Washburn defeats Sioux Falls 33-17

Josh Rouse

Senior quarterback wracked up a school record 452 passing yards for Washburn University en route to a 33-17 victory against Division II newcomer University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) Thursday night.

Simoneau went 27-40 and threw five touchdowns in the victory, four of which came in the first quarter. His first touchdown came on the first drive of the game on a pass to tight end Tore Hurst at the 10:10 mark. His next touchdown, a 38-yard screen pass to senior running back Justin Cooper, put the Bods up 14-0. With the second touchdown, Simoneau had gone 11-11 to start the game with 111 yards. On Simoneau’s next pass, he hit sophomore wide receiver DeJuan Beard for 48 yards to move the ball to the USF 22 yardline, where a 10-yard rush set up Simoneau’s third touchdown of the night. The senior quarterback hit sophomore receiver Matt Kobbeman for a 10-yard pass to put the Bods up 21-0.

Sioux Falls’ sophomore quarterback Carrington Hanna was picked off by senior linebacker/safety Marty Pfannenstiel to set up the Ichabods’ next drive, when Simoneau threw his first incompletion after going 14-14. Simoneau converted two third downs, both at 12 yards, but he then threw his first interception of the season.

On the next Washburn drive, Simoneau completed a 63-yard pass to sophomore receiver Mark Fancher to set up his fourth touchdown of the night, this time hitting Beard in the end zone. The drive went 96 yards on 11 plays to put them up 27-0, but the PAT was missed by junior placekicker Jeremy Linn. Linn would go on to miss two field goals on the night. With 1:01 left in the half, Hanna hit Jeremiah Oates for Sioux Falls’ first touchdown.

In the second half, the combination of bad field position and cramped legs kept the Ichabods from continuing their dominance on both sides of the ball, with Hanna passing to Oates again for a touchdown and the WU offense being forced to punt several times before scoring again on a 58-yard pass from Simoneau to sophomore receiver Ronnell Garner. The final passing touchdown brought the score to 33-14, which would be the score until USF kicked a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Cooper started strong in the running game, gaining 42 yards on his first four carries. However, he ended the game with only 44 yards on 14 carries, with redshirt-freshman running back Sean McPherson leading the team in rushing with 15 carries 85 yards. Pfannenstiel lead the defense with two interceptions and an onside kick recovery.