Pride second half comeback falls short in 28-21 loss to Culver-Stockton
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Playing their first home game in nearly a month, a fitting Homecoming game, the Clarke University football game dropped a 28-21 Heart North matchup to Culver-Stockton College on Saturday afternoon at Dalzell Field.
The scoring came in sandwich order as the Pride scored the bread points, getting out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter before CSC rattled off four-straight scoring drives from the end of the first quarter to the middle of the second quarter to take a 28-7 lead.
CU would tack on a late second quarter touchdown to cut the lead to a two-possession game at a halftime score of 28-14 where the second half would only see the Pride get their third touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter where the Wildcats defense would produce two clutch turnovers on downs and a game-sealing interception in Clarke's final drive to take home the victory without scoring any second half points.
Clarke's first score of the game came on an 11-play, 70-yard drive capped off by a Caleb Perry two-yard touchdown run with 9:07 left in the first quarter for the first of Perry's two rushing touchdowns on the day as the junior running back would finish with 89 yards on 20 carries with a career-high nine receptions for 56 receiving yards for his best game from a yards from scrimmage standpoint in his first season in Dubuque at 145 total yards with those two touchdowns.
Three of the four Wildcat touchdowns came on the ground, first on the ensuing drive when quarterback Liam Thornton scrambled to a wide open right side of the field to walk in on a seven-yard rush to finish off CSC's own 70-yard drive on the ninth play at the 5:07 mark in the first quarter.
Thornton played a dual threat role for Culver-Stockton to the tune of 299 passing yards, one touchdown, and an interception while running the ball 12 times for 34 yards and the previously mentioned rushing score.
Thornton's passing touchdown came at the end of their 28-0 run as he found his tight end Thomas Shue for a 13-yard score after the Wildcats punched in short rushing touchdowns from backup running back Tahj Washington as he scored a pair of three-yard touchdown runs.
Nearing the late stages of the second quarter, a big pass from Carson Estrada to Zach Rinehart for 23 yards got CU near the red zone but a couple of penalties would stall the drive to a fourth and 15 after CSC declined the second penalty in that set of downs to take the fourth down instead of the yards.
That decision would indirectly come back to bite the Wildcats as Estrada would take the fourth and 15 snap and find senior receiver Jackson Ostrander-Krier for a 27-yard strike to put the game at its eventual halftime score of 28-14.
Estrada threw 57 pass attempts with the Pride trailing for a majority of the game as he would finish with 32 completions, 268 yards and that one touchdown pass for the sophomore out of Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Clarke's defense stepped up in a big way, first starting at the end of the second quarter when Jordan Summage was able to intercept a Thornton pass down the left sideline as Culver-Stockton tried to add on late in the half but the senior cornerback would juggle the ball and eventually come down with his team-leading fourth pick of the season.
The CU defensive unit would go on to shut out Culver-Stockton over the entire second half as Clarke held the Wildcats to just 107 total yards of offense in the final 30 minutes as they recorded their two sacks during the second half as Marcus Plair and Chadlin Seymore were able to bring Thornton down in the backfield.
One of the bigger defensive plays of the game came early in the third quarter came on a completed deep ball from Thornton to receiver Kyle Dixon and while he was being taken down by Summage and safety Mysun Rush-Esdaile, the ball would be ripped free by Summage and recoverd by Seymore but called down by contact by the officials.
That would force Pride head coach Adam Hicks to call a timeout and challenge the play as he would win his second challenge of the game, giving CU the ball on their own 15 and keeping Culver-Stockton out of the red zone.
Clarke's final scoring drive came across the end of the third quarter into the start of the fourth quarter when Perry would score his second touchdown on an eight-yard carry with 13:47 remaining in the game as another completion to a CU tight end would put the Pride in good position to score when Estrada hit Cal Bennett for a 31-yard completion over the middle of the field on a play that was initially called targeting as well but overturned after review.
CU's last best chance to score came on their next drive when they got the ball back after forcing a three-and-out as they drove from their own 20 to the Culver-Stockton 34 before they couldn't convert on both third and fourth down needing to get six yards.
Pride football will be back on their home field next Saturday when they host William Penn University at Dalzell Field on Oct. 25 with a scheduled 1:00 p.m. CT kickoff against the Statesmen.