Iowa Wesleyan football scoops up first conference win

BURLINGTON — The Iowa Wesleyan football team crossed a major steppingstone on Saturday afternoon at Bracewell Stadium.

After dropping their first three North Star Athletic Conference games, the Tigers broke ground with a 21-10 win over Presentation College. It was Iowa Wesleyan’s first conference win of the season and the first league victory in the tenure of head coach MD Daniels.

“It was huge,” Daniels said. “Our team fought super hard.”

The Tigers scored the only touchdown of the first quarter when Hezekiah Hunter finished off a drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown. It was 7-0 Iowa Wesleyan after one.

Presentation answered with a field goal in the second quarter, but the Tigers struck right back, and they struck back hard.

With 10:28 remaining in the first half, quarterback Gavin Esquivel nailed a wide-open David Timmons on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Less than two minutes later, Hunter scored his second, this time a 33-yard scamper.

“Our (attitude) was stay positive, and just do this for Coach MD,” Hunter said. “Get the win for Coach MD.”

The Tigers led 21-3 at that time. Presentation cut it back to 11 with an 8-yard rush by Innocent Okoh, one of the top running backs in the entire conference.

But as good as Okoh is, he didn’t exactly burn the Tiger defense. In fact, Iowa Wesleyan took the Saints’ running game out of the picture in the second half, stuffing every attempt, whether on the ground or through the air.

“All week we knew their key player was their running back,” Daniels said. “We knew if we could handle his explosive plays, we could handle everything in the back end.”

Both the Presentation passing game and rushing game went for just over 100 yards. The Tiger defense did its job of rattling the passing game with three interceptions, two by Kaden Henley and one by Joseph Pace.

“Our secondary really stepped up to the challenge this week,” Daniels said. “I challenged those guys to be better today than they've been all year, and they stepped up today.”

Hunter ran for 147 yards and two scores to lead the offense. Kam Cole dashed for 86.

Esquivel ended the day 26-for-50 for 306 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His leading receiving was Damian Tanelus, who caught five passes for 73 yards. Jaden Harris was second in receiving with two catches and 59 yards, and Shomari Harris caught five balls for 49.

Iowa Wesleyan is now 2-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play. They will take on Waldorf University (6-2, 4-2) next Saturday.

“ (The win) was big for our coaching staff, and big for our players,” Daniels said. “Not only does it prove everything we've been talking about, but it excites our guys for next week.”