Pioneers Fall at Kentucky Wesleyan

Kentucky Wesleyan scored on nine straight possessions en route to a 69-8 victory over Alfred State on Saturday afternoon. The NCAA DII Panthers improve to 3-4 on the year.

The Panthers scored on their first possession but the Pioneers answered back after John Lauretti (Seaford) forced and recovered a fumble on the Kentucky Wesleyan 32-yard line. Six plays later Ben Wilkerson (Buffalo) scored on a three-yard run to get the Pioneers on the board. Wilkerson's 2-point conversion pass to Dante Jordan (Law & Public Service) gave Alfred State a 8-7 advantage.

From that point, the Panthers scored five times from the air and four times on the ground to cruise the to victory. Dalton Oliver finished 11 for 15 for 288 yards and four scores. His favorite target was Keelan Cole who caught five passes for 145 yards and two scores. On the ground a combination of 12 Panther rushers accumulated 173 yards and four scores.

Wilkerson led the Pioneers with 46 yards rushing on 18 carries. Erik Simmons (Elmira Free) caught two passes for 33 yards.

Lauretti led the Alfred State defense with nine tackles to go along with his forced and recovered fumble. Jake Dollard (Attica) also chipped in nine stops.

Cody Mills led KWC with seven tackles while Ricky Henry and Yorell Branch each had six.

Kentucky Wesleyan racked up 515 yards of offense while Alfred State accumulated 123. The Pioneers struggled on 3rd downs finishing 1 for 13.

The Pioneers wrap up the season with a pair of home games. The first is slated for next Saturday when they host Maranatha Baptist at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Stadium.