DePauw falls to Colonels on gridiron

DANVILLE, Ky. -- DePauw University's football team came close to earning a win at Centre Saturday but couldn't seal the deal.

DePauw rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit with 11 straight points, but the Colonels scored with 59 seconds remaining to take a 28-24 win in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference match-up.

DPU trailed 21-13 after Adam Clark of Centre carried the ball into the endzone with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter but came back in the fourth to tie the game at 21-all when Jeremiah Marks scored on a 62-yard run.

Spud Dick threw to Brandon Horn with 9:27 on the clock to complete the two-point conversion. The Tigers claimed the lead on a 41-yard field goal from Tyler Mallory with 5:01 on the clock to give DePauw a 24-21 advantage.

But Centre began its game-winning drive on its own 31-yard line, and quarterback Kevin Phelps converted four of five pass attempts to move the Colonels to the DePauw 25-yard line.

Then Centre running back Adam Blandford carried the ball three straight times, with his final carry accumulating six yards for the winning score with 59.8 seconds on the clock. DePauw's last drive of the game came to a close on the first play when Cetnre's Alex Ubelhart intercepted Dick's pass at the Centre 40-yard line.

"I thought we played well enough offensively to win today, but we just missed too many tackles on defense," DPU head coach Matt Walker said.

Cetnre jumped out to a 7-0 lead on Blandford's 4-yard run with 6:21 in the first quarter, and the Tigers answered with a 14-yard run from Marks with 2:58 on the clock.

The Tigers earned their first lead of the contest on the first possession of the second half when Dick found Chris Gasbarra in the endzone on a 27-yard pass with 11:44 left to go in the third.

The extra point attempt missed, and the Tigers held a 13-7 lead.

The Colonels outgained DePauw Saturday, 377-282 and had a 19-12 advantage in first downs.

Marks led the DPU rushing game with 162 yaards on 29 carries. DePauw had 168 yards on the ground.

Marks moved into second place on DePauw's all-time career rushing list with 2,759 yards.

He also moved into second place on the single-season charts with 956.

Blandford paced the Centre running game with 134 yards on 26 carries. The Colonels finished with 203 rushing yards.

Dick was 7-of-17 in pass attempts for 81 yards. Phelps was 12-of-21 with 154 passing yards for Centre.

Dustin Hertel led the DPU defense with nine total tackles, including a first-half sack. The sack was the 31st of his career, breaking DePauw's career record of 30 by Doug Lowery set in 1989.

DePauw will play its final conference game of the season Saturday when it hosts Austin College at noon.

At Centre

DePauw 0 7 6 11 -- 24

Centre 7 0 14 7 -- 28

First Quarter

Centre -- Blandford 4 run (Rockwell kick) 6:21

Second Quarter

DePauw -- Marks 14 run (Mallory kick) 2:58

Third Quarter

DePauw -- Gasbarra 27 pass from Dick (kick failed) 11:44

Centre -- Blandford 15 run (Rockwell kick) 8:46

Centre -- Clark 9 run (Rockwell kick) 3:06

Fourth Quarter

DePauw -- Marks 62 run (Horn pass from Dick) 9:27

DePauw -- Mallory 41 field goal 5:01

Centre -- Blandford 6 run (Rockwell kick) :59

Team Statistics

First Downs -- DePauw 13, Centre 19

Rushing Yards -- DePauw 168, Centre 203

Passing Yards -- DePauw 114, Centre 174

Total Yards -- DePauw 282, Centre 377

Fumbles/Lost -- DePauw 0-0, Centre 1-1

Penalties/Yards -- DePauw 3-37, Centre 4-19

Individual Statistics

Rushing

DePauw -- Marks 29-168, Berman 1-10, Dick 6-(-4)

Centre -- Blandford 26-134, Phelps 12-36, Clark 4-32, Tinnell 1-1, Hinkel 1-0

Passing

DePauw -- Dick 7-17-2-81, Gasbarra 1-1-0-0

Centre -- Phelps 12-21-0-154, Blandford 1-1-0-20

Next Game -- DePauw will host Austin College Saturday at noon.

Compiled by Jason Jarman