Rain was in the forecast Sunday.
Instead, it was muggy and sunny -- make that Sonny -- for the Haskell-Westminster College football contest at Haskell Stadium.
Haskell sophomore Sonny Duncan caught six of Brandon Watson's passes for 177 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Fightin' Indians wiped out a 20-0 deficit and beat the Fulton, Mo., school's junior varsity, 33-30.
"We used play action, threw it up there and let Sonny do his thing," Haskell coach Gary Tanner said. "Not many people can cover him man-to-man. They were trying to, and we were glad."
Duncan, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound wide receiver from Peridot, Ariz., caught TD passes of three and 40 yards in the second quarter to go with a 67-yard bomb in the third period.
"I just have to give it to my linemen and my quarterback. Without them I wouldn't be able to do it," Duncan said. "The last one, coach said, 'Go deep.' I took off and there it was.
"Brandon Watson ... it's his first year as Haskell quarterback. We're still working on hooking up. We'll get our chemistry right," Duncan added.
Watson, a 5-11, 180-pound sophomore from Skiatook, Okla., completed 11 of 17 passes for 200 yards and three TDs to Duncan. He also rushed for 69 yards on 15 carries, including a 44-yard option run for a TD that cut Westminster's 20-0 lead to 20-7 with 5:23 left in the first quarter.
Westminster, whose four quarterbacks completed 29 of 61 passes for 464 yards, came out flinging the football and never stopped. Westminster outgained Haskell 553 yards to 337.
"Their game was to pass and pass and pass," Tanner said. "We were ready for it. It's something you have to be patient with. I was trying to be patient, but had a hard time, early."
Things didn't look good for Haskell after Westminster hit early TD passes of six, 23 and 75 yards. The Indians, 2-2, not only entered the game down after suffering two straight losses, but also missed a day of practice Thursday when 37 players came down with food poisoning.
"When you've lost two and are three touchdowns behind and win ... I'm real happy with it," Tanner said. "It showed me they had some good character.
"We had 37 of them at the clinic Thursday. They're still a little weak. They've got strong hearts. They've gotten over it. A win will make a lot of things better."
Matthew Wood's 68-yard fumble recovery set up the Indians' second score -- a three-yard strike to Duncan that cut the gap to 23-13. Duncan's 40-yarder came before halftime, cutting the gap to three points.
Haskell took the lead for good on a three-yard run by Darren Rhodd with 53 seconds left in the third quarter.
Tyee Jones recovered a Westminster fumble on the Indians' 33 with :30 seconds left in the third quarter. Moments later, Watson hit Duncan for 67 yards making the score 33-23.
Four Haskell defenders -- Landon Dean, Johnny Shupert, Jeff Young and Eric Holuby-- had interceptions. Shupert raced 34 yards with his interception, stifling a drive deep in Haskell territory with the Indians down, 23-20.
"We had obstacles we had to overcome with a few guys sick and trailing by three touchdowns, but we got over them and won," Duncan said.
The Indians travel to Elsah, Ill., to meet Principia College's varsity on Saturday. Kickoff is 2 p.m.
Westminster College JV 20 3 0 7 -- 30
Haskell 7 13 13 0 -- 33
W -- Parker Douglass 6 pass from Josh Blaylock (pass failed).
W -- Jeremy McCartney 23 pass from Blaylock (Mike Matheny kick).
W -- Douglass 75 pass from Brad Wasson (Matheny kick).
H -- Brandon Watson 44 run (Scott Giroux kick).
W -- Matheny 40 field goal.
H -- Sonny Duncan 3 pass from Watson (kick failed).
H -- Duncan 40 pass from Watson (Giroux kick).
H -- Darren Rhodd 3 run (kick blocked).
H -- Duncan 67 pass from Watson (Erik Holuby kick).
W -- Andy Johnson 26 pass from Wasson (Matheny kick).
-- Gary Bedore's phone number is 832-7186. His e-mail address is gbedore@ljworld.com
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