Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa--The Drake Bulldogs scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes Saturday to erase a 24-17 deficit and topple first-place Jacksonville 31-24, keeping the Bulldogs in contention for the Pioneer Football League title with one game remaining.
Senior running back Pat Cashmore (Kansas City, Mo.) scored his second touchdown of the day on a 4-yard burst with 21 seconds remaining to break a 24-24 tie and send the Bulldogs (8-2, 6-1 PFL) to victory, ending Jacksonville's 16-game conference winning streak.
"It means a ton because they're such a good team and picked to win the conference," head coach Chris Creighton said of Jacksonville. "It just goes to show the character of our guys. They didn't stop believing because of all the time and the work that they've put in preparing for this moment. For some of them that's five years, year round and they love each other. It was the way that it happened that made it so special. Beating this team is a huge deal but the way that we did it just clearly shows what this team is about."
Drake now sits in first place in the PFL by percentage points with a record of 6-1, while Jacksonville and San Diego are tied for second at 5-1. Drake closes its season next Saturday at home vs. Dayton, while Jacksonville and San Diego have two games each remaining, and will face one another Nov. 19 in San Diego in the season finale.
The Bulldogs trailed 24-17 with 10:46 to play after Jacksonville scored on a 48-yard pass completion from Josh McGregor to Josh Philpart. It was the Dolphins' second touchdown in a three-possession span to erase a 17-10 Drake halftime lead.
Drake's following possession resulted in a punt, but Billy Janssen's boot was low and short, and bounced off a Jacksonville player, allowing the Bulldogs' Jacob Dines (Osage Beach, Mo.) to pounce on it and give his team an opportunity to start its comeback.
A 15-play, 54 yard drive followed, and was capped by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Mike Piatkowski (Wheaton, Ill.) to Joey Orlando (Park Ridge, Ill.) on a 4th-and-goal play to tie the game at 24. It was Piatkowski's 21st touchdown throw of the year, and the sixth to Orlando. Creighton praised Piatkowski's decision-making at the line of scrimmage on the play-call.
"(Jacksonville) called a time out (and) we had a play that we liked. In the huddle we talked about that play and potentially having to get out of that. Mike is such a great manager of the game so we didn't run the play called, went with the other one, and really it was kind of a second look on that second play that he went to, as he's supposed to, and really threw a strike and Joey got into the end zone. It was reminiscent of the first home game when we were down to 4th-and-10 on the last play of the game. It can't get more exciting than that."
On Jacksonville's first play of the next series, cornerback Lyndon Crawford (Flossmoor, Ill.) intercepted McGregor, setting up the final drive and the Cashmore touchdown.
The Drake defense put forth a spectacular effort against the powerful Jacksonville offense, creating five turnovers, including four interceptions of McGregor, the PFL's all-time passing leader. The Bulldogs also registered five sacks and limited the Dolphins to 43 rushing yards.
"The interceptions are often a result of pressure," Creighton explained. "We play a lot of zone cover and guys were playing with zone eyes, doing it right. Our defensive line is special and they're a really good offensive line but our line just kept at it and forced some turnovers."
Cashmore rushed for a career-high 160 yards and scored two touchdowns on a career-high 35 carries. He tallied 99 of those yards in the second half to help Drake hold the ball for a remarkable 19:28 of the 30 minutes.
"We just never gave up and somehow I just knew on that fourth-down play we were scoring. I don't know how to describe to you. I just felt like it was going in and it went in."
**Bonus: Check out Cashmore's "Five Questions" interview from this week
Cashmore registered his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season and sixth of his career.
"Pat is a special guy," Creighton said of Cashmore. "It's his fifth year. He wants this so badly. He has so much natural leadership that guys look to him, I look to him. It's fun when you're a fifth-year senior and you can "will" things to happen, and I think that's what he did today. He's a winner. He's just a winner and sometimes when you have guys like that you want to get him the ball and they make things happen. It's going to be tough to stop Pat Cashmore and that group of those graduating seniors."
Piatkowski completed 17 of 30 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns, and moved into second place on Drake's all-time passing yards list. He now has 6,642 to move ahead of Connor Jostes (6,525; 2002-05). With 2,649 passing yards this season he now has the second-highest single-season total with one game to play, trailing the No. 1 figure of 3,239 (Ira Vandever, 2002).
Wide receiver Drew Blackmon (Florissant, Mo.) caught four passes for a game-high 86 yards and one touchdown, on a 28-yard pass from Piatkowski in the second quarter.
Blackmon's touchdown tied the game at 10 with 5:09 to play in the first half, and was followed by Cashmore's first scoring run, from 1 yard out, on the Bulldogs' next possession. That score was set up by a Nick Chenier interception and 20-yard return that gave Drake possession at the Jacksonville 29-yard line.
Drake scored first on a 43-yard Janssen field goal with 28 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Janssen also had a tremendous day punting the football, including an 83-yard boot in the third quarter that was the third-longest in Drake history and the second-longest by an FCS punter in 2011. For the day Janssen averaged 48.7 yards on six punts and converted the one field goal attempt along with four point-after tries.
In addition to the interceptions by Crawford and Chenier, fifth-year senior captain Michael Lahart (Chariton, Iowa) had two interceptions, and now has three in the past two games.
"Every pick is crucial," Lahart said. "That's something that we as a defense pride ourselves on, when our backs are up against the wall or we're put in tough situations. That's something where we try to rise to the situation and really get a stop on those drives. On the back end we love it when that front four is causing havoc in the pocket. It makes it easier on us."
Defensive tackle John Sawhill (Jefferson, Iowa) led the Bulldogs in tackles with six solo stops, while linebacker Tyler Moorehead (Mason City, Iowa) had six total tackles (4 solo), including two sacks. Nose tackle David Witkiewicz (Hales Corners, Wisc.) also had two sacks among his five solo tackles.
The Bulldogs outgained the Dolphins 357 to 292, including a 163-43 advantage on the ground. Drake ran 78 plays to Jacksonville's 59, and held a 32:56-27:04 possession edge for the game.
"We were just running the ball so well and the o-line was just like 'lets go, run it,' with the ground and pound," Cashmore said. "It helps with a bigger running back and I just put my head down and didn't let anyone stop me."
Cashmore and Lahart have seen some fantastic finished in their five seasons at Drake, but this one will remain special.
"As far as a finish it's got to be up there (in the) top 2 or 3," Lahart said. "It's defiantly up there. It's huge. It just makes next week's game so much more important really. That's why we're excited to start preparing for Dayton and get ready for those guys because they are a great team."
Drake will kick off against Dayton at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Drake Stadium. A Bulldogs win would secure at least a PFL co-championship for the Bulldogs, pending the results of the remaining two games of Jacksonville and San Diego.
For tickets please call (515) 271-DOGS, or purchase tickets online at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com.
