Tigers fly past Blue Jays

FULTON, Mo. — The Iowa Wesleyan football team made the most of the last game on its schedule on Saturday and grabbed a little revenge in the process.

Three weeks after suffering a seven-point home lost to Westminster College, the Tigers blistered the Blue Jays 35-14 on their own home field, snapping a 17-game losing streak and giving new head coach MD Daniels his first win as a head coach.

The Blue Jays got on the board first, scoring on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 6:59 remaining in the first quarter. The Tigers would respond with 28-straight points of their own.

Iowa Wesleyan tied the game when quarterback Gavin Esquivel found Shomari Wilson in the end zone to bring the score to 7-7 late in the first quarter. The Tigers took the lead on a 1-yard run by Hezekiah Hunter in the first minute of the second.

The Tigers scored twice more in the first half, and they were big ones. Esquivel first hit Damian Tanelus on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 12:09 showing on the clock. He followed that with a 70-yard bomb to Jadan Harris, making it 28-7 Tigers with 3:56 remaining before break.

The Blue Jays scored on a rushing touchdown with 4:34 showing in the third, but the Blue Jays wouldn’t find the end zone again. The Tigers, however, had one score left, as Hunter put the exclamation point on with a 13-yard touchdown rush with four minutes remaining.

Esquivel went 26-for-40 for 388 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Harris led the receivers with four catches for 105 yards and a score. Matt Nails and Jerry Carbajal each had 79 yards receiving.

Hunter ran for 67 yards and two scores. Kam Cole was the team’s second-leading rusher, with 53 yards on the ground.

Chance Colby had 11 tackles to lead the Tiger defense. Jarion Carter, Austin McBeth and Joseph Pace each had one interception, and Pace forced one fumble.

Iowa Wesleyan ended the regular season at 1-2 overall, with one game being a COVID no-contest.