KWC falls to Indy in opener - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

For a half, Kentucky Wesleyan College stood toe-to-toe with heavily favored Indianapolis on Thursday night.

The visiting Greyhounds tagged the Panthers with a trio of third-quarter touchdowns, however, and went on to post a 38-10 victory over KWC in the season-opening game for both teams at Steele Stadium.

"We played really well for a half," Panthers head coach Brent Holsclaw said, "but against teams of this caliber you have to put together four solid quarters if you expect to win the football game.

"They hit us with three straight touchdowns in the third quarter, and that was it."

Wesleyan trailed just 7-3 at intermission, but a more focused and determined pack of Greyhounds returned to the field in the second half.

On the first possession of the third quarter, Indy revved up its running game and marched 67 yards in 12 plays, with Joumeel McLaurine's 6-yard TD run providing the Greyhounds some breathing room.

After forcing KWC to punt on the ensuing possession, Indy drove 81 yards in seven plays, with freshman running back Klay Flechter -- on his second collegiate carry -- racing 30 yards for a score that made it 21-3 at 4:48.

Then, the Greyhounds' Mike Dunn recovered a fumble by Panthers quarterback Chris Owen at the Indy 46. Rob Doyle passed to Mar'Quone Edmonds for 26 yards before McLaurine scooted into the end zone from 28 yards to extend the lead to 28-3 at 3:22.

"I thought we were ready to go in the second half, " Holsclaw said, "but we came out a little flat, and it got away from us there in the third quarter."

To its credit, Wesleyan bounced back with a scoring drive of its own near the conclusion of the quarter -- Owen hooking up with Vincent Lalonde for a 12-yard TD pass to pull the Panthers within 28-10.

But that's as close as KWC got.

The Greyhounds' Aaron Puntarelli drilled a 41-yard field goal 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, and Ryan Forney returned a punt 44 yards for a touchdown at 6:24 to account for the final margin -- which matched Indy's 31-3 victory over KWC a year ago in Indianapolis.

"We were tired in the fourth quarter," Holsclaw said, "but I thought we hung pretty tough. We kept plugging, kept playing hard."

Indianapolis opened the scoring on its first offensive possession of the contest, stitching together a nine-play, 58-yard drive that was capped by McLaurine's 10-yard touchdown run.

Wesleyan battled right back, however, advancing from its own 25-yard line to the Indy 2, before being forced to settle for Matt Wilson's 21-yard field goal.

Defense on both sides dominated a scoreless second period.

Wesleyan had more total yards than Indy in the first half (144-129), but the Greyhounds wound up outgaining the Panthers, 348-289.

McLaurine led Indy with 108 yards on 21 carries and scored three TDs. Flechter added 59 yards on just six carries and also scored.

Through the air, Doyle was 15-of-25 for 154 yards.

KWC was led by Owen, who finished 22-of-38 for 258 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers, however, were limited to only 35 yards rushing on 21 attempts.

"I was very disappointed in our running game," Holsclaw said. "That's just not enough production -- we've got to get better."

KWC returns to Steele Stadium on Sept. 11 when it plays host to Pikeville.

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