St. Edward holds off Hampshire 21-13

Early on, Hampshire and St. Edward played like it was the first game of the season. Both teams made some mistakes early on, but the game turned into a pretty good one. In the end, the Green Wave took advantage of Hampshire's mistakes and came away with a 21-13 nonconference victory in Hampshire.

Sam Pozenzinski's touchdown on the Wave's opening drive of the second half made it 21-7. But the Whips weren't finished. Mike Kuefner scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run with 7:09 left to make it 21-13.

The Whips got the ball back on a fumble recovery. Quarterback Bryan Roberts led Hampshire to the 14-yard line with less than 3 minutes remaining. However, the Wave defense stiffened and stopped the Whip-Purs on downs. St. Edward was then able to run out the clock.

"The thing that I was most impressed with is that most of these guys don't have varsity experience, but they refused to fold when the pressure was on them," said Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh. "They came back. That shows a lot of character."

Maurice Jackson ran for 81 yards and a touchdown and Jon Keokanlaya also scored for St. Edward.

Wave quarterback Ben Lehman was just 1-for-9 for 24 yards in the first half. But he completed all 4 of his throws in the second half, including 3 straight on the Wave's scoring drive. He finished 5-for-13 for 90 yards.

"The big plays and mistakes kept both teams in the game," said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. "But we feel like we can move the ball. We were moving the ball pretty well up the middle."

Roberts completed 9 of 22 for 126 yards, and also ran for 91 yards for Hampshire. Lorenzo Brandon added 81 rushing yards on just 6 carries.

Each team had 3 turnovers, but also made some big plays. After Keokanlaya put the Wave ahead, Hampshire drove 99 yards for the tying score. Brandon broke a 38-yard run, then Roberts ran 25 yards to the 1, from where Kuefner took it in.

"This is the lowest we should go, we should improve from here," said Lehman. "And I look forward to improving from here along with the team."

Hampshire had a 334-225 edge in yardage, but 3 first-half fumbles proved costly. A botched handoff at their own 24-yard line led to the Wave's first touchdown.

After Hampshire tied it, the Wave moved down the field, taking the lead on Jackson's 4-yard run with just 23 seconds left in the half.