[Football] Looking back on a historical football campaign

It seemed as though Matt Drinkall didn't want to leave Gene Bissell Field in Graves Family Sports Complex last Saturday, the snow, rain and howling wind notwithstanding.

His Kansas Wesleyan football team had just seen its epic and historic season end with a 43-21 loss to Benedictine in a semifinal game of the NAIA Championship Series.

Drinkall, who concluded his fifth season KWU's head coach, was anything but distraught, though.

"I'm already over it," said Drinkall, whose Coyotes crossed the finish line with a 13-1 record, one game shy of the national championship game. "This is an unbelievable season and the second I walk off the field the only thing I'm doing is reflecting on the incredible season that these guys were able to put together."

While any loss carries a degree of disappointment, Drinkall was in no mood to dwell on the season's lone blemish – his focus quickly shifting to the  Coyotes' array of accomplishments.

Saturday's game was the culmination as they became the first Kansas Conference team to advance to the semifinals after victories over Langston (Okla.) and Dickinson State (N.D.) in the first two rounds.