A day of celebration for the Hiram Terriers’ football team ended on a somber note. Hiram’s homecoming weekend was spoiled as the Terriers stumbled late, losing to Presidents’ Athletic Conference rival Waynesburg 40-39 last Saturday at Malsimur Stadium’s Charles A. Henry Field at Hiram College.
“You can’t have the penalties that we had,” said Coach Xavier Dupree. “We had points after touchdowns that got blocked, we had a two-point conversion that we did not convert so we had plenty of opportunities to win the game and it was just too much to overcome.”
After an undefeated start to the season, the Terriers’ (4-4, 1-4) have faced challenging times as the loss against Waynesburg marked the fourth consecutive loss of the season.
For Hiram, victory was snatched by the jaws of defeat.
The Terriers led for the majority of the game and appeared to be on the verge of sealing a victory after senior quarterback Sean Tejeda connected with senior Kevin Dykes on a 14-yard touchdown pass, completing a 13-play, 91-yard drive pushing Hiram ahead 39-26 after failing to convert a two-point conversion.
With only 4:03 remaining in regulation, the Terriers held a two-touchdown lead against Waynesburg.
Hiram had been plagued with mistakes throughout the game, and that trend continued on the ensuing kickoff. After a pooch kick, the team committed a pair of penalties on the kickoff return, a kick catch interference penalty and a personal foul penalty, which totaled 30 free yards to the Yellow Jackets, starting them on the Terriers’ 19.
“We just have to have better awareness,” noted the second-year coach. “We can’t hit the returner and that is a selfish penalty. We already hit the returner late and then we turn around and you get to jawing back-and-forth after we hit their guy. It put our defense in a bad snap.”
The Yellow Jackets only needed one play to trim the lead to a touchdown, as junior quarterback Luke Hudson delivered a 19-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Isaiah Fields, cutting the lead to 39-32 after failing a two-point conversion attempt.
Waynesburg’s quick touchdown only shaved six seconds off of the clock.
Hiram recovered the ensuing onside kick, taking over at the Yellow Jackets’ 46 but could not convert a first down after the 5-foot-10 Tejeda was sacked on third down.
The Terriers punted the ball back to Waynesburg and the Yellow Jackets took possession with 2:44 remaining in regulation.
Waynesburg marched down the field from its 37, converting a fourth-and-three, and scored again on as the 6-foot-3 Hudson hit senior wide receiver Tyler Richmond for an 11-yard touchdown, and the Yellow Jackets took their first lead of the game after a successful two-point conversion going ahead 40-39, capping off a seven-play, 63-yard drive with 1:21 remaining in regulation.
The Terriers’ attempt to engineer a game-winning drive ended abruptly when Waynesburg freshman linebacker Henry Jacob recovered sophomore tailback Isaiah Livingstone’s fumble at Hiram’s 37,
The Yellow Jackets bled the clock out until there was only 11 seconds remaining, and Hiram’s last stand ended with Tejeda being sacked, sending the Terriers to their fourth consecutive loss.
Although the Terriers outgained Waynesburg 381-287, they committed 13 penalties for 134 yards and surrendered 14 unanswered points in the final four minutes of regulation.
“I tell them all of the time in the games, tight games like this, that is the difference and that was the difference in the game,” added Dupree.
After an encouraging start to the season, Dupree acknowledged that things have become more challenging for the Terriers as their losing skid has reached four games.
“It has been tough on the guys and it has been tough on us and as a staff, but we have to give credit to the guys. They played their butts off on Saturday,” he noted. “They deserve to win and it just did not materialize.”
He conceded that Hiram’s latest loss stung but said that he wanted his team to remember the game.
“We can’t forget it. We must remember this feeling,” he said. “That is a hurt locker room in there, those guys are physically upset.”
The Terriers will return to action when they face PAC foe Allegheny College at Frank B. Fuhrer Field in Meadville, PA on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
