NEWTON -- The littlest man on the field had the biggest impact Saturday in Bethel College's hard-earned 18-16 victory over upset-minded McPherson College.
Chris Rico, the Threshers' 145-pound place-kicker, pounded through a 37-yard field goal with 3:33 left in the game to give the Threshers the come-from-behind victory and keep alive their slim chances for an NAIA playoff berth.
It was Rico's second game-winning kick in as many weeks, as his field goal last week in overtime propelled the Threshers past Southwestern, ending its championship hopes.
It was the Bulldogs' best effort of the year in what is a 1-7 season. Their defense incredibly held the Threshers to just 3 yards rushing in 31 attempts, but Brad Thimm -- starting in place of the injured Brent Martens -- gashed the Mac secondary for 272 passing yards.
"We had some crucial breakdowns in a couple of areas that really cost us," Mac coach Dan Davis said. "It's the same kind of stuff that's happened all year. But we played hard and gave a good effort."
The Threshers led only 9-6 at the half. Rico started the scoring early with a 34-yard field goal, but the Bulldogs came back in the second quarter to grab a 6-3 lead on a 27-yard scoring strike from Jason Gondringer to John Berlanga, who finished with 100 yards on the day.
The Threshers, though, needed only two minutes to retake the lead as Thimm had completions of 35 and 30 yards to set up Steven Hafoka's 3-yard run.
The Threshers moved the lead to 15-6 midway through the third quarter on a 15-yard Thimm strike to Zack Westhoff, but back came the Bulldogs, as Jay Williams dashed 5 yards to cap a nice drive to make it 15-13.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs put together another methodical drive, but when it stalled, Nate Eggman kicked a 27-yard field goal to give Mac a 16-15 lead with 7:32 left.
The Threshers, who have been in tight games throughout the season, came right back, as two big completions from Thimm to Chris Pogoyo set up Rico's game-winning field goal.
The Bulldogs had two more opportunities with the football and did get past midfield, only to be thwarted.
Bethel had to resort to a Kansas City Chiefs offense because of the Bulldogs' defensive work against the run. Howard Walter, one of the KCAC's best backs, had only 8 yards on 12 carries.
"Our defense to me is one of the top three in the league," Davis said. "You go to points, yards and all of that, and maybe we're next-to-last or whatever, but we've put them in some awful situations this year and they've played great."
The Bulldogs actually had more yards in the game, 282-275, and had a 212-97 edge in the second half as they totally dominated the line of scrimmage.
Harold Harris had 71 hard-earned rushing yards and Gondringer threw for 174, but had four crucial pickoffs.
Former McPherson High assistant coach Mike Moore, who has guided the Threshers to a 7-2 record and is a candidate for KCAC Coach of the Year, was impressed with the Bulldogs.
"What it comes down to is that we have to do our job and we really didn't get it done today in a lot of aspects," Moore said. "We knew they were pretty good defensively. They have really stayed in the majority of ballgames they've been in."
The Bulldogs close out the season Saturday at Tabor, which is just ahead of Mac in the standings.
STATISTICS
Mac Listed First
First Downs -- 17, 16. Rushes-Yards -- 40-118; 31-3. Passing -- 14-29-4-174; 20-32-1-272. Punts-Avg. -- 3-37.3; 6-35.0. Fumbles-Lost -- 2-0; 2-0. Penalties-Yards -- 10-55; 10-95.
INDIVIDUALS
Rushing
Mac -- Harris 18-71, Williams 13-41, Eason 4-4, Schwartz 1-4, Gondringer 4-(-2).
Bethel -- Butcher 1-14, Hafoka 3-9, Walter 12-8, Thimm 15-(-28).
Passing
Mac -- Gondringer 14-29-4-174.
Bethel -- Thimm 20-32-1-272.
Receiving
Mac -- Berlanga 5-100, Mireles 3-46, Ullom 2-13, Williams 2-10, Harris 2-5.
Bethel -- Pagoyo 6-97, Lerma 4-79, Westhoff 4-50, Berganza 3-49, Zern 1-3, Walter 1-1, Butcher 1-(-7).
