Turnovers and Penalties Prove Costly in Loss to Briar Cliff
Sioux City, IA – The Hastings College football team had been the comeback kids in 2023 but due to penalties and turnovers, Briar Cliff erased a 10 point deficit to knock off the Broncos 19-16 on Saturday night.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
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6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 19 |
Team Stats
Briar Cliff (IA)
| Game Statistics | Hastings | Briar Cliff (IA) |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 315 | 134 |
| Rushing Yards | -31 | 52 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 1 |
| Time of Poss. | 24:05 | 35:24 |
Sioux City, IA – The Hastings College football team had been the comeback kids in 2023 but due to penalties and turnovers, Briar Cliff erased a 10 point deficit to knock off the Broncos 19-16 on Saturday night.
After the Chargers took an early lead on an Aaron Okoro two-yard touchdown run, Hastings countered with 16 unanswered points in the second quarter.
It would be the big play that would get the Broncos on the board to start the second quarter when Eli Nappe hit Jaishawn Wright on a third and 10 for a 72-yard touchdown and with the kick from Casper Feijen, Hastings led 7-6.
The teams traded punts over the next four possessions before the Chargers had the ball first and 10 from its 13. On the first play of the drive, quarterback Matthew Mason saw the snap fly over his head and into the end zone where he jumped on it for a safety as Hastings now led 9-6 with 6:19 to go in the half.
The Broncos then took full advantage of the short field following the kick from the 20 as Brett Simonsen started the drive with a six yard run followed by a 10 yard reception moving the ball near midfield. Two plays later, Nappe connected with Josh Ray for a 23-yard gain down to the BCU 27. From there Nappe hit Ethan Wilborn for his fifth receiving touchdown of the year as Hastings would take the 16-6 lead into the break.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Hastings marched right down the field and had it first and goal at the Charger three but Nappe was intercepted by Zach Buick in the end zone keeping it a 10 point contest.
The Bronco defense would keep Briar Cliff off the board in the third but BCU would break through when Brock Saya hit Okoro for an eight-yard touchdown and with the extra point, Hastings now led 16-13 with 12:30 to go.
After a big return from Ethan Krominga of 31-yards to midfield, Nappe would hit Wright for a 41-yard gain down to the Charger 10. Unfortunately, two plays later Nappe tried to throw the fade to Wilborn but it was intercepted by Tulsa Janish ending another red zone opportunity with no points for Hastings.
The Bronco defense was again up to the task forcing a three-and-out getting the ball back for the Hastings offense. Following a roughing the passer penalty that moved the ball to the BCU 36, disaster struck for the Broncos as Nappe would get sacked and would fumble the ball all the way back to the HC 39 but would get recovered by Simonsen. Two plays later, Nappe would get sacked again fumbling the ball back to the HC 28 that would get recovered by BCU and the Chargers would take advantage.
The Chargers took six plays to find the end zone but would miss the extra point as Hastings trailed 19-16 with 5:51 left to play.
The Bronco offense would take over and move the ball deep into BCU territory when Nappe connected with Will Austin giving the Broncos a first down at the Charger 16. But on third down, Nappe would get sacked back at the 26 which would bring out Feijen for the potential game tying field goal but his kick would sail wide right as the Chargers came away with the victory.
Hastings finished the game with 284 yards of offense while the defense held BCU to just 186 yards. But it would be the three turnovers that would prove to be costly for the Broncos.
Nappe finished the game going 23-for-45 for a career high 315 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Wright finished with a career high 138 yards receiveing on five catches and one touchdown.
Harrison Udeh and Arjee Mack-Myers led the defense with 10 total tackles. Mack-Myers had four tackles for loss including 1.5 sacks. Udeh finished with three tackles for loss and a sack. Gio Mendoza had an interception that he returned for 24 yards.
Hastings falls to 3-2 (2-2) on the year and will be back in action as Dordt comes to town Saturday Sept. 30 for Homecoming with kickoff set for 1:00 pm on Lloyd Wilson Field.
