No. 3 Wesley Silences Storm

DOVER, Del. - Senior Aaron Jackson (New Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) rushed for 184 yards and the defense turned in a pair of goal line stands as No. 3 Wesley defeated Division II Lake Erie 28-13.

The Wolverines (9-0) jumped ahead early with an eight play, 71 yard drive capped by 14 yard pass from Justin Sottilare (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) to Ellis Krout (Dallas, Texas/Roosevelt) midway through the period.

Later in the quarter, a Wesley fumble gave Lake Erie (7-4) the ball at the Wesley one yardline. On third and goal, however, Dean Hammel (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) intercepted a Sean Bedevelsky pass in the end zone.

Early in the second quarter, it appeared the Storm may score again, but Marcus Wilson (Pennsauken, N.J./Camden Catholic) blocked a field goal and Aaron Benson (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) returned it to the Lake Erie 30.

On the fourth play of the possession, Sottilare found Sean McAndrew (Lanoka Harbor, N.J./Lacey Township) on the sideline and the big tight end chucked a defender and scored on a 12-yard play.

Wesley led 14-0, but the Storm drove down to the Wesley one yardline again. Lake Erie ran four times into the Wolverine defense and four times the defense stopped them short during the unit's second goal line stand of the afternoon.

The Storm appeared to steal momentum on the opening kickoff of the second half. Wade Bistor sent a high pop up down the field that landed in the center of the field and bounced right to a Lake Erie player at the Wesley 32. Bedevelsky found John Hokavar on a one yard pass in the back of the end zone to cut it to 14-7.

Wesley responded immediately with a touchdown drive of its own. A 22-yard run by Jackson set up a 15-yard pass by Sottilare to McAndrew for his second touchdown of the day and a 21-7 lead with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.

The Wolverines were headed for another potential score early in the fourth quarter when Steve Bensinger intercepted a Wesley pass and ran 84 yards down the sideline for the touchdown. Dakevis Howard (Wilmington, Del./Concord) blocked the extra point for Wesley's second blocked kick of the day and a 21-13 lead with 12:36 to play in the game.

The Storm drove into Wesley territory later in the period, but on fourth down, Mike Ward (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) and Jeff Morgan (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) threw back up quarterback Mike Krumpak to the turf for a five yard loss for a turnover on downs.

A 31-yard pass from Sottilare to Krout on the next drive set up a six-yard touchdown run by Jackson to cap the scoring with 3:21 left in the game.

The Wolverine defense limited a Lake Erie offense that rushed for 219 yards per game to just 89 on the afternoon.

Sottilare completed 14-of-23 passes in his first career start for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Both Krout and McAndrew caught four passes.

Mike Asiedu (Yonkers, N.Y./Gorton) led the Wolverines with nine tackles and 1.5 for loss. Both Morgan and Chris Mayes (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) followed with eight apiece.

The Wolverines sacked the Storm quarterbacks six times on the afternoon. Mayes and Jeff Dorsey (Baltimore, Md./Woodlawn) had 1.5 apiece, while Morgan, Ward and Justin Strickland (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) had one apiece.

Bedevelsky, also Lake Erie's leading rusher, was limited to minus-four yards on the ground and completed 7-of-13 passes for 118 yards. Krumpak did not fare any better, going 3-of-7 for 28 yards.

Kevin Chapman led the Storm defense with nine tackles and a sack, while David Dunne had three for loss.

Wesley closes out the regular season with a nationally ranked NAIA Ohio Dominican team on November 14 at 1:00 PM at Scott D. Miller Stadium.

Notes:

Chris Mayes moved into 10th place all-time at Wesley with 25 tackles for loss.
Jackson's performance was his third straight game of at least 125 yards.
Sottilare was making his first career start.
Krout caught his 14th touchdown of the season, leaving him two shy of the team's single season record.
With three more tackles for loss, Ward had 35 in his career, just 0.5 short of Ken Pippin for fifth all-time at Wesley.