LINDSBORG -- There's no substitute for experience.
That was clearly evident Saturday night, as the veteran-laden Bethany College Swedes called on their wise old heads to pound out a 44-6 victory over a McPherson College team that basically is still getting to know each other as it's practically brand-new.
With 19 starters returning from last year's 8-2 playoff team, the 20th-ranked Swedes displayed a precision-like offense and sprinter-like speed on defense. While not overly big, the Swedes' defense swarmed to the ball and forced the youthful Bulldogs -- only 10 combined seniors and juniors -- into eight turnovers.
"You can't turn it over eight times," said McPherson's Dan Davis, who was making his head coaching debut. "Obviously they were a better team than us tonight, more experienced. You can't turn it over eight times against any team and expect to be close in the ballgame."
It took the Swedes all of 78 seconds to get on the scoreboard, as J.T. Burk took a backwards flip from Chris Ouellette and sped 53 yards to the Land of Six. It was one of two scores he had on the night and he finished with 121 yards on 14 carries.
The Swedes went on to lead 28-0 at the half, as Ouellette threw a pair of scoring strikes to Todd Just, and sledgehammer fullback Matt Renick powered in from 13 yards.
For the half, Bethany ran 52 plays for 360 yards, compared to 64 yards for Mac, which turned it over five times.
"The enthusiasm was great for this game," Bethany coach Ted Kessinger said. "I really felt good about the way our players played. The defense is up a notch already from last year. They were really quick on defense and our secondary played exceptionally well."
In the second half, the Swedes auditioned new quicksilver quarterback Craig Harris and he led them to 16 points, including an 11-yard scoring strike to Levi Esses and a short run by Burk. Jason Liswood accounted for the final Bethany score with a 36-yard field goal.
To Mac's credit, it battled until the end and scored late on a 14-yard pass from backup quarterback Sean Eason to John Berlanga, who had a nice receiving night with 8 catches for 94 yards. Eason also did a good job of scrambling, showing good speed.
"We've got the fight in us, we've just got to get the numbers up," said Davis, who had only 39 players available while Bethany's roster totals 125. "That (the low numbers) isn't going to happen every year here if I can help it."
"Dan's going to be all right there," Kessinger said of the Bulldogs. "The kids played hard, and played hard for 60 minutes and didn't let up."
Bethany finished with 463 yards of offense, while the Bulldogs were held to 168.
Bethany will be a heavy favorite next week when it goes on the road to play Tabor, while McPherson College will make its home debut against Friends.
STATISTICS
Bethany Listed First
First Downs -- 9, 21. Rushes-Yards -- 41-189; 37-57. Passing -- 20-41-2-274; 10-29-5-111. Punts-Avg. -- 7-36.8; 4-41.0. Fumbles-Lost -- 4-3; 4-1. Penalties-Yards -- 10-81, 13-130.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing
Bethany -- Burk 14-121, Renick 10-52. Mac -- Harris 21-29, Eason 11-37.
Passing
Bethany -- Ouellette 15-28-1-216, Harris 5-13-1-58. Mac -- Gondringer 7-20-3-67, Eason 3-9-2-44.
Receiving
Bethany -- Esses 6-58, Just 5-84, Williams 5-87. Mac -- Berlanga 8-94.
