WEST PALM BEACH – Nearing the holiday season, only a few teams are still playing football in the month of December.
One of these teams is the local Keiser Seahawks, who was looking to make another run in the NAIA playoffs.
No. 11-ranked College of Idaho made the trip down to sunny South Florida to take on the No. 3-ranked Seahawks.
To start the first quarter, it was a back-and-forth game with no teams really capitalizing on their opportunities.
In the middle of the first quarter, a solid drive by the Seahawks led to a field goal score, giving them the lead 3-0 with two minutes left in the first quarter
In the final minutes of the first quarter, College of Idaho quarterback Andy Peters was able to find his receivers John Kreps and Jase Applebee on some beautiful passes to easily make it down the field.
To start the second quarter, the Coyotes were at the goal line knocking on the door. However, the Seahawks came up big with multiple stops on the goal line.
This gave the Seahawks the ball on their own 5-yard line. They weren’t able to do anything with the possession as the Coyotes forced a three-and-out with 12 minutes left in the first half.
With the ball back, a big run by Idaho’s running back Caden Cobb put the Coyotes in the red zone.
To close out the drive, Peters found his receiver Kreps for the short touchdown to give The College of Idaho a small 7-3 lead.
On the next drive for Keiser, a big throw from quarterback Bryce Veasley to freshman receiver Refeno Vangates put the Seahawks within the 10-yard line.
After a few short runs from running back Jaden Meizinger, he later punched the ball in to help make the score 10-7, giving Keiser the lead.
Halfway through the second quarter, the Coyotes put together a nice scoring drive to put them up 14-10. On this scoring drive, Peters found his receiver Applebee and then Kreps for his second score of the game.
After that touchdown by Idaho, the Seahawks quickly got good field position with a great return to give them the ball at the 50-yard line.
Meizinger had a rush for 39 yards to put Keiser in the red zone. He went on to score and help Keiser retake the lead at 17-14.
With 1:37 left in the second quarter, the Seahawks forced a punt and got the ball back with less than a minute to play.
Making use of the opportunity, the Seahawks were able to score a field goal at the end of the half to give them a slightly larger lead at 20-14.
To start the second half, the Coyotes drove down the field with two big runs from Peters and a few penalties to help push them forward.
Even with those big plays, the Seahawks defense came up with a big stop on the goal line.
The following drive for Keiser started on its own 1-yard line.
The third quarter was a major defensive battle with no points being scored and the defenses forcing punts to keep the game at 20-14.
Overall, with the exception of the first drive of the third quarter, both defenses came out of the half hitting harder and playing a more technically sound game.
In the final quarter of the game, it was Keiser that opened up the score again.
The Seahawks capped off a long 88-yard drive with a touchdown from running back Andrew Burnette. He also caught the two-point conversion to make the score 28-14.
On the ensuing kickoff, Applebee returned the kick 39 yards to give the College of Idaho good field positioning.
The Coyotes (10-3 final record) worked the field mainly passing and ended the drive with a touchdown pass completion from receiver Jon Schofield to tight end Ben Hruby. Although they added the touchdown on the board, the Seahawks still led 28-21.
No. 3-ranked Keiser (11-2) would go on to win this semifinal matchup by a score of 28-21. It will now go on to play against No. 1-ranked Northwestern College (Iowa) (13-0) in Durham, N.C. on Monday, Dec. 18 at 12 p.m. for the NAIA national championship.
STORY AND PHOTO CREDITS BY: Fenthon Aristhomene/Top Shot Files
