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Swedes frustrate Friends 58-23

Swedes frustrate Friends 58-23 By James T. Wangemann The Wichita Eagle Scorey Watson stormed to the Friends sideline, yanked off his football helmet and tossed it aside. Then he removed his jersey and pads and threw them in a heap. And then he headed toward the locker room, angrily ripping protective tape from his wrists and littering it behind him. Now, do you understand how frustrated Friends felt Saturday during its 58-23 loss to Bethany in Lindsborg? Watson, a junior defensive back, managed to keep his cool for only 8½ minutes of the game. He was ejected in the first quarter after taking a swing at Bethany wide receiver Rob Thomas. When Watson was ejected, Bethany had a 9-0 lead. By the end of the quarter, Thomas had two touchdown receptions and Bethany led 23-0. And by the time Watson's teammates also headed to the locker room - they waited until halftime Friends trailed 44-10 and had given up 347 yards. "Things just fell into place for us today," said Bethany coach Ted Kessinger, whose team remained unbeaten in the KCAC at 3-0. "I still think Friends is one of the strongest teams in the conference." That's certainly what Kessinger and other coaches thought in the preseason when they picked Friends to win the KCAC title. But that was before injuries depleted the Falcons' secondary and before starting quarterback Gilbert Alvarez suffered a bruised shoulder on Sept. 23 against Tabor. Alvarez didn't start against Bethany and appeared only for a sevenplay series in the first quarter. Taking his place was junior Matt Kelley, who began to seriously practice at quarterback on Wednesday. Kelley, normally a defensive back, guided Friends' option attack well enough, but he presented no threat as a passer. He threw only three passes, completing none and having one intercepted. Friends' first pass completion came with 1:31 left to play when freshman quarterback Dave Parker tossed a 7-yard pass to wide receiver Ron Stubbs. The Falcons - 2-1 in the KCAC, 2-2 overall - finished 2- of-5 passing for 21 yards. Parker had both completions, including a 14-yard TD pass to tight end Jamie Hosty with 31 seconds left. And that simply wasn't enough offense to keep u up with Bethany, which is averaging 543 yards and 49.3 points a game. "It's hard to move him over from defense, give him two to three days (at quarterback) and have him up to speed," Friends coach Brian Byers said of Kelley. Bethany, meanwhile, had three quarterbacks throw touchdown passes. Starter Jorge Munoz had TD tosses of 18, 19, 25 and 43 yards before leaving the game early in the third quarter. He finished 11 of 19 for r 199 yards. Backup Justin Bratt threw a 33-yard scoring pass to Cory Ferralez to start the fourth quarter, and third-stringer Jason Hooper took a pitch from Munoz on the last play of the first quarter and a 61-yard TD pass to Van Mortensen. Thomas finished with eight catches for 148 yards and two scores while Mortensen caught four passes for 121 yards and two TDs. Notes - Byers said after the game that Watson will not play on Saturday against Kansas Wesleyan. Byers also said he would meet with Watson today to discuss other disciplinary measures. ... Alvarez should be able to play against Kansas Wesleyan, Byers said. § Monty Davis/The Wichita Eagle Bethany's Rob Thomas, right, is congratulated by quarterback Jorge Munoz. Bethany beat Friends 58-23 on Saturday.

Article from 01 Oct 1995The Wichita Eagle(Wichita, KS)

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