Photo courtesy of @OttawaU on Twitter
The Braves football team has their first home game Saturday, Sep. 28 at 6:00 p.m. This game follows two away games with a bye week in between them.
This week’s competition is the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes, out of Salina, Kan. Kansas Wesleyan is ranked nationally in fourth place and so far this season, the Coyotes have won all four of their games.
The Braves are coming off a tough loss at Sterling College, falling just short of the Warriors at a score of 37-29. The Coyotes had a score of 51-0 against the Bethany College Swedes.
The key player for the Braves this season, and who the Coyotes need to look out for in this game, is quarterback Connor Kaegi, who had 255 yards, three touchdown passes and 49 yards and one touchdown rushing against Sterling. The Braves also get back NAIA All-American Jacob Garcia, who was hurt last week with an elbow injury.
The Coyotes’ key player from last week was quarterback Johnny Feauto, who threw for 276 yds and four touchdowns off 28 attempts and 18 completions.
Braves offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Julian Mendez said, “We need to play as an 11 man team and not as a bunch of individuals on the field. We need to come out with an intensity that we’ve had coming out into the second half of games.”
While the Coyotes are favored to win this game and keep their streak alive, this game means a lot more to the Ottawa University campus than just whether a win is secured The first home game of the season also includes the grand opening of the new press box and Braves Hall of Fame. This project is a part of Ottawa’s first phase in the “Advancing the Experience” capital campaign. Construction began in late April 2019 and continued through summer break.
Photo by Brynden Grow
Construction was halted temporarily due to the flooding that Ottawa received in early August, which resulted in construction continuing into the start of the school year. The press box is slated to be completed by the time of the game, but there has been much speculation to whether or not it will be completed or not.
Braves Strength and Conditioning Coach Dillon Adams said, “I was able to go and look at the press box yesterday (Thursday) and it is by far the best press box in the KCAC now.”
The press box and stands aren’t the only new addition to the field; it also has a new name. Formally known as People’s Bank and Trust Field, the field is now officially named Advent Health Field. The newly named field is a part of a 10-year naming rights agreement with Advent Health.
The theme of the game is white out, and t-shirts will be handed to the first 500 people out at the game. Kickoff is set at 6:00 p.m. at Advent Health Field.