SELMA, Ala. – Wesley College's fourth-ranked football team scored 35 points in the second half and forced six turnovers en route to a 54-0 victory at Concordia-Selma at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Wolverines are now 6-0 on the year which is their best start since the 2010 season while the Hornets fall to 1-5.
Joe Callahan threw for 149 yards and three touchdowns with two of the scoring plays going to Steve Koudossou as the duo achieved major milestones on the day. A junior from Absecon, N.J., Callahan went over 50 passing touchdowns in his career while Koudossou, the Waldorf, Md., product caught his 39th touchdown pass which breaks Ellis Krout's school-record of 38.
The Wolverines allowed the Hornets just 122 yards of total offense and five different players picked off a pass. Wesley also got touchdowns from the special teams on an 83-yard kickoff return by Bryce Shade to open the second half, as well as on the defense as Aamir Petrose forced and returned a fumble19 yards for a score just over a minute later.
Callahan found Koudossou from 11 yards out to start the scoring with 6:30 left in the first quarter. Wesley started the drive with great field position after a Hornets punt traveled backwards four yards to their own 21-yardline.
Leroy Cheatham intercepted a pass on Concordia's second play from scrimmage the following drive but the Hornets regained possession at their own 2-yardline after a Wesley turnover. Matt Capetola stuffed the Hornets next play at the line of scrimmage before Sosthene Kapepula made a stop in the endzone for a safety, giving the Wolverines a 9-0 lead.
Shade returned Concordia's free kick 35 yards to CCA's 31-yardline and Wesley was able to capitalize on Eric Speidel's 30-yard field goal to complete the scoring in the first quarter. The field goal was the first-ever by Speidel in his football career.
Koudossou broke Krout's touchdown record with 8:36 left in the first half on a 34-yard catch-and-run and Wesley went into halftime with a 19-0 lead. The all-time leading receiver in school-history, Koudossou was the most frequent receiving target for the Navy & White with four catches and 63 yards.
Following Shade's kick return for a score to start the third quarter, the Wolverines forced a punt and a turnover on downs before Jamar Baynard scored from 54 yards out on a screen pass from Callahan. Baynard had carried the ball for 14 yards earlier in the drive and led the team with 65 receiving yards.
Petrose scored for the Navy & White on Concordia's very next offensive play and with a 40-0 lead, head coach Mike Drass handed the reins to Zach Smith who led Wesley on a nine play, 64 yard drive that ate up three minutes and 26 seconds. The possession was mainly running plays to Brandon Wright and quarterback keepers before Smith hit Robert Wiggs for a 22-yard touchdown, his first career touchdown pass.
Nick Falkenberg led another Wolverines scoring drive in the fourth quarter which culminated in Kennard Squirrell's five-yard touchdown run with 7:37 left in the ballgame. Kiere Fields then picked off a pass, Wesley's fifth of the day and following runs of 19 yards by Ben Martin, seven and ten yards by Squirrell and a 13-yard scamper by Smith, the Wolverines went into victory formation to seal the victory.
Wesley recorded 242 of its 404 yards on the ground, led by Martin's 78 yards on six carries. Squirrell had another 59 yards on eight carries, while Brandon Wright recorded 40 yards, Smith 38 and Baynard 37.
Defensively, Capetola and Jordan Wescott finished with a team-high five tackles while Payton Rose and Julian Jones had four tackles apiece with 3.0 and 2.0 TFL's, respectively. Aside from Cheatham and Fields, Joe Brown, Derrick Bender and Samer Manna also intercepted passes for Wesley.
The Wolverines will fly across the country next weekend when they travel to Atherton, Calif., to face Menlo College on Saturday, October 18 in a 3 pm Eastern kickoff.