KWU Athletics
ATLANTA – For a second straight season, Kansas Wesleyan flag football ends its season with a victory. The Coyotes defeated Kansas Conference foe Saint Mary in the final of the Silver Bracket at the NAIA Flag Finals inside Mercedes Benz Stadium on Saturday.
Flag Football is at Emerging Sport status in its second year of existence at the NAIA level, but is on track to become an invitational-level sport and eventually a National Championship sport in future seasons. A National Champion is not named in the sport.
The Coyotes opened pool play in the tournament on Thursday falling to Webber International 14-6. The Coyotes then beat Milligan 46-0 to earn a spot in the Silver Bracket, as one of the Top 2 seeds in the bracket, receiving a first round bye.
Wesleyan then defeated Florida Memorial in the semifinal of the silver bracket to earn a second straight trip to the bracket finals.
In the final, Wesleyan faced a familiar foe in Saint Mary, who the Coyotes defeated four times during the regular season, three of the matchups the Coyotes had to rally from a deficit to win.
The Coyotes took a 7-0 lead to start the championship game on a touchdown pass from Brianna Hernandez-Silva (JR/Las Vegas, Nev.) to Ja'Daa Wilson (FR/Crawfordville, Fla.), but Saint Mary tied it 7-7 just before the end of the first quarter.
With just seconds to go in the first, the Coyotes struck again. Hernandez-Silva found a leaping Angel Roman (FR/Jacksonville, Fla.) over the middle of the field, who went untouched into the endzone for a 57-yard touchdown to put the Coyotes up 13-7.
The Coyotes extended their lead to 20-7 with a toss and catch to Kaylen Dawson (FR/Spring Hill, Kan.) with eight minutes left in the half.
The 20-7 advantage would carry over into the half.
Hernandez-Silva ran it in from a yard out for Wesleyan's final score of the game with 3:24 left in the third quarter.
From there it was defense for the Coyotes, including holding Saint Mary out of the end zone as its final drive ran out of time in the fourth quarter.
The Coyotes finish their second season with a high level of success with an 11-8 overall record in addition to the silver bracket title.