After shutting out William Penn 17-0 in the first quarter, Central Methodist couldn’t put the No. 19 Statesman away. The Eagles gave up touchdowns in each of the next three quarters along with a safety to fall 23-17 Saturday on Family Day.

The Eagles were close to winning their third straight game before William Penn’s experience overcame the home team.

“As we continue to mature, we have to learn how to win,” said CMU coach Dave Brown. “We were playing a team that knew how to do that. There were some dips in energy on both sides, but at the end of the day, their guys outplayed us.”

Central falls to 2-3 on the season after winning back-to-back games over Graceland and Culver-Stockton the previous two weeks. William Penn improves to 4-1 on the season, and maintains a ______ NAIA ranking.

Central’s defense were the stars of the first quarter as the Eagles jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead. Senior defensive lineman Myron Page Jr. set the tone early, intercepting a pass four plays into the game.

Central then promptly went 35 yards on seven plays, capping the short drive with an eight-yard touchdown run by junior running back Darius Shakor George. The extra point by Cristobal Salgado made it 7-0.

Page came up big again on William Penn’s second drive, forcing a fumble on a quarterback sack on the ensuing play. The ball was recovered by senior linebacker Treyvion Hourel, Jr., for a touchdown.

Central’s defense forced a punt moments later on the Statesmen’s third drive after allowing just 18 yards on five plays.

The Eagles offense then embarked on an 11-play, 68-yard drive that resulted in a Salgado field goal from 22 yards out to put CMU in front 17-0 with 3:14 left in the opening period.

But the Statesmen managed to score a touchdown in the second, third, and fourth quarters for a 21-17 edge. The Eagles held a 17-14 lead until halfway through the fourth quarter when William Penn quarterback Emery Floyd connected to a wide open Anthony Jones Jr. for a 71-yard catch and run. The touchdown marked the first lead change and put the Eagles on the ropes.

“We have to learn that play is over and go to the next one. Good teams do that,” Brown said about keeping his players in the game late. “We’re getting better. We’re close. Our mistakes started to multiply versus us rallying around each other and getting it going. And that's the hard thing to overcome. That’s the next step we need to take as a program.”

The visitors added to the margin with a safety at the 5:47 mark when a snap went over the CMU punter’s head and out the back of the end zone.

But even with time ticking down, the game was far from decided, with just six points separating the two teams. William Penn hoped to put the game away late on a fourth-and-one in the red zone with under three minutes to play. But Central's defense stood tall. CMU forced a fumble by Maximus Fonoti-Maikui, which resulted in a turnover on downs and gave the ball back to the Eagles on their own 10-yard line with 2:31 left to play.

On third-and-10, CMU quarterback Jordan Rowe rushed for 11 yards, moving the chains. Central managed to reach the 38-yard line, but William Penn recorded an interception at midfield with 45 seconds left to ice the win for the Statesmen.

“The guys didn’t give up. They kept battling, but it’s the execution in those things,” Brown recalled. “The efforts will only take you so far. You still have to execute in the critical times. Credit to them. That's what they did as the game went on.”

For the day, Central earned 23 first downs, including 15 rushing. The squad converted 6-of-17 on third downs, and was 4-for-4 on fourth downs.

The Eagles racked up 266 yards of total offense on 76 plays. They had 95 yards through the air and 171 on the ground.

Rowe completed 12-of-28 passing for 95 yards. He also led the way with 104 yards on the ground on 17 attempts.

Brown gave high marks to his young quarterback, a redshirt freshman from St. Charles. “He did a lot of things really, really well today.”

Zakai Anderson rushed for 37 yards while George scored a touchdown.

Tobias Williams hauled in a team-high three passes for 41 yards. Antonio Turner Jr. also had three receptions for 28 yards.

Defensively, Hourel Jr. led the way with six total stops, including four solo tackles. Fonoti-Maikui had a team-best five solo stops. Jonathan Milton and Collin Wilson each had a sack. Fonoti-Maikui forced two fumbles and had an interception. Page Jr. also had an interception in the loss. Hourel Jr. and James Harris each recovered fumbles.

The Eagles return to action Saturday with a night game on the road when they open conference play at MidAmerica Nazarene with a 6 p.m. kickoff in Olathe, Kan. The Pioneers fell last week at home 35-13 to No. 6 Grand View.

Central returns home on Saturday, October 10 for a 6 p.m. game against Benedictine under the lights on Davis Field.