For three quarters here Saturday, it appeared the McPherson College Bulldogs still had an allergic reaction to the end zone.
The Bulldogs were trailing Sterling College 20-0 and had minus-3 yards total offense heading into the fourth quarter.
But even though they wound up losing the game, the Bulldogs might have given a glimpse of what they are capable of.
Mac picked up 180 yards in the final period and its first touchdown in 12 quarters in losing to the Warriors, 20-6.
"It's just the fact that every week it seems like it's one critical thing," said McPherson coach Dan Davis, whose team is now 0-4. "We get down there by the end zone and get a penalty or miss a block."
The Bulldogs trailed only 7-0 at the half, the Warriors' touchdown coming on a 47-yard screen pass from Cullen Riner to Cliff Boop less than four minutes into the game. The Mac defense bent for 179 yards in the half, but did not let the Warriors break the end zone the rest of the way.
The Warriors scored twice in a matter of 66 seconds early in the third quarter. Matt Hedges tallied on a 23-yard run to make it 13-0 and after Mac quarterback Sean Eason fumbled on the very next play from scrimmage, Sterling's Willie Woods went 34 yards to make it 20-0.
"We just can't expect our defense to be out there all the time. They're going to have lapses once in a while and they had a couple of them early in the third quarter," Davis said. "We're just not mature enough offensively to handle it yet."
But from there, the Bulldogs played well and wound up ending their scoring drought early in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard pass from Eason to John Berlanga.
Eason, making his first start, accounted for 155 yards passing and rushed for 28 yards, including three or four nice quarterback draws. Jay Williams had a good day receiving, including a pair of 30-yard receptions on Mac's scoring drive, which covered 84 yards in nine plays.
Take away the three big plays and the Mac defense again played well. Jason Schwartz continued his All-World season with 16 tackles, a fumble forced, a fumble recovered and a pass deflection, as well as running 12 yards for a first down on a fake punt.
The Bulldogs, who have played three straight home games, head out Saturday to play Kansas Wesleyan.
STATISTICS
Mac Listed First
First Downs -- 10, 20. Rushes-Yards -- 38-22; 44-167. Passing -- 9-32-2-155; 10-29-0-178. Punts-Avg. -- 8-38.0; 6-32.5. Penalties-Yards -- 7-75; 12-92. Fumbles-Lost -- 3-1; 1-1.
INDIVIDUALS
Rushing
Mac -- Eason 23-28, Schwartz 1-12, Williams 10-9, Harris 3-9, Team for high snap on punt 1-(-36).
Sterling -- Hedges 19-86, Woods 13-59, Boop 4-17, Riner 7-5, Watson 1-0.
Passing
Mac -- Eason 9-32-2-155.
Sterling -- Riner 8-23-0-163, Watson 2-5-0-15, Scribner 0-1-0-0.
Receiving
Mac -- Williams 3-69, Berlanga 2-39, Harris 2-6, McClintic 1-35, Mireles 1-6.
Sterling -- Soergel 5-74, Boop 3-76, Taveira 1-17, Hedges 1-11.
