Wesleyan avenges Week 3 Holy Innocents’ loss

Compared to the games Wesleyan and Holy Innocents’ have had recently, the Wolves’ 21-7 win in Friday’s second round of the Class A football playoffs was a high-scoring affair.

Wesleyan’s home win at Henderson Stadium avenged a 7-6 loss to Holy Innocents’ in Week 3 and a 3-0 defensive struggle last season, but mattered more than either of those. The Wolves’ ninth straight win extended their eighth playoff appearance this decade into the quarterfinals, where they’d ventured in only 2002 and 2003.

Kyle Karempelis, Wesleyan’s leading rusher who entered the game with 1,441 yards and 22 touchdowns, provided the decisive blow with a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

“He makes us go,” Wolves coach Franklin Pridgen said. “We just put him in space and let him go. We insulate him with a good passing game and let him do the rest.”

Temperatures in the 20s hindered both offenses, as the Wolves (10-2) and Golden Bears (8-4) initially struggled for yardage. Rushing yards were hard to come by, but Wesleyan’s Conor Welton passed for 105 yards in the first half, including 30- and 12-yard completions to Lee Ellis and a 30-yard scoring strike to Anderson Porter in the back of the end zone for a 7-0 lead 10:51 before halftime.

The Bears returned the kickoff 67 yards to Wesleyan’s 17-yard line, however. Six plays later, Peter Allen’s 1-yard run tied the score.

Welton’s 11-yard scoring run in the third quarter put the Wolves ahead for good, ending the Bears’ second straight second-round appearance in just their third season.

The Wolves might have gone ahead sooner if not for a miscue and a missed kick on their first two possessions. After squandering a 77-yard drive with a fumble into the end zone with 6:57 to go in the first quarter, Eric Sunderman missed a 29-yard field goal with 3:09 left in the quarter.

Pridgen said his Wolves continue to do in the playoffs what allowed them to outscore opponents 39-10 on average in their nine-game streak.

“We haven’t made any wholesale changes,” he said. “We’ve just found schemes that have accentuated our strengths.”