The Culver-Stockton College football team couldn't take advantage of four interceptions Saturday in a Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division loss to William Penn University at Ellison Poulton Stadium.

The Wildcats were unable to capitalize on the miscues, coming away with zero points each time. In fact, the Wildcats committed two fumbles and and an interception on three of the four takeaways, giving the ball right back to the Statesmen in the 37-16 loss.

C-SC fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter as William Penn scored a touchdown and a field goal on its first two possessions of the game.

After punting on their opening possession, the Wildcats marched 61 yards on 10 plays before settling for a 21-yard field goal by Ethan Boulanger with one second left in the opening quarter. Those three points were the first points scored by the Wildcats in the first quarter this year.

The Wildcat defense forced the Statesmen to punt on the ensuing possession; however, William Penn forced the first of four Wildcat turnovers  with a fumble recovery near midfield.

It appeared the Statesmen would turn that miscue into points, but C-SC's Ty Leu picked off the first of his two passes to give the ball to the offense at the five-yard line.

A false start penalty moved the ball back to the three when the Wildcats fumbled on the first play of the possession and WPU recovered to set up first-and-goal at the four-years line. The Statesmen punched it in on the first play for a 17-3 lead.

On the ensuing possession, a 28-yard run by Demarquez Johnson and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the ball to the WPU 13-yard line. 

C-SC quarterback Brock Nellor scored from a yard out four plays later to cut the deficit to 17-9 as the extra point was missed.

Trailing by that same score to start the second half, C-SC pulled to within 17-16 when Tyler Danzey broke loose and scampered 70 yards on the second play of the half.

The Statesmen returned the favor on their next possession with a long touchdown drive to extend their lead to 24-16 and that was the score as the game went to the fourth quarter.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, C-SC's Anthony Flores intercepted a Statesmen pass n the end zone to turn WPU away. from a scoring opportunity.

However, the Wildcats gave it right back with a fumble on the second play after the interception and WPU made the hosts pay by scoring a touchdown to increase the lead to 31-16 with 11;39 to play.

After yet another fumble by the Wildcats on the ensuing possession, the Wildcat defense came up big again as Leu picked off his second pass of the day and the third interception inside the Wildcats' own 10-yard line.

C-SC moved the ball to midfield before Brock Nellor was intercepted, giving the ball back to the visitors.

WPU made them pay by scoring their final touchdown of the day to account for the final score.

The Wildcats rushed for 224 yards in the game with Danzey leading the way with 88 yards on 10 carries. Johnson recorded 64 yards on the ground on eight carries, while Cobb had 58 yards on 12 carries.

Brock Nellor threw for only 74 yards through the air on 12 of 27 accuracy. 

William Penn controlled the clock with over 36 minutes of possession time in the game. The Statesmen garnered 413 total yards with 197 yards rushing and 216 yards passing.

Leu led the defense with the two interceptions while also recording eight tackles in the game. Kendall Fowler and Devonte Jordan also had eight stops, while  Flores registered seven tackles.

C-SC will play its final home game of the 2023 season next Saturday, Nov. 4, against Graceland University. Kickoff is slated for 12 p.m. at Poulton Stadium.