SURPRISE, Ariz. – Wayland Baptist fell behind by 21 in the first quarter but played No. 22 Ottawa (Ariz.) to within a field goal the rest of the way as the Pioneers dropped a Sooner Athletic Conference game to the Spirit here Saturday night, 38-14.
Ottawa (6-2, 6-2 SAC) scored on two of its first three offensive possessions and returned an interception seven yards for a score to take a 21-0 lead.
Wayland (2-7, 2-6) got on the board midway through the second when
Bryan Ponder hooked up with
Quentin Rhoder on a 3-yard TD toss. That capped an impressive 11-play, 63-yard drive that included a 4
th-down-and-1 at the Ottawa 26 that Wayland's
Willie Phillips converted with a 2-yard run.
Ottawa kicked a 31-yard field goal on its first drive of the second half for the only points of the third. The Spirit scored on a 28-yard run early in the fourth, then Wayland answered when Ponder hit Phillips for a 19-yard touchdown. Ottawa concluded the scoring with a 42-yard pass with 45 seconds left in the game.
Ponder completed 9-of-28 for 95 yards with two TDs and two picks. Phillips ran 24 times for 74 yards.
Defensively, the Pioneers were led by
Casey Buck with nine tackles (7 solo),
Andrew Villa with eight and
Kevin White with seven.
Brayden Welch punted eight times for a 37.9-yard average.
WBU wraps up the season at 2 p.m. next Saturday at home against No. 24 Arizona Christian (7-2, 6-2), which edged Langston (Okla.) at home Saturday, 30-27. The Firestorm trailed 27-16 before scoring two fourth-quarter TDs and two 2-point conversions.
