DOVER, Del. – Wesley College's fifth-ranked football team scored the second-most points in school-history in a 73-14 win over Mount Ida in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Scott D. Miller Stadium. The Wolverines (9-1) will take on Cortland St. in the Second Round of the National Tournament on Saturday, November 24 in a 12 pm kickoff.
Quarterback Justin Sottilare matched his own single-game record with six touchdown passes to five different receivers and the Wolverines also rushed for a season-high 247 yards. Defensively, Wesley set season-high marks with 13 tackles for loss and five sacks while allowing just 111 total yards and -10 rushing yards.
Mount Ida came out with some trickery on fourth down with a fake punt in the opening possession of the game, but Wesley was ready for it and got the ball at the Mustang 30-yard line. Four plays into the drive, Askia Jahad ran one in from five yards out to give the Wolverines the 7-0 lead.
The Mustangs were forced to punt on their next drive but were able to tie the score at 7-7 when Kayln Simpson intercepted a pass that was dropped by a Wesley receiver with 7:52 left in the first half. Mount Ida seemed to have some momentum after the game-tying score, but it was short lived as Jared Morris ran back the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown. It was the second kick return for a TD of Morris' career despite it being his first kick return all season.
From then on, it was all Wesley as Jeremiah Howe, Steve Koudossou, Matt Bundy and Brandon Robinson all hauled in touchdown passes in the first half.
With a 41-14 lead going into the third quarter, Sottilare found Ishamar Malcolm for a nine-yard touchdown and Wesley also scored on a safety on the Green & White's next possession. After the free kick by the Mustangs, Koudossou caught his second touchdown pass of the day from Sottilare from 29 yards out and Dan Tryon kicked a 27-yard field goal to put the Wolverines on top 60-14 after three quarters of play.
Head Coach Mike Drass emptied his bench in the final quarter and Kennard Squirrell and Chris Cummings both ran in scores from inside the five-yard line.
Sottilare finished 15-of-23 passing for 267 yards on the day to go with his six touchdowns. Wesley ran the ball 40 times with Jahad gaining 83 yards on 14 carries while Squirrell ran for 76 yards on 11 carries. Koudossou recorded a team-high four catches for 101 yards.
Matt Capetola led the Wolverines with nine tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack. Jordan Wescott followed up with seven tackles and a sack to his credit. Sosthene Kapepula, Devin Hardy and Terence Gavin all recorded full sacks while Kapepula had a team-high three tackles for loss while Jeremy Keith was credited with 1.5 TFL's.
Michael Brandenburg and Aamir Petrose also picked off passes for Wesley, who now has 21 picks on the year.
For the Mustangs, Scott Drosendahl finished 11-of-29 passing for 104 yards and Chris McNally gained 22 yards on 22 carries. Dejhaun Williams caught three passes for 37 yards and Jordan Hyman scored Mount Ida's lone offensive touchdown.
Armand Rivera and Anthony Sanders made nine tackles each for the Mustangs.