Via Wayland Baptist Athletics
A diving Preston Woodard hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell Parsley to boost the Wayland Baptist Pioneers to a 40-37 win over Howard Payne on Saturday afternoon in Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium.
Wayland (2-1) led 31-14 at halftime, but the Yellow Jackets (0-3) rallied to take a 34-31 lead. 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.
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 take 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. The big play on the drive was a 42-yard screen pass from Parsley to Peterson, followed by a clutch four-yard completion on fourth-and-1 from Parsley 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-yard 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.
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. De’Sean Johnson added 12 carries for 45 yards and also scored on a 6-yard run early in the second period.
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.
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Source: Wayland Baptist Athletics
