Homecoming was a "coming out party" for Kansas Wesleyan's running backs and the ground attack. On the other side of the ball, it was another dominant performance for the defense.
KWU rushed for a season-high 331 yards, finished with 536 total yards and the defense limited Saint Mary to 134 total yards in a 49-3 Kansas Conference and Gene Bissell Division victory Saturday at Gene Bissell Field at JRI Hospitality Stadium in the Graves Family Sports Complex.
Sam Mitchum ran for a season-best 149 yards on 15 carries (9.9 per carry), and two touchdowns, and Andrew Brown added 75 yards on 14 attempts and a score. Caleb Deal, the starting quarterback for much of the season, opened at running back Saturday and had 53 yards on eight carries.
Coach Matt Middleton said a change in strategy that utilizes two blocking tight ends paid huge dividends.
"I thought Sam Mitchum and some of those guys finally had a coming out party," he said on the postgame radio show. "We haven't run much power - none to be honest with you - all year and we've got two pretty good tight ends. We decided we're going to try to find a way to do that and based off how they line up it gave us an opportunity."
Mitchum ran 14 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and 12 yards for another in the third quarter while Brown scored from the 5-yard line in the third quarter.
Wyatt Oak returned from an injury and was 9 of 16 passing for 129 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Deal, who alternated with Oak, was 4 of 7 for 44 yards and Alec Jackson 2 of 2 for 31 yards and a touchdown. Kyler Brown had six receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown and Will Wilcox four for 53 yards.
Defensively, the Coyotes suffocated the Spires. Saint Mary had 14 drives in the game and finished with just three first downs. KWU intercepted two passes and sacked quarterback Zavian Martinez four times. Martinez was 2 of 10 for 17 yards and two interceptions.
"Defensively, again, we played lights out and got after it," Middleton said. "I'm looking at it 27 first downs of ours to three for them, so it tells you what we did defensively. They've played well all year."
KWU scored on its first two possessions of the game - Oak's 15-yard pass to Brown and Troy Sylve's three-yard jump pass to fellow defender Callum Armstrong out of the short yardage Mule Train alignment.
Mitchum's 14-yard scoring run in the second quarter gave the Coyotes a 21-0 lead they took to the locker room at halftime.
Andrew Brown's five-yard touchdown run, and Mitchum's 12-yard TD run made it 35-3 entering the fourth quarter. Sylve vaulted over the line for a touchdown out of the Mule Train alignment, and Alec Jackson hit Max Wilson with a 31-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
"One and zero in divisional play - that's all you can ask for," Middleton said. "There's a lot of good football teams in this conference so we've got to get ready to play next week on the road to try to get six wins. But I'm super thankful to have our fifth here right now."