Football | 11/2/2012 12:12:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. – Two games remain for the Bulldog football program and head coach Pete Sterbick’s inaugural year. The first of those contests will be against the No. 23 Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (CT) in Salina, Kansas at Salina Stadium.
The game will be broadcasted live on the KCAC Digital Network and at macbulldogs.com. You can also listen live to Nick Gosnell and McPherson College senior Langston Rhymes on 96.7 KBBE MidKansas Radio and at macbulldogs.com.
It seems like just yesterday that this game was highlighted on the KCAC’s schedule as a potential conference championship game after both teams had strong starts to their season. How things have changed. McPherson, after starting the year 2-0 against conference foes and nearly overcoming a few controversial calls when playing Friends University, has since gone 1-3 which has taken them completely out of the KCAC championship race.
MC’s most recent loss came at the hands of the University of Saint Mary as the Spires took down McPherson 26-14. The Bulldogs looked slow and lethargic as it was just their second game in four weeks. They were only able to gain 105 yards on the ground and 270 total yards, both season lows. MC also only attempted 25 rushes and completed just 13 passes, the fewest of the year in both categories.
Of their 105 rushing yards, quarterback Jake Snodgrass had 40 on eight attempts. Terrance Jones was second on the list with 31, coming on 10 tries.
Snodgrass also led the team in passing as he completed 13 balls for 181 yards and two touchdowns. The Nation’s top receiver Julius Record hulled in seven catches for 140 yards and a touchdown; Record is currently ranked first in receptions per game (9.0), sixth in total receptions (63), and seventh in receiving yards per game (105.6) in the NAIA. Byron O’Rourke pulled in the other Snodgrass touchdown on a 10-yard out and up.
Jimmy Wilson had a career day, racking 16 total tackles, 12 solo. Defensive back Phillip Wilson was targeted numerous times as he replaced injured cornerback Allen Colbert; Wilson accumulated 11 total tackles. Brian Doffing tallied the team’s lone sack and had seven other tackles in the loss.
Once finished with the Coyotes, McPherson will travel to Sterling, Kansas for their final regular season game against the Sterling College Warriors. That competition is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, November 10.
Scouting Kansas Wesleyan
The 6-1 Coyotes sit atop the KCAC in a tie with Ottawa University who KWU took care of in week two, 31-28, thus holding the tiebreaker. Kansas Wesleyan is coming off a 35-17 shellacking of Southwestern College where they put up 353 yards on the ground and 438 total.
Brett Giesen was responsible for nearly all of the rushing yards that KWU racked up against the Moundbuilders as he took the ball 29 times for 317 yards and two scores. Also punching the ball into the end zone two times was JaLil Turner who also gained 29 yards on 11 carries.
With a ground game like that, quarterback Trey Dallas didn’t need to do much and that showed in his stat-line. Dallas threw the ball for 85 yards on just nine completions which included one touchdown. Four receivers gained 27 yards for the Coyotes.
15 tackles were recorded by linebacker Brady Harwell, leading the team. Marc Porras was second for KWU with 12 and was closely followed by fellow defensive back Taylor Cook who had 10. The Coyote defense forced four interceptions from SWC’s quarterback.
This season, Giesen ranks sixth in the NAIA in total rushing (1082) and seventh in yards gained on the ground per game with 120.2. As a team, Kansas Wesleyan is averaging 160 yards rushing and 206 passing which puts them fifth in the KCAC in both categories.
Harwell is averaging 11.2 tackles per contest, putting him seventh in the NAIA and has racked up 101 on the year. The team is giving up 449.1 yards per game, 242 on the ground and 207 through the air, which ranks them ninth in the KCAC. They are also allowing 28.2 points each time out.
The Coyotes’ final game of the year will be on the road as they travel to Leavenworth, Kan., where they will face the Spires of the University of Saint Mary.
