DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake University football dropped a tough conference game to the visiting Marist Red Foxes on Saturday afternoon in Des Moines. The Bulldogs turned Marist over a couple times and made a handful of splash plays offensively, but the Red Foxes had just enough to edge out Drake by a 27-22 margin.
The Bulldogs' offense took the field first as Marist won the toss and deferred. A 31-yard return by
Lucci Fidone started Drake's drive at their own 37-yard line.
Mitchell January got involved early, catching 3 passes while
Cody Blicharz had a 14-yard rush to get Drake to the redzone.
Riley Warzynski looked for Lincoln Delaere in the endzone, but Reggie Bropleh, Jr. snagged the ball and flags flew. Penalties on both teams wiped out the play, and Warzynski was sacked on the next play, forcing a Drake 3-point attempt.
Griffin Kollhoff's kick was true from 31 yards, and the Bulldogs took an early 3-0 lead.
Marist's first drive began at their own 34-yard line with 9:58 left in the first quarter. Quarterback Sonny Mannino was on the move from the jump, rushing three times for 15 yards. Mannino found Zach Garmont for a gain of 25 yards to the Bulldog's 22, and a few plays later Mannino found the endzone. A two-yard QB keeper gave Marist a 7-3 lead with 5:37 left in the first quarter.
Warzynski and January connected again on a key third down conversion gaining 12 yards to keep Drake's second drive alive. Moments later, Warzynski threw a perfect ball to Lincoln Delaere for 33 yards, putting Drake at Marist's 7-yard line right before the first quarter concluded.
On the first play of the second quarter, Warzynski hit Hank Foley for a 3-yard touchdown. A false start was called on kicker
Griffin Kollhoff before the extra point, resulting in a replay of the down. The second attempt of the extra point missed right, but Drake took a 9-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Shortly after Drake's offense found paydirt, the Dogs' defense came up big.
Taye Proctor jumped Mannino's pass on the sideline, intercepting Marist's first offering of the second quarter. A 17-yard return by Proctor set up Drake's offense at Marist's 36. Two runs for
Kyle Cottee, who saw his first playing time of the year in a tricky 2-QB package, and a 16-yard scramble by Warzynski resulted in Cottee finding the endzone on a one-yard run, and Drake took advantage of the takeaway to lead 16-7.
Clutch completions to Lucci Fidone and Kavaughn Clark got the Bulldogs into field goal range, but Kollhoff's 27-yard attempt hit the left upright, keeping the score at 16-7 in Drake's favor.
Sonny Mannino found Jayden Taylor and Zach Garmont for gains of 18 yards each leading the Red Foxes downfield for a touchdown on the subsequent Marist drive. Mannino took it in from two yards out, marking his second rushing touchdown of the day. Forty-nine seconds remained before the half as the Dogs still led 16-14.
Drake's offense went three and out, but the defense made another impact play. Mannino was looking for Reed Shumpert, but
Brody Shuss keyed in on Mannino and intercepted the pass, putting the Bulldogs in field goal range with 10 seconds before the half. The field goal unit came out for a 42-yard attempt, but Kollhoff's kick was wide right leaving the score 16-14 Drake at halftime.
To begin the second half, the Bulldog's defense forced a three-and-out. Drake's first drive out of the half was highlighted a 15-yard gain via Nofsinger and two scrambles by Warzynski, picking up 28 yards collectively, but Wayne Adair put an end to the Bulldogs effort when he picked off Warzynski in the redzone. It was a defensive battle throughout the remainder of the third stanza as Luke Stenson's 18-yard field goal marked the only score, giving Marist and 17-16 lead heading into the fourth.
Early in the final quarter of play, Mannino again found Zach Garmont who raced to the endzone for a 57-yard score, giving Marist at 24-16 lead with 12:59 to go. Drake's offense responded when Warzynski connected with
Mitchell January again, this time on 4th-and-three for 23 yards. Looking to tie the game, Drake went for two. Warzynski targeted Nofsigner, but the pass went incomplete, keeping the score 24-22 favoring Marist.
Marist began their drive with 8:30 left in the fourth quarter, featuring runs between Mannino and Isaiah Simmons. After an incomplete pass intended for Garmont, the Red Foxes settled for a field goal as Stenson's 37-yard attempt was good. Marist led 27-22 with 4:48 left.
Riley Warzynski hit Kavaughn Clark on a screen for 25 yards to start the Bulldog's drive. After a 3-yard keeper by Warzynski and a drop by
Kavaughn Clark, Warzynski rushed for five more yards but fumbled. The ball bounced directly into the awaiting arms of
Cody Blicharz, who was in the right place at the right time at Drake's 42-yard line. The Bulldogs maintained possession, but not without concern, as Warzynski was forced off the field and freshman
Braylon Wilson came on in relief.
Wilson's first few plays included rushes for three and eight yards, followed by another pick-up of eight by Blicharz to get a first down at the 2-minute timeout. Warzynski returned to the game after a 3-yard loss but only attempted one pass before Wilson returned. Wilson took the QB keeper again, picking up nine more yards before the Bulldogs used a timeout ahead of a crucial 4th-and-4 try with 1:12 remaining in the game.
Drake's hopes for victory were on the line as Wilson took the snap. He extended the play scrambling to his right as one of Marist's star defenders, Chase Hatton, pursued closely. Hatton's hurry forced an off-balance throw by Wilson, which fell incomplete. The Red Foxes took over, promptly picked up a first down, and got in victory formation to secure the 27-22 result.
"Days like this are so hard," Drake head coach Matt Walker said. "I feel terrible for our kids, they played hard. [Today is] another time we feel like we should've won a football game, but I don't want to take anything away from Marist. We keep holding ourselves back and I wish I could tell exactly what it was. Mistakes just took the wind out of us…we just have to make plays. We had good looks all day, moved the ball well, but just couldn't break that rock."
Drake outgained the Red Foxes with 410 total yards to 378. Both teams ran the ball 33 times, but Marist picked up 161 yards to Drake's 141. The Bulldogs threw for 269 yards through the air, with
Mitchell January hauling in nine passes for 80 yards. Drake's defense forced two interceptions and totaled 46 tackles as a unit.
Skylar James led the team with eight total tackles.
The Bulldogs will face another PFL opponent next week in Butler (5-2). The game is slated for another noon kickoff at Drake Stadium between the two Bulldog batteries.
