INDIANAPOLIS – The Drake University football team rolled to a 42-7 Pioneer Football League road victory at Butler Saturday, Oct. 12 afternoon.
Drake (3-3, 3-0 PFL) was impressive in all aspects against Butler (1-5, 0-2 PFL) as its offense, defense and special teams all made big plays and dominated in the team's third-straight win.
"The offense is doing a nice job really gelling and seeing the system help hit their stride and now we've got two weeks to make it even better," said Drake head coach
Todd Stepsis. "The defense does what it does. Hats off to coach Bloss, coach Cashmore and coach Smith, who have really taken the torch and run with it. This defense is really good."
Drew Lauer (St. Peters, Mo.) rushed for a season-high 124 yards on 26 attempts with two touchdowns and added one receiving touchdown.
Devin Cates (Yuba City, Calif.) had his first career 100-plus yard receiving game with 103 yards on nine catches and two touchdowns. Before Saturday's game, former Bulldog greats Eric Saubert (131) and Conley Wilkins (140) in 2016 against Stetson were the last Bulldog teammates to have more than 100 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing in the same game.
Ian Corwin (Tulsa, Okla.) passed for a career-high 265 yards on 25-of-32 with three touchdowns. Drake's offensive line didn't allow Corwin to be sacked as Corwin completed passes to seven different Bulldogs.
Drake's special teams unit started the game with a huge play on the opening kickoff.
Jacob Lewis (Kansas City, Mo.) forced a fumble by Butler and the football was recovered by
Declan Carr (Frankfort, Ill.). Later on, fourth down from the Butler 1-yard line, Lauer punched it in the end zone for Drake's first score.
Butler tied the game at 7-7 on the final play of the first quarter using some trickery. Quarterback Sam Brown threw a pass to tight Joey Lindstrom in the flat, but Lindstrom, a former high school quarterback, tossed the ball deep to a jumping Johnny O'Shea, who caught it and ran into the end zone from 34 yards out.
Drake answered on its very next drive marching down the field 65 yards, the last 22 yards on a screen pass from Corwin to Lauer, who scored his second touchdown. After Drake forced a three-and-out, the Drake Bulldogs used another long drive to extend its lead to 21-7. Lauer capped a nine-play, 60-yard drive, with another one-yard touchdown run for his third touchdown.
Drake wasted no time out of halftime as it scored on its first drive of the third quarter. Cates' 18-yard touchdown catch from Corwin capped a 73-yard, five-play drive that took just 1:49. After Drake's defense forced another three-and-out, Corwin found Cates again, this time from 13 yards that ended a 64-yard, 11-play drive that lasted 4:53 and put Drake up 35-7.
Jacob Clay (Brentwood, Mo.) scored from a yard out late in the third quarter for Drake's final score.
Drake's defense limited Butler's offense to just 229 yards and just 22:59 in time of possession.
Will Warner (Pella, Iowa) picked off a Butler pass late in the game for his second interception of the season.
Drake's offense rolled to 452 yards, including 182 on the ground, helping make 28 first downs and dominate the time of possession at 37:01. The team was penalized just once in the game, a third-quarter false start.
Drake will enjoy its final bye week before Morehead State visits Drake Stadium Oct. 26 at 1 p.m.
"We're going to take these two weeks and get healthy," Stepsis said of his team's upcoming bye week. "We'll work on the details that matter in the game across all aspects, dial in and be ready to go when we return home versus Morehead State."
