DOVER, Del. – Wesley College's fifth-ranked football team scored 28 unanswered points, keying a 35-20 season-opening victory over No. 22 Thomas More on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon at Scott D. Miller Stadium.
Junior quarterback Joe Callahan completed a career-high 77.8 of his passes (28-of-36) for 313 yards and four touchdowns with senior Steve Koudossou and sophomore Jamar Baynard recording six catches each. Two of Koudossou's grabs went for touchdowns and his 84 yards was a team-high while Baynard totaled 58 receiving yards and carried the ball for 97 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
The Wolverines fell behind early after going three-and-out on its opening possession and the Saints responding with a six play, 70 yard drive resulting in a 39-yard touchdown pass from Jensen Gebhardt to Goose Cohorn. It was all Wesley for the remainder of the first half, however, as Callahan found Robert Wiggs for a 49-yard touchdown pass to tie the score.
Callahan found Koudossou for a 33-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown just before the end of the first quarter before finding him in the endzone once again midway through the second to give the Wolverines a 21-7 advantage going into the half.
Coming out of the half, Wesley drove deep into Thomas More territory on its opening drive before turning it over on downs but forced a punt thanks in large part to senior defensive tackle Payton Rose who recorded a tackle for loss, as well as fellow tackles Dan Laguerre and Brenton Barnes who stuffed Dominique Hayden, the 2013 NCAA Division III leading rusher and 2014 Preseason All-American on third-and-short.
Regaining the ball near midfield, Baynard carried the ball four times during the drive before breaking out for a 23-yard touchdown with 6:25 left to give Wesley its largest lead at 28-7.
Desperate for some points, Thomas More was able to drive down the field on its ensuing possession, but sophomore Andre Connally blocked Tommy Budke's 23-yard field goal to stop the bleeding. It was the first of two blocked kicks on the day for Connally.
Thomas More did cross the goalline early in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of good field position after a punt, cutting the deficit to 28-14 with 12:41 left in the game but Callahan and Baynard then led the Wolverines on a seven play, 60-yard drive that ate up nearly three-and-a-half minutes to go back up three scores. A defensive pass interference call started the drive before passes to Wiggs for 19 yards and Baynard for 11 yards got Wesley into the red zone.
Baynard then went for a seven-yard and a 16-yard scamper to get back inside the 10-yardline before Callahan hit Dover high school product Xavier Allen for his first career touchdown with just over five minutes left.
The Saints got it back to a two-possession game with just under a minute left on Gebhardt's touchdown pass to Tyler Vogelpohl, but Connally blocked the point after to seal the game for Wesley.
Aside from the trio of Callahan, Baynard and Koudossou, Wiggs also shined for Wesley grabbing three passes for 74 yards and a touchdown in his first game back from an injury that forced him out the entire 2013 season.
A great defensive effort led by a plethora of Wolverines defenders held Hayden to 92 rushing yards on 24 carries. The 92 yards was his lowest output since November 19, 2011 when he rushed for 55 yards and two scores on 14 carries in a NCAA Playoff loss at Franklin.
Sosthene Kapepula recorded a team-high eight tackles, followed by Jordan Wescott with seven and both Derrick Bender and Ben Robinson with six. Bender also broke up five passes in his first career start at strong safety while Leroy Cheatham intercepted a pass in his Wesley debut. Rose and Aamir Petrose were also credited with tackles for loss as Petrose also broke up two passes along with two quarterback hurries.
Wesley is back in action on Saturday, September 13 when it travels for the Route 13 Rivalry at Salisbury for a 6 pm kickoff.