Football | 11/9/2012 12:45:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. – Bulldog football heads into their final game of the 2012 season sitting at .500 with an overall record of 4-4. Coach Sterbick has a chance to end his inaugural season with a winning record, something that few thought was possible. To achieve that goal, MC will have to take down a 2-7 Sterling Warriors team. The contest will be played at Smisor Stadium in Sterling, Kan., at 1:30 p.m. (CT) on November 10th.
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.
MC is coming off a much needed 28-24 win over the KCAC’s former No. 1 Kansas Wesleyan University this past Saturday. KWU may have scored first but 28 first half points for McPherson gave the Bulldogs a 28-17 halftime advantage.
In the second half, neither team was able to put more point onto the scoreboard; McPherson had a touchdown negated due to a penalty. The Coyotes finally punched the ball into the end zone with just over 11 minutes left in regulation. On the final drive, KWU was on the march when MC’s Micah Roehl snatched a ball intended for a Kansas Wesleyan receiver, completely stopping any chance for the Coyotes, protecting MC’s win.
The Bulldogs controlled the ball for 42:14 seconds in their victory, using their run to drain the clock. The team racked up 286 yards rushing with 149 of it going to Terrance Jones who also added a touchdown to his day’s work. Jake Snodgrass took the ball 16 times for 54 yards and a TD. Also scoring on the ground for MC was Havelock Pomele who totaled 87 yards.
Snodgrass passed 24 times in the win, completing 14 balls. He tallied 190 yards and one touchdown that went to his favorite target, and the KCAC’s leading wide receiver, Julius Record who snatched six of Snodgrass’ other passes for 114 yards; Record is also the top receiver in the NAIA with his 8.8 receptions per contest, he also ranks fifth in total receptions (70) and sixth in receiving yards per game (106.6). Five other McPherson players recorded a catch on Saturday.
Jimmy Wilson had another standout game for McPherson, logging 10 total tackles, four solo and one for a loss. Defensive lineman Chris Ellison came in second on the team in take downs with eight, one of which was for a loss of four yards; Ellison is currently ranked 14th in the country in sacks per game with 0.80. Phillip Wilson, Trea Lott and Roehl each picked off KWU’s quarterback once; Lott also recorded a forced fumble which was recovered by Tyler Bruton.
Saturday’s game against the SC Warriors will be the last game for McPherson as they are not ranked in the top-20 of the NAIA so will not advance to post-season play.
Scouting Sterling
Sterling just won their second game of the season this past Saturday when they beat Bethany College 17-10. The 2-7 Warriors were only able to accumulate 206 yards of total offense against the Swedes and had 144 of that yardage on the ground.
Denton Hudspeth led the Warriors with 129 rushing yards on 29 carries; he also made it past the goal line once. Four other players for Sterling carried the ball a combined 18 times for 16 yards.
Hudspeth also threw 15 times, completing 7 for 62 yards. Only two Warriors caught the ball in their win with Jordan Coleman leading the team with six receptions for 56 yards.
On the other side of the ball, SC’s defense picked the ball off three times and took one back to the house for the Warriors other touchdown. Eight tackles were totaled by linebacker Kerby Rice which was the highest of any Sterling player. Zero sacks were recorded by the Warriors.
The Sterling offense has been struggling the whole season, averaging 312 yards per outing, ninth in the conference. The ground game has been keeping numbers up as they gain nearly 200 yards a contest. Hudspeth tops all Warriors with 753 rushing yards; John Cardona put up 412 in his seven games before he was injured. Coleman is the leading receiver for SC, grabbing an average of 4.5 balls a game for a total of 549 yards.
The Warrior defense is what has kept Sterling in nearly all of their games this year. Both the team’s pass and rush defense are fourth in the KCAC while the total defense is ranked third. Kerby leads the squad with 81 tackles including 8.5 for a loss. Linebacker Brian Noller has 12 tackles for a loss, four of which are sacks, and 62 total.
Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, Sterling is also done for 2012.
