Drake University men’s football played its first Pioneer League football game over Parents and Family Weekend in Des Moines with a blowout win against the University of Valparaiso Beacons. The team secured the win coming off back-to-back losses under the leadership of head coach Joe Woodley.
“I thought Saturday showed how well-rounded our team is,” linebacker Sean Allison said. “[We] have to be pretty happy when the opposing team doesn’t score. Offense started a little slow, but they found their groove in the second half. Our kicking game was lights out, and then of course, the defense was flying around. Jacob Auen’s pick six was sweet, always cool when a big guy scores like that.”
After a 42-21 loss to the University of South Dakota, the momentum at Drake Stadium shifted completely going into the game against Valpo. The Bulldogs had a slow start in the first quarter, but were able to put points up with a field goal kicked by kicker Harry Balke with two minutes left in the quarter.
In the second quarter, Drake was able to put a rushing touchdown on the board thanks to running back Luke Woodson before Balke kicked for an extra point and a field goal going into halftime. The score at halftime was 13-0, and Drake’s lead would continue to grow in the second half. Although the half wasn’t as successful as Woodley had hoped, the team was able to adapt.
“The challenge all week was, and it’s no different in any game, we want to start fast and we didn’t do that,” Woodley said. “Bad things are going to happen. We’ve got to pull together, and how are we going to respond to adversity? I thought we did that for the most part.”
The energy changed a few minutes into the third quarter, and so did the score. Defensive lineman Jacob Auen intercepted the ball to score a nine-yard rushing touchdown. Just minutes later, running back Nick Herman added to the score with a 27-yard run with another kick from Balke for a score of 34-0 going into the fourth and final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, wide receiver Hank Foley caught a 25-yard pass from quarterback Logan Inagawa for the last score of the game. Drake blew out Valpo 41-0 to kick off PFL play and will work to stay on the winning side of the conference rankings.
“I’m glad our offense responded in the second half. We didn’t perform up to our expectations in the first half but responded well and played much better in the second half,” offensive lineman Drew Heiss said.
The team still had work to do to ensure that it can keep up with the rest of the league, but Woodley is hopeful that the team will learn from the slower start going forward.
“Didn’t play the best first half, but we weren’t bad,” Woodley said. “Our defense played … I don’t know if lights out is the best way to put it, because believe me, we’ll find some things that we need to get corrected. They were really good, however, and they answered the call because they’ve had a couple rough outings these past two weeks, and it was nice to see them get back to what we think they are capable of.”
The Bulldogs will hit the road to San Diego, California, to play the University of San Diego on Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. with hopes of adding a second conference win to Drake’s record.
