturday afternoon in Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium.

"Winning one like that does so many things," Wayland coach Butch Henderson said. "It seems like things have never fallen right for us, so to come back and win one like that in overtime is really big for us.

"You win one of those and you start believing good things are going to happen good for you, you just have to keep playing."

Wayland (2-1) led 31-14 at halftime, but the Yellow Jackets (0-3) rallied to take a 34-31 lead late in the fourth quarter. The Pioneers then forced overtime when Daniel Martinez booted a 27-yard field goal with 1:08 left in regulation.

In overtime, the Pioneer defense held its ground after Howard Payne had it first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. Jacob Hinojos, Carl Williams, Michael Nealy, Weston McIntire and Jonathan Slade were all in on tackles before an incompletion on third down forced the Yellow Jackets to settle for a 20-yard field goal.

That left the door open for Wayland's offense, which got rushes of five yards from Parsley and six from Jerrell Peterson for a first down. After a short gain by Peterson then an incomplete pass, Parsley found Woodard streaking across the middle of the end zone for the winning points.

"Preston made a big catch," Henderson said. "That's just Preston. He makes big things happen."

The coach said the play is designed to have Woodard, a redshirt junior from Levelland, fake a corner route, then cut back inside.

"It's a timing throw," the coach said. "When Preston plants his foot, Mitchell is supposed to let it go, and he was right on time with it. He did a good job keeping it low and Preston did a great job digging it out."

It was Wayland's first overtime game since restarting the program five years ago.

The overtime win was made possible in part due to a blocked PAT kick by Wayland's Brandon Sheppard late in the third quarter that left the Pioneers clinging to a 31-27 lead. After the Yellow Jackets drove 97 yards to put up seven more points and assume their first lead of the game, 34-31, with 5½ minutes left, Wayland only needed a field goal to tie it.

That's what the Pioneers got, too, thanks to a 10-play, 66-yard drive from an offense that had been held scoreless the entire second half.

"We knew we had to make things happen," Henderson said. "We had been doing things well in the second half but couldn't get a rhythm and get the ball down the field. The little pieces finally started coming together again. That was a big drive for us."

The big play on the drive was a 42-yard screen from Parsley to Peterson, followed by a clutch four-yard completion on fourth-and-1 to Tim McCutcheon. Parsley rolled out and was under heavy pressure when he spotted McCutcheon for his only catch of the game.

Four plays later, Martinez made the 27-yard field goal to tie it. It was his second field goal of the game, following a 37-yarder in the first quarter. The left-footed junior just missed on a 58-yard attempt.

Parsley threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns as he completed 18-of-33 passes. Besides the game-winner to Woodard, Parsley also connected with L'Waylon Derrick on a 62-yard TD late in the first period and with Trey Rowe on a 68-yard scoring toss midway through the second that put the Pioneers up 31-14.

"He hit those guys in stride, and they did a great job hauling them in," Henderson said of the bombs to Derrick and Rowe.

The Pioneers scored on their first three possessions of the game.

"We played well offensively and defensively most of the first half," Henderson said. "We got some big touchdown throws and catches, which gave us that lead."

The Pioneers also made the Yellow Jackets pay for a costly snap over the punter's head early in the second quarter that gave Wayland first-and-goal at the Howard Payne 6-yard line. De'Sean Johnson ran it in on the next play.

Woodard caught five passes for 77 yards, Rowe grabbed three for 79 and Derrick had two grabs for 69 yards. Peterson also had two receptions for 49 yards in addition to his 55 yards rushing on 14 carries. Peterson scored the first touchdown of the day on an 8-yard run to cap Wayland's first drive. Johnson added 12 carries for 45 yards and the touchdown.

Nealy led the defense with 12 tackles, including eight solo. Travis White had 11 stops, Zane Martinez nine, and Sheppard and McIntire eight each.

Wayland now leads the all-time series with Howard Payne, 3-2. All five games have been decided by 10 points or less.

The Pioneers wrap up a three-game home stand on Sept. 24 when they host Webber International University (Fla.) at 2 p.m. After going 6-4 last season, including a 48-21 win over CSFL champion Arizona Christian, the Warriors are 1-1 so far this season, having picked up their first win Saturday over Saint Xavier (Ill.), 36-21.

Webber was ranked the equivalent of 29^th in the NAIA Coaches' Preseason Top 25.

"That will be a big NAIA ballgame for us," Henderson said. "Coming out of the Sun Conference, Webber has a chance to come in here nationally ranked. If you can beat a team like that out of another conference, things can really start happening for you."