David Toelle Director of Sports Information KWU
The defense won. Kansas Wesleyan Football held its annual spring scrimmage game Saturday night at Salina Stadium and it was the defense that came out on top in a 100-89 decision.
True, the score sounds more like something that would be seen on the hardwood of Mabee Arena, but head coach Dave Dallas instituted special scoring rules for both the offense and defense, awarding points in certain situations.
“We got out and were able to do some really nice things tonight, on both sides of the ball,” Wesleyan coach Dave Dallas said. “We improved on a lot of things this spring and we came out and got to work on a few things here and a few things there tonight.”
The offense’s first score came in the first session on a four-yard run by Trey Dallas. The next offensive score came on a 45-yard field goal by newcomer Derek Harman.
The defense stepped up next as Jamie Cowan picked off a pass and returned it 40 yards for the score, giving the defense a leg up on the scoring.
“Our defense has improved drastically during the spring,” Dallas said. “Jamie (Cowan) had a great spring and it showed tonight.”
After a short break, the scrimmage continued as Austin Crisler hit Ricky Roberts from 20 yards out. The play came just two plays after the same duo got together for a big gainer.
Later it was Trey Dallas hitting Roberts for a 43-yard catch, run and score.
Then the defense came up big again, Crisler was picked off by Isaiah Jackson who returned it 17-yards for another “pick-6” and later in the game Cowan picked off his second pass of the game.
The scrimmage concluded two full weeks of practice this spring for the Coyotes, a major improvement over the ten limited sessions last season as the Kansas Conference better aligned its rules with the rest of the NAIA in regards to spring practice.
“The extra practice time was very beneficial to us,” Dallas said. “We got a chance to work on a lot more things than in the past under the very limited time we had.”
The Coyotes will open the 2011 season on September 3 against Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Okla.