South Euclid, Oh. -- The Wesleyan Football team suffered their first conference loss Saturday at the hands of the Notre Dame (OH) Falcons at Meuller Field. The Falcons were able to overcome a 19-17 halftime deficit to claim the victory.
Wesleyan (1-2,1-1) started out strong after the defense stood their ground, stopping a sustained drive by the Falcons (2-1,1-1) when QB Jeremy Musselman connected to Lavaughn Hughes for a 54 yard touchdown reception. The Bobcats' Kasper Bernild would add a field goal before the Falcons' Ray Russ would add a touchdown pass of his own, after a Wesleyan turnover, and the Bobcats would hold the 10-7 edge after the first quarter.
The second quarter scoring began with Mussleman finding the endzone again, this time on a nine yard scamper, however, the PAT would be missed and the Bobcats would have to settle for a 16-7 lead. The teams would trade a couple of field goals, then the Falcons' Russ was able to finish off another touchdown scoring drive of his own and Wesleyan would claim a 19-17 lead at the intermission.
The second half, however, would prove less fortunate for the 'Cats. The Falcons took a 20-19 lead on a Kyle Kaplin 22 yard field goal with 6:59 remaining in the third quarter and never relinquished the lead. Russ would find DaJunn Graham for another touchdown pass and the Falcons would extend their lead to eight. The Bobcats Connor Arlia would answer when he took a Musselman pass 25 yards to the house, however, Wesleyan was unable to convert on the two-point attempt leaving the 'Cats trailing 27-25 at the end of the third quarter.
After battling back and forth, the Falcons would be able to reach the endzone one last time with 4:54 on a fourth Ray Russ touchdown pass putting the game just out of reach for the Bobcats. Jeremy Mussleman would end up with 398 yards passings, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Lavaughn Hughes would lead the receiving attack with 162 yards and one touchdown.
The Bobcats will return home next week when they face nationally ranked, and Preseason MEC number one, the Shepherd Rams. Game time is slated for 1:00pm.
