DeLAND, Fla. - Three rushing touchdowns led the Drake University football team to a 27-15 win at Stetson in 2014 season finale.
Drake, led by first-year head coach Rick Fox, ends the season with a 7-4 record and a second-place 6-2 mark in Pioneer Football League action. The record gives the Bulldogs 11-straight winning seasons.
Two of the Bulldogs three touchdowns came on one-yard scrambles from quarterback Andy Rice (Stevens Point, Wis.) as the playcaller also engineered touchdown drives of 63, 97 and 90 yards while the offense picked up 393 total yards of offense.
Drake's final score of the day, from Rice, capped a 21-play, 90-yard drive that exhausted 9:05 off the clock and left Stetson (5-7, 3-5 PFL) with just 4:52 left to try and generate two scores.
Stetson did manage to mount a last-gasp charge, driving to the Drake 2-yard line before Bryan Pisklo (Tulsa, Okla.) sacked Stetson quarterback Ryan Tentler to jar the ball loose and end the threat.
"What a way to finish. I told the guys I was glad we had to fight the whole way because it was symbolic of this team and season," said Drake head coach Rick Fox. "That's what our guys have done all year. We've always played together and we've always played relentless and that's what we did today."
Conley Wilkins (Overland Park, Kan.) led the ground attack with 81 yards on 16 carries and his 13th touchdown of the season.
Drake's defense, which came into the game ranked 22nd nationally, surrendered 307 yards in the win, just the third time a conference foe has picked up more than 300 yards in a game this season. Captain John Hugunin (Oswego, Ill.) recorded 13 tackles in the win while Matt Acree (Shawnee, Kan.) made the most of his final game in the Blue and White with six tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Caz Zyks (Carpentersville, Ill.) added an interception and recovered the game sealing fumble.
Rice's first touchdown started Drake's scoring on the Bulldogs first drive of the game. After moving into Stetson territory, T.J. James (Des Moines, Iowa) carried four-straight times for 35 yards before getting a breather from Wilkins, who carried twice for 12 yards, prior to Rice crossing the plane.
Stetson answered on its next drive with a 64-yard touchdown strike followed by a 2-point conversion to take its only lead of the game.
Just after the start of the second quarter, Wilkins scored from seven yards out to end a drive that started on the Bulldogs' 3-yard line. Fifty-eight of those yards came on the ground as Wilkins, James and Gary Scott, Jr. (Forsyth, Ill.) continued to bring fresh legs into the huddle to exhaust the Hatters' defense. The Bulldogs added to that tally to go up 17-8 on Spencer Lee's (Johnston, Iowa) first of two field goals. The first attempt was good from 21 yards out followed by a 29-yard make just before halftime to give Drake a 20-8 lead at intermission.
Stetson broke Drake's 13-point run with 7:30 left in the third quarter on a Cole Mazza 1-yard touchdown set up by a 69-yard pass to the Drake 1-yard line. Neither team would score for the remainder of the third quarter until Drake took possession of the ball in the second minute of the fourth quarter.
It was then that the Bulldogs' clock-killing drive began with Drake converting on five third downs to march 90 yards in 9:05 and seal the victory on Rice's 1-yard run.
