Pride's Late Comeback Bid Falls Just Short In Season-Opening Loss to Evangel

NIXA, Mo. – The Pride rallied from an early deficit and had the ball with a chance to take the lead deep into the fourth quarter, but Evangel held on for a 31-20 season-opening victory Thursday night at Eagle Stadium. 

The Pride produced more yards of total offense (391-365) than the Valor, but a pair of crucial fourth-quarter plays aided in the outcome. Down four with 12:20 to play, the Pride's special teams unit rushed senior kicker Victor Moreno with an early snap, contributing to Moreno missing the 38-yard attempt wide right. Later on, still down 24-20, the Pride turned the ball over on downs after failing to convert a 4^th-and-1 play from Evangel's 37-yard line. 

That turnover gave Evangel the ball back with 2:52 to play, who subsequently would take the clock down to seven seconds before punting back to Clarke. The next play, quarterback Brandon Mueller was strip-sacked by Evangel's Zach Meyers, which led to a scoop and score touchdown for EU with one second remaining. 

Muller got his seventh career start for the Pride and finished the game with 317 passing yards, breaking his own school record of 299 set against Evangel during the 2020 campaign. Mueller's top target on the night was sophomore wideout Gabe Deadwiler, who also broke a school record with 161 yards on seven catches. Deadwiler, who hauled in a 76-yard touchdown pass during the second quarter, entered Thursday's matchup having only caught two passes for 52 yards during his Clarke career. 

Wideout Caden Miller added in 64 yards on two catches, while Jayden Wyer caught a career-high four passes for 29 yards. Junior running back Craig Elmore contributed 68 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. 

The Pride trailed 14-3 at the end of the first quarter after touchdown passes of 11 and 13 yards from Evangel QB Hayden Conrad. Clarke responded with Moreno's second field goal of the day at the 8:58-mark in the second quarter before Mueller's 76-yard score to Deadwiler brought Clarke within one (14-13) on the ensuing drive. Evangel responded with a 24-yard field goal to close out the half to go up four. 

The Valor extended their lead early in the third quarter with a 14-yard touchdown rush that was partily set up by a Mueller fumble recoved by Evangel on the Clarke 43-yard mark the drive before. Despite facing a double-digit deficit for the second time in the game, the Pride continued to claw back into things. 

Mueller found Deadwiler for passes of four and 18 yards, in addition to a 31-yard strike to Miller that put CU on the Evangel seven-yard line on the ensuing drive. Three plays later, Elmore found the endzone for the final Pride touchdown of the day. 

Defensively, Logan Otting led the pride with 10 total tackles, including four solo. The former Iowa State Cyclone racked up a team-high three tackles for loss, followed by Griffin Mulcahy, who had two of his own. Mulcahy had the team's lone sack on the day, a six-yard loss deep into the third quarter. Sophomore linebacker Bryan Valdes led the team with two pass breakups, followed by Kenneth Spaight and CJ Thomas with one each. 

Clarke will return to Dubuque for its home opener next Saturday when the Pride play host to Missouri Valley College. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. with live coverage provided by the Clarke Sports Network. 

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