KWU Sports Information
Melinda Nguyen has a laundry list of things she likes about her Kansas Wesleyan flag football team as the Coyotes near the end of the regular season.
At or near the top is their resilience which was on display during their 21-7 Kansas Conference victory over Midland on Wednesday at JRI Stadium in the Graves Family Sports Complex.
Coming off a tough 28-20 loss road loss to conference leader Ottawa five days earlier they trailed Midland 7-0 late in the second quarter. Their opening drive died at the 3-yard line after quarterback Brianna Hernandez-Silva (SR/Las Vegas, Nev.) threw an interception in the end zone and had gone three and out on their next two possessions.
Undaunted, KWU methodically drove 64 yards on 10 plays on its final possession of the half, Hernandez-Silva throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Angel Roman (SO/Jacksonville, Fla.) five seconds before intermission. Hernandez-Silva's conversion pass to Ashley Hawthorne (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) tied the game 7-7.
The second half was all Coyotes as they scored on two of their first three possessions and the defense throttled Midland's offense.
"We talked a lot about resilience and pushing through and playing till the whistle and knowing the game's not over until the final whistle blows," said Nguyen, who's in her first season as KWU's coach. "They executed, they played hard and they didn't give up."
KWU improved to 8-2 overall, 5-2 in the KCAC, while Midland fell to 6-3 and 3-3.
Hernandez-Silva threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Hawthorne with 5:27 left in the third quarter capping a quick three-play, 42-yard drive and she capped the scoring with a 5-yard scoring pass to yards Kendra Velasquez-Munro (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) with 11:52 left in the game, the five-play drive covering 55 yards.
Hernandez-Silva ran for the conversion after the third quarter score and threw a pass to Angel Almaraz (FR/Las Vegas, Nev.) for the second conversion of the half.
Hernandez-Silva, the lone senior on the roster, was 24 of 42 passing for 222 yards and the one interception. She also had a team-best 33 yards rushing on seven carries.
"She's a good leader, she's a good player," Nguyen said.
Almaraz caught eight passes for 71 yards while Roman had five for 59 and Hawthorne five for 53 as KWU finished with 243 total yards.
Defensively Midland had no answers for Leila Casillan (FR/Las Vegas, Nev.) who had five sacks and six total pulled flags.
"She did a phenomenal job," Nguyen said. "She's a freshman and we've been giving her some reps and teaching her and it's starting to click for her. Even if she's not getting the sack, she's putting pressure on and sometimes that's all you need. She's really making a huge difference."
Shanya Murape (FR/Toronto, Ontario) had seven pulled flags and Ja'Daa Wilson (JR/Crawfordville, Fla.) six for KWU. Alexa Mansur (SO/Henderson, Nev.) intercepted two Midland passes in the second quarter. Midland quarterback Mikaela Nunez was 16 of 32 passing for 238 yards, one touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Coyotes have three regular season games left, two of them at home. They travel to Leavenworth to play Saint Mary on April 15 in their next outing before home games against Cottey on April 22 and Saint Mary on April 23.
Nguyen likes her team's chances going forward.
"I feel really good about the way the team's progressed," she said. "We knew going into the season we're a team that's going to grow and really start to gel toward the end of the season. When the time is right, I think we're going to peak and hit the ground running."