Missed opportunities was the name of the game for Tabor College Saturday, as the Bluejays fell to KCAC opponent Kansas Wesleyan on the road, 34-15.
?We couldn?t finish our drives in the red zone,? coach Mike Gardner said. ?Part of that is, Kansas Wesleyan did a good job moving their front around, but we just didn?t finish our drives.?
The loss puts Tabor at 1-4 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
Perhaps the brightest spot for Tabor was freshman kicker Anthony Pacheco, who was responsible for nine of the Bluejays? points.
?I feel like he has performed well all year, and we?re definitely going to need to use him throughout the rest of the season,? Gardner said.
The Coyotes took the lead early and held Tabor to a field goal before they went up by two touchdowns, 14-3, with 4:42 left in the first quarter.
KWU recovered a Tabor fumble on the Bluejay 23-yard line seconds later. Tabor?s defense held them to a field goal to make it 17-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Tabor again drove down the field to start the second quarter, but was once more held to a Pacheco field goal to make it 17-6 at 12 minutes to play.
The Bluejays put together another drive with 9:45 left. On third-and-six, freshman wide receiver Calvin Helmers appeared to catch the ball in traffic, but the pass was ruled incomplete to halt the drive.
With 1:20 left in the half, history repeated itself. The Bluejays appeared to haul in a pass near the Coyote 35-yard line, but it was ruled incomplete, stopping the drive.
Only 20 seconds remained in the half when 30 yards off KWU penalties helped Tabor drive to the red zone.
The Bluejays dropped two passes in the end zone and had to settle for a field goal to make it 17-9 at halftime.
The Coyotes started the third quarter with a touchdown at 10:25 for a 24-9 lead.
With three minutes remaining in the third period, Tabor?s Tanner Giffin made a 22-yard gain off a punt fake to reach the KWU 29-yard line.
A couple plays later, a pass to Duray Gardener just inside the end zone gave the Bluejays their only touchdown of the night. The two-point conversion failed, making it 24-15.
KWU scored another touchdown at 12:55 in the fourth quarter to make it 31-15. The Coyotes then intercepted Tabor quarterback Tim Rozzell at 9:03 near the Bluejay 30, and ran it in for a touchdown?but it was called back on a penalty.
They kicked a 44-yard field goal with 8:07 left in the game for the final score.
Considering how much the Bluejay defense was on the field, how did they hold up?
?We didn?t,? Gardner said. ?We ended up breaking down.?
Coming?Tabor will look to improve on its performance when the Bluejays host Bethany College (5-1, 3-1) Saturday for homecoming.
