Sterling Loses Season Finale to Kansas Wesleyan

Salina, Kan. - Heading into the game on Saturday, the Warriors looked to catch one last win of the season against Kansas Wesleyan. In the first seven minutes of the game, the Coyotes came out blazing, scoring three touchdowns, leaving the Warriors with a 21 point deficit. Making a few adjustments before the second quarter the Warriors were able to get the ball rolling the rest of the half.

Although the first quarter was dominated by the Coyotes, the second quarter was all Sterling. The Warriors were able to score two touchdowns. The first, a three-yard rushing touchdown by Rocklin Baptista, and the other, a connection between Baptista and Myreik Goodwin-Lagree for a 49-yard receiving touchdown.  Luis Franco added an extra point.

After the struggles of the first quarter, the Warrior defense tweaked a few things and got some major stops the remainder of the game. To start off the second quarter, Flin Cameron recovered a fumble on the Sterling 44-yard line. The Warrior offense was able to capitalize on the turnover, putting points on the board with the touchdown by Baptista. On the next drive for the Coyotes, Amar Smith came up with an interception at the Sterling endzone with five minutes left to go in the first half. The turnover kept Kansas Wesleyan from delivering a crushing blow before the second quarter came to a close. A turnover by Baptista gave the Coyotes the ball, but Sterling's Cameron Reed got the ball back with an interception of his own. The Warrior's offense went down and scored the touchdown by Goodwin-Lagree. The trail of turnovers continued as Fisher Pullen came up with one last interception of the half. Sterling took over at their own 19-yard line and ran out the clock in the first half. The rest of the game was a lot of back and forth play between the two teams until Kansas Wesleyan tacked on a field goal with just under two minutes remaining in the game, making the final score 24-13.

The defense was led by Hunter Pullen and Diego Moran both coming up with 12 tackles a piece. Followed by Dexter Walker Jr. and Alan Garcia with a forced fumble a piece. Cameron and Siaosi Salakielu both recorded two sacks a piece for a total loss of 26-yards.

Baptista was 10-24 with 169 yards. He threw for one touchdown and three interceptions. The Warrior run game struggled most of the day. Kendrick Bell led the team with 18 yards rushing. Goodwin-Lagree finished the season on a nice note catching three balls for 79 yards, including the 49 yard touchdown.

The Warriors ended the season with a record of 2-9 in the KCAC.

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