DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University football team returns to Drake Stadium Saturday, Nov. 9 against Jacksonville. Kickoff between the Pioneer Football League teams is scheduled for 1 p.m. with Chuck Reed on the radio broadcast on 1350 ESPN Des Moines. Fans can also watch on Mediacom/MC22 and at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com. Saturday is Military Appreciation Day as military personnel receive up to four complimentary tickets by showing their military ID at the ticket office.
Following Saturday, Drake plays its final regular season home game Nov. 16 when Dayton visits Drake Stadium. Kickoff with the Flyers is scheduled for 1 p.m. A senior day ceremony will be held prior to the game between the longtime PFL rivals.
Preview
When Jacksonville (2-7, 0-5 PFL) and Drake (4-4, 4-1 PFL) kickoff Saturday, the Bulldogs will look to move forward from a tough 49-7 loss at league leader San Diego. Drake, which sits alone in second place and holds a one game lead over four teams tied for third, had its four-game winning streak stopped by the Toreros. Drake's offense will need to improve after it scored the fewest points since the first and second games of the season. The Bulldogs' defense will also look to improve after giving up the most points all season.
Jacksonville is in search of its first PFL win after it nearly rallied against Stetson. The Dolphins had a potential game-tying 53-yard field goal try with one-minute left fall short as the Hatters held on for a 27-24 win. Drake has won four consecutive games over Jacksonville, which trails 15-3 all-time in the series with its last win coming in 2014.
Rewind
In a battle of first-place PFL teams, the San Diego Toreros defeated Drake, 49-7, Saturday, Nov. 2 at Torero Stadium. Drake had its four-game winning streak stopped as San Diego won its 34th-straight league contest.
The Bulldogs' defense opened the game with a huge fourth down stop deep in their own territory after the Toreros failed to convert a fourth and four from Drake's 36-yard line. However,
Ian Corwin's (Tulsa, Okla.) pass was picked off on the team's first offensive play. San Diego capitalized by moving the football down the field 56 yards on seven plays as the drive was capped by a one-yard Jojo Binda Jr. touchdown.
Drake's offense just couldn't sustain any progress the rest of the first half as the team never moved the football outside of its own territory, turned the ball over once more and had three punts. San Diego broke open the game by scoring touchdowns on its next six drives helping it lead 35-0 at halftime.
Drake went three plays and out of the halftime break as San Diego scored another touchdown after the three-and-out. Following the score, the Bulldogs' offense moved the football to the Toreros' 23-yard line but turned it over on downs when Corwin's fourth down pass to senior
Alex Bray (Muskego, Wis.) was incomplete.
However, on San Diego's next drive the Bulldogs' defense came up with a huge Toreros' turnover deep in their own territory. Senior tackle
Victor Jergens (Webster City, Iowa) sacked quarterback Reid Sinnett who fumbled as senior and fellow tackle
Gavin Dineen (Algonquin, Ill.) pounced on the football. Four plays later on fourth down, Corwin pushed it in the end zone from one yard out.
San Diego scored its final touchdown on the next drive courtesy of another touchdown run by Binda Jr.
Fifth year
Drew Lauer (St. Peters, Mo.) rushed for 42 yards on 14 carries for Drake. Corwin had three carries for 18 yards and in the air completed 14-of-32 for 159 yards with three interceptions. Senior
Shane Feller (Charles City, Iowa) had five receptions for 88 yards while fifth year
Devin Cates (Yuba City, Calif.) also had five catches and netted 67 yards.
Binda Jr. and Terrence Smith combined for five touchdowns and rushed for 86 and 82 yards, respectively. As a team, San Diego rushed for 195 yards on 36 carries. Sinnett finished 23-of-28 with 281 yards and one touchdown. Dalton Kincaid had 117 receiving yards on five receptions with one touchdown catch.
