LAKE WALES, Fla. (November 11, 2017) – In its final game of the 2017 season, the Webber International University football team scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors completed a comeback after being down by two scores to take down their rival from across the lake, Warner University, by a final score of 18-14 on a rainy Saturday at Legion Field.
As a part of the Warriors' Senior Day, quarterback
Garry Chouloute, defensive lineman
Drakkar Wilson, defensive back
Shaunski Lawrence, defensive back
Terrence Bailey, running back
Austin Logue, fullback
Tyler Modlin, offensive lineman
Clayton Walker, offensive lineman
Javan Christian, punter
Nicolau Prats Coma, tight end
Nick Marill, and defensive lineman
Adam Kuh were honored for the contributions to the pride and history of Webber football.
The win put Webber over .500 for the first time on the season overall (5-4) and in the Mid-South Conference Sun Division (3-2) as the Warriors finished their inaugural season in the MSC third overall in their division. Warner finished its season at 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the Sun Division. The win also improved Webber's record in the series against Warner to 3-2.
The Warriors looked like a re-energized team in the second half, getting close to the red zone on offense multiple times while keeping Warner away from the big plays on offense it used to take a 14-3 advantage moments before halftime.
After a botched punt by the Royals early in the fourth quarter gave the Warriors the ball with only 23 yards between them and the end zone, Webber's momentum in the second half finally resulted in a touchdown as a 10-yard pass from Chouloute set the Warriors up at first-and-goal from the 10, and then Chouloute finished off the drive himself with a five-yard touchdown run.
The Warriors, however, were not done as Chouloute connected with tight end
Matthew Fling on the two-point conversion attempt to pull Webber within three points at 14-11 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
On Warner's next possession,
Tyson Burch forced a fumble around midfield that gave the Warriors the ball back yet again, this time on their own 41-yard line.
Webber proceeded to march 59 yards down the field in seven plays as the drive featured rushes by
Jalen Cayo of 11 and 13 yards, and featured a 14-yard pass from Chouloute to
Timothy Miller. A five-yard touchdown rush by Logue with only five minutes left, followed by the kick from
Marcus Mannerstedt, put the Warriors ahead for the second time on the afternoon.
Warner went three-and-out on its subsequent possession, and then after getting the ball back with 1:22 left on the clock, made things interesting as the Royals D.J. Davis completed back-to-back passes, including a 25-yard pass on while facing third down, to bring Warner all the way up to Webber's 31-yard line.
From there, Webber's sack leader
Dequan Harvin made his mark on the game with a 10-yard sack to drop the Royals to third-and-17 with 12 seconds to go. Two incomplete passes later, the Warriors were celebrating.
Head Football Coach
Kelly Scott spoke on the rivalry win and on his seniors, "Rivalries are always important, but what was more important today was the way we won. We learned what it means to fight through adversity and what can happen when you never give up. When it comes to our seniors, I will miss every single one of them. They are all very special to me, and they have been instrumental in helping move our program to where we want it to be."
In his final game, Chouloute finished with 209 passing yards on 26 completions with 42 attempts. Cayo led the team with 51 rushing yards while Logue added 47 as the Warriors rushed for 117 yards as a team.
Chouloute finishes the season with a team-best 11 total touchdowns, eight passing and three rushing, and had his best season throwing the ball during his three years with over 150 passing yards per game (153.6). He also averaged 32.4 rushing yards per game.
Jeremiah Lucas had a great day receiving as he finished with eight catches for 81 yards and helped Webber move the ball all day. Miller added six catches for 49 yards and
Jeremiah Harris had 43 yards on four catches.
Defensively, Lawrence, Burch and
Trevonte Haynie finished with five tackles apiece. Burch finished his season with 66 total tackles and six forced fumbles, which ranks him first in all of the NAIA in forced fumbles per game. Lawrence finished his senior campaign with 34 total tackles, which ranks him third on the team.
Also of note, punter
Joe Ebel was solid as his five kicks traveled a distance of 160 yards. He added one kick inside the Warner 20-yard line and had a key punt of 43 yards right before the Royal's final possession of the game.
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