Elmore's four touchdowns propel Pride over Peru State 31-17
PERU, Neb. – Getting their third win of the 2023 season, the Clarke University football team defeated the Peru State College Bobcats 31-17 behind Craig Elmore's four touchdowns and the defense forcing five turnovers.
Elmore's first touchdown of the day came through the air on a nine-yard wheel route from Pride quarterback Kenyon Williams. The rest of his scores would come from the ground at distances of 1, 16, and 20 yards out.
Despite giving up over 400 yards of total offense, Clarke's defensive performance was proven effective by forcing Peru State into 17 third-downs, in which only six were converted, and forcing those five turnovers as previously stated.
A majority of those yards came on the ground for Peru State as Keyon Henry-Brooks and Stacian Livingston combined for 139 yards on the ground, but as a team, the Bobcats rushed for 191 yards.
The linebacking trio of Bryan Valdes, Steele Fredricks, and Andrew Adams was once again an effective group as they all tallied at least nine tackles, including Valdes and Fredricks each getting an interception and Fredricks forcing a turnover on a sack-fumble.
The other two interceptions were caught by defensive backs Camden Schoor, and KJ Brown.
After a scoreless first quarter, the first play to begin the second was the Fredricks interception as Peru State quarterback Colin Shields threw into tight coverage and Fredricks ran the other direction.
Losing the football after being tackled, Fredricks would be lucky that teammate Joel Talley was in the right spot at the right time for the Pride to retain possession.
Capitalizing on the very next play, was the Wiliams nine-yard pass to Elmore to give the Pride a 7-0 lead after the Ben Jaeger extra point with the clock reading 14:45 in the second.
Williams finished the game passing 11-19 with 143 passing yards and one throwing touchdown.
After each team traded punts, Peru State would go on an 11-play, 60-yard drive, taking up over six minutes on the clock, capped off by a 14-yard Livingston touchdown grab from Shields to even the score at 7-7.
Responding in three plays thanks to a Jackson Ostrander 46-yard reception that set up Williams and the Pride offense at the PSU one-yard line. Elmore would punch it in from that distance and once again give the away team the touchdown advantage at 14-7 with 3:32 to play in the half.
Besides the Fredricks sack-fumble, the beginning of the second half was a bit slow, but a kick-catch interference set up the Clarke offense in PSU territory, this time at their 43-yard line.
An Elmore 14-yard rush and an Ostrander 13-yard catch had CU on the Bobcat 16-yard line, where Elmore would pick up the touchdown from that distance to put the Pride up 21-7 after a Jaeger extra point with 6:47 to play in the third quarter.
Getting the ball 27 times, Elmore finished the day with 103 all-purpose yards as he had 75 on the ground and 28 through the air.
Needing points to stop the Pride momentum, the Bobcats would get a field goal after a 9-play, 60-yard drive stalled out 15 yards away from getting paid off.
With the score 21-10, it felt like Clarke needed the next score. The first drive of the fourth quarter started the same as the first drive of the second quarter, as a 3rd and 12 had the Bobcats in a sure passing down, and Pride safety, Brown, read the receiver's route and undercut it, returning the ball 34 yards down to the home team's 20-yard line.
Elmore would take it all 20 yards on a 3rd and 10 for his third rushing (fourth total) touchdown to give CU a 28-10 lead with over 13 minutes to play in the game.
The next two PSU possessions would end in interceptions as Valdes would make a play in the endzone after an 11-play, 57-yard drive took up over four minutes of clock. That would be Shields' third thrown pick of the contest as he finished 17-38 with 169 passing yards and one touchdown.
Coming in relief at quarterback for Shields, Will Mueller would throw just two passes before being picked off by Schoor, which would seal the ballgame, giving Clarke University their third win of the season.
Pride football will wrap their season next week at home against Grand View University, beginning at 1:00 P.M. CST.