LEAVENWORTH –
Henry Austad wasn't feeling great, but you wouldn't have known it watching him play.
Austad, who missed Kansas Wesleyan's previous game two weeks ago against Evangel because of an injury, threw for 303 yards, a touchdown and ran for another in leading the Coyotes to a 42-21 Kansas Conference and Gene Bissell Division victory Saturday afternoon at Charles J. Berkel Memorial Stadium.
The Coyotes ended a two-game losing streak and raised their record to 5-2, 1-0 in the division.
Austad completed 24 of 36 passes with no interceptions and was sacked once as KWU posted a season-high point total.
"You could tell just watching him out there Henry's not a hundred percent, but he gutted this one out. He is a tough, tough, tough dude," coach
Matt Middleton said on the postgame radio show. "For him to be able to come back in two weeks from his injury and sit in the pocket and make some things happens with his legs says a lot about who he is as a person, as a competitor."
Austad wasn't the only Coyote who had a big game. Running back
D'Heaven Domena ran for 90 yards on 18 carries and scored four touchdowns – three rushing and one receiving. Wide receiver
Rhadarious Lomax-Spivey caught eight passes for 153 yards and a touchdown while wide out
Jevin Dorsey had seven receptions for 88 yards as Wesleyan outgained Saint Mary in total yards 476-315.
Dorsey returned to the lineup after missing three games with an injury, but fellow end
Will Wilcox didn't play after suffering an injury during practice Thursday.
"I don't know that I've ever been through a year where we've had so many key starters or people be out for the year," Middleton said. "Sure wish I had all my bullets, but it is what it is. I'm super proud of these kids and how hard they've worked and how they've kept chopping wood with a chance to continue to win games."
The Coyotes were magnificent defensively as usual. After allowing two first quarter touchdowns the Spires didn't score again until the 5:06 mark of the fourth quarter.
KWU entered the game with three interceptions on the season but picked off four passes Saturday – two by
Taylor Collins and one each by
Jamison Price and
Brennon Allen. Price led the defense with 10 tackles while Allen had eight.
The Coyotes scored first on Domena's one-yard run with 10:42 left in the first quarter. Saint Mary took a 14-7 lead with back-to-back touchdowns, but KWU tied it 14-14 on the third play of the second quarter on Austad's 57-yard bomb to Lomax-Spivey.
Austad was hurt three plays after Collins' first interception and briefly left the game. Backup quarter
Caden Middleton came on and promptly threw a screen pass to Domena who sprinted 51 yards for a touchdown that gave KWU a 21-14 lead with 3:59 left in the half.
Domena's third touchdown on a one-yard came with 31 seconds left in the half finished a nine-play, 93-yard drive that gave the Coyotes a 28-14 lead they took into intermission.
Austad one-yard run with 6:19 remaining in the third quarter made it 35-14 and capped a 12-play, 77-yard drive. Domena's fourth touchdown, a nine-yard run with 10:22 left in the game ended the KWU scoring. It came three plays after Allen's interception.
The Coyotes had no turnovers and only three penalties.
"We made plays on both sides of the ball," Middleton said. "Defense has carried us a little bit after the injuries, but to be honest with you we needed that. We needed to play big on offense and we did that today."
Sterling comes to Salina for a 5 p.m. game next Saturday on Bissell Field at JRI Hospitality Stadium and the Graves Family Sports Complex. The Warriors (1-6) lost to Southwestern 74-28 Saturday in Sterling.
