TABOR COLLEGE: Falcons block Bluejay victory
Special teams woes costly for Tabor in 15-12 setback
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The Bluejays special teams weren't simply a nuisance Saturday afternoon in Wichita — they ended up costing the team a victory against the Friends Falcons.
For the third consecutive year, the Falcons' curse on Tabor continued with Friends using the Bluejays' inconsistent special teams to pull off a 15-12 shocker.
Up 12-9 with less than 2:00 remaining in the game, all Tabor had to do was get off a successful punt from the Bluejay 47 and hold on defense to preserve a win.
But Friends' Scott Klufa didn't let that happen, shoving a Bluejay blocker into the way of Tracy Wehrman's punt.
Klufa recovered the loose ball at the Tabor 25 which set up the winning score for the Falcons. They drop to 4-2 on the year and 3-2 in the KCAC.
"The deal was our lack of special teams play," said Bluejay coach Tim McCarty of the discouraging loss. "That seemed to be the trend going on in college football this weekend so we jumped on in. We didn't want to be left behind. Our special teams did not play well Saturday."
No kidding about that with the Falcons knocking down a pair of PAT kicks and the costly punt.
Boasting two of the top defenses in the KCAC, Saturday's game was indeed a defensive struggle.
One of the few good things that happened for Tabor was pounding out 181 yards of total offense against the Falcons' second-rated defense.
Another bright spot came from quarterback David Hernandez, who threw for 113 yards against the KCAC's top passing defense that is giving up 88 yards a game.
That was without two of the league's top receivers in Tyson Ratzlaff and Tyler Marsh.
"We came into the game knowing that the quarterback (Hernandez) had two guys that he'd been throwing the ball to ever since he's been there," Falcon coach Phil Keys said.
"We were hoping to get in the way with some things by blitzing and making him choose to throw the ball to somebody else. Our kids thought from the opening kickoff to the end that we were going to win the game."
Tabor's top-rated run-defense, and fourth against the pass, limited the Falcons to 136 yards and a trio of first downs.
The two teams' defenses made it nearly impossible for either side to move the ball.
Neither team picked up a first down until the second quarter. Tabor never started a drive any closer than the Falcon 43.
"Our dilemma the whole day was that we never had field position," McCarty said. "We didn't have field position defensively, we never had it offensively. We can credit our special teams for that gift."
By halftime, Tabor barely had 50 yards offense.
The Falcons took turns rotating quarterbacks with freshmen Brandon Malicoat running and Patrick Cleary throwing.
Friends jumped in front, 7-0, with 9:40 left in the half with Cleary hitting Shelton Milton for a 21-yard catch.
The Bluejays wasted no time responding, getting set up on a big kick return by Steve Weltmer at the Falcon 40.
Two minutes and 32 seconds later, the shutout blew up with Layne Frick hauling in a 13-yard touchdown catch from Hernandez.
Brian Chandler made another nightmare for Tabor's special teams, blocking the first of two Keenan Morris PATs.
Anthony Barbosa recovered the loose ball and returned it 99 yards for two points to make it a 9-6 game at halftime.
Tabor took over the lead, 12-9, with 5:04 left in the third quarter after Cameron Conant bullied his way in from two yards out. Conant clawed his way to a game-high 104 yards on 28 carries.
That lead stayed on the Bluejays' side until Klufa's blocked punt.
Another pass from Cleary to Milton got the Falcons down to the 3three, setting up the winning touchdown by Micale Habtemariam with 40 seconds left.
The Bluejays can't sulk for long with the high-powered offense of the upstart St. Mary Spires visiting Saturday afternoon.
The Spires, boasting one of the KCAC's top passing games, came within two points of toppling Bethany Saturday.
Saturday's game is slated for 1:30 p.m.
