Ottawa University quarterback Jay Alexander put his own particular slant on the Braves' game here Saturday with McPherson College.
Alexander time and again threw darting slant patterns to his sure-handed receivers, ending up with four touchdown passes to highlight the Braves' 37-13 victory.
In fact, three of his four TDs came on slants. The former University of Kansas quarterback finished the day 17 of 37 for 215 yards in the sloppy conditions and he also ran 17 yards for another score.
Alexander had to throw the ball often because his running game, minus the KCAC's leading rusher Nunnie Booker who was out with a rib injury, manufactured only 47 yards against the tough Mac defense.
The Braves moved to 7-0 in the KCAC and can win the championship next week with a win over Tabor. They still have to play Bethany in the season finale, but with a two-game lead and two games left to play, they're in the driver's seat.
Even though it was the Bulldogs' sixth loss in seven games before a good homecoming crowd, Mac coach Dan Davis came away from the contest feeling good about his team as it battled hard against the 12th-ranked Braves.
"I told (Ottawa) coach (Chris) Creighton to give us two years and we'll be ready for you," said Davis, whose team consists mostly of freshmen and sophomores compared to the Braves' juniors and seniors. "I'll tell you what, every week we're a better football team. You can look at the score and see it was the same margin, but it really wasn't the same margin. We were warriors today and I'm pretty happy with them."
The Bulldogs' offense, virtually non-existent the first five weeks of the season until exploding last week, put up some good numbers in defeat. Freshman running back Harold Harris showed why he may be a star of the future, rushing for 146 yards on 19 carries, including an 81-yard TD run in the second quarter that drew the Bulldogs within 14-7. Quarterback Jason Gondringer threw for 145 yards, including a 10-yard TD pass to John Berlanga. In fact, the Bulldogs had a 328-273 advantage in total yards.
The turning point in the game came just before halftime. Alexander threw a simple short pass to Mitch Bailey, a play that should have been a modest gain. But Bailey broke a tackle and went 50 yards for the score, making it 21-7. On the ensuing kickoff, Mac's Jay Williams returned it 85 yards to the OU 5, only to have it called back. The Bulldogs then turned it over and the Braves came away with a field goal for a 24-7 halftime lead. Ottawa rode that momentum to score twice in the third quarter to break the game open.
Penalties killed the Bulldogs all day, as they committed 15 for 143 yards, several wiping out big plays and also helping Ottawa keep drives going.
Mac plays its final two games on the road, starting with a trip Saturday to Newton to take on Bethel, which is now tied with Bethany and Southwestern for second place at 5-2.
STATISTICS
Mac Listed First
First Downs -- 13, 21. Rushes-Yards -- 43-183; 26-47. Passing -- 15-33-2-145; 19-44-1-226. Punts-Avg. -- 9-33.4; 8-34.0. Fumbles-Lost -- 4-2; 2-1. Penalties-Yards -- 15-143; 8-52.
INDIVIDUALS
Rushing
Mac -- Harris 19-146, Williams 18-57, Cacal 2-(-1), Gondringer 4-(19).
Ottawa -- Thomas 12-35, Alexander 5-8, Linden 2-1, Carolina 2-(-2), Gordon 2-(-1), Nierman 3-6.
Passing
Mac -- Gondringer 15-33-2-145.
Ottawa -- Alexander 17-37-1-215, Epperly 2-7-0-11.
Receiving
Mac -- Berlanga 4-61, Williams 4-53, Mireles 4-21, Ullom 1-5, McClitnic 1-4, Harris 1-1.
Ottawa --Linden 4-36, Bailey 4-75, Walker 3-23, Brown 2-28, Otto 2-32, Johnson 1-15, Cox 1-5, Rockers 2-12.
