BRADENTON, Fla. - Two games, same score, much different result.
The Kansas Wesleyan Flag Football game played in the Inaugural NAIA Flag Football Invitational on Thursday at IMG Academy, and the Coyotes went 1-1, falling to No.3 seed Keiser (Fla.) and then defeating No. 7 seed St. Thomas (Fla.) in the second game.
The score of both games was 34-26.
The victory over St. Thomas keeps KWU's season going, and the Coyotes will face familiar foe Baker on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Central in another elimination game.
Keiser (Fla.) 34, KWU 26 - Wesleyan opened play in the Invitational taking on third seeded Keiser in the first round of the eight-team double elimination tournament.
Wesleyan was able to get an interception on the first drive of the game as Aliyah Wood picked off a pass but the Coyotes could not convert turning the ball over on downs.
Keiser capitalized, scoring on their next drive to take a 7-0 lead with 5:39 left in the first.
The Coyotes turned it over again and would trail 7-0 after a quarter.
Wesleyan would get another interception this time by Jenise Washington and would drive down and score as Chihiro Iwata hit Jazmine Whitfield for a 1-yard touchdown pass to tie it at 7-7 with 2:45 left before the half.
Another KWU interception, this time by Laura Hernandez Sanchez gave the ball back to the Coyotes with 1:40 left before the half.
Iwata then found Washington again this time for a 37-yard score to give the Coyotes a 14-7 lead at the half.
Wesleyan's first drive of the second half would stall and Keiser was able to score to tie things up at 14 with 8:17 left in the third.
After failed drives by both teams, the Coyotes would get a four-yard pass from Iwata to Yui Watanabe to take a 20-14 lead with eight seconds left in the third.
Keiser tied it at 20 with a touchdown on the next drive and then would take a 27-20 lead as the Seahawks intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown with 6:10 left in the game.
KWU turned it over on downs again and the Seahawks scored again to take a 34-20 lead with 1:52 to go.
The Coyotes marched downfield, getting a one-yard pass from Iwata to Watanabe with 10 seconds left to make it 34-26.
Wesleyan outgained Keiser 392-350 in the game.
Iwata was 43 of 59 passing with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Washington had seven catches for 118 yards and a score. Aliyah Wood had 11 catches for 78 yards, Aaliyah Young had eight for 65, Whitfield had eight for 52 and a score, Hernandez Sanchez had three for 29 and Watanabe had six for 17 yards and two scores.
Ava Duerr led the Coyotes in flag pulls with eight, while Hernandez Sanchez had six.
KWU 34, St. Thomas (Fla.) 26 - The Coyotes had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the St. Thomas Wildcats in an elimination game, the second of the day for both teams.
The Coyotes opened the game with the ball and marched downfield, scoring on Chihiro Iwata's 25-yard touchdown pass to Jenise Washington and the PAT was good making it 7-0 with 7:34 left in the first.
The Coyotes turned St. Thomas over on the next drive on downs and capitalized on their next possession. Eva Decesare ran it in from a yard out, but the PAT failed making it 13-0 Coyotes with 1:08 left in the first.
St. Thomas scored with 3:52 left in the second to make it 13-6 and the Coyotes benefitted from a Washington interception with 51 seconds left in the second to stop a STU drive.
From there, Iwata hit Jazmine Whitfield for a 39-yard touchdown pass and the PAT was good to make it 20-6 with 39 seconds left before the half.
KWU took a 20-6 lead into the half.
St. Thomas scored on the first drive of the second half with 6:37 left in the third to make it 20-13 and then forced a KWU turnover on an interception and scored again with 1:50 left in the third to make it 20-19 after the PAT failed.
Another KWU interception led to STU points as the Wildcats took a 26-20 lead after scoring with 9:43 left in the game.
Back came the Coyotes as Iwata found Washington for a 23-yard touchdown pass and the PAT was good to put the Coyotes up 27-26 with 5:48 left in the game.
Zo Lucas picked off a STU pass on the first play of the next drive and the Coyotes took over and scored as Iwata found Aliyah Wood for a 5-yard scoring play and the PAT was good to make it 34-26 with 3:32 left.
STU drove to the KWU 23 and faced fourth down when Ansdiane Rabano knocked down a pass and the Coyotes took over with 50 seconds left in the game.
Wesleyan ran two plays to eat up some clock then took a knee to run out the clock and seal the victory.
The Coyotes had 296 yards of total offense in the game, outgaining STU by 20.
Iwata was 27 of 34 passing for 239 yards and had four touchdowns and two interceptions. Decesare had 41 yards rushing on six attempts. Whitfield had seven catches for 94 yards and a score, Yui Watanabe had six catches for 32 yards, Aaliyah Young had three for 21 yards. Wood had five for 31 and a score and Washington had four for 58 yards and two scores.