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McPherson, Kan. – Following their 24-9 victory last week, McPherson football will look to carry that momentum into their October 25th matchup with the No. 18 Tabor College Bluejays. Kickoff with the 'Jays is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT) in Hillsboro, Kansas on Saturday.
Against the Spires this past Saturday, MC had to use their fourth starting quarterback of the season as Kelly Cordova moved from his wide receiver position due to injuries. It was a very low-scoring first half as the two teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 3-3. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown on their first possession of the third quarter as Cordova hit Andrew Johnston on a red-zone strike. USM answered at the end of the period but a blocked PAT gave Mac a 10-9 lead with 15 minutes to play. McPherson scored to kick off the quarter as Cordova found Justin Fagan for a 20-yard TD; the pass was something to see as Cordova threw from the right hash line all the way over to the left corner of the endzone. With just 4:50 left, the Bulldogs scored again, this time Cordova scampered in from 15 yards out to bring the score to its final of 24-9.
Cordova ended the night completing 8-of-14 passes for 124 yards and two scores and also gained 115 yards rushing on 14 tries with one touchdown. Dalton Whitfield, a 6-2 hybrid player for the Bulldogs, recorded the most rushing yards not coming from the quarterback as he ran for 43 on 19 tries. Fagan led all MC players in receptions and yards with four for 75 yards. Johnston was second on the team with his two grabs for 43 yards.
Highlighting the defense, which gave up just 331 total yards, was Ben Kimbrough with his two sacks including a forced fumble and recovery. Jimmy Wilson and Ryan Duggan each logged a team-high 11 tackles; Duggan recorded a sack and led the team in solo stops with five.
Bulldogs in the National Rankings: Wilson now sits 13th in the NAIA in total tackles for a loss with 12. The MC defense is sixth in opponent third down conversion percentage at 27.2 and 14th in fourth down at 33.3.
The final road game of the year for the Bulldogs is on November 1st as Mac travels to Sterling College for a 1:30 p.m. bout with the Warriors.
Scouting Tabor
The Bluejays started the year ranked eighth in the NAIA's Preseason Top-25 poll. They rose as high as third before their embarrassing 27-6 loss to one of the bottom teams in the KCAC. After rebounding in the following week, 70-35 over Kansas Wesleyan, TC lost to Friends University this past weekend 14-11 to move to 5-2 on the year; they are now ranked 18th in the country.
Friends scored the first touchdown of the night and Tabor was able to get three points on the board in the waning minutes of the opening half to go into the locker room down 7-3. The Falcons scored again in the third to take their lead to 14-3. A TD by the Bluejays in the closing minutes of the game plus a two-point conversion brought them within a field goal but FU held on for their fifth win of the year.
It was a very low scoring, low yard gaining game between the Bluejays and Falcons as the two combined for less than 500 total yards from scrimmage; Tabor racked up just 224 yards with 172 coming on the ground. The contest was very even as each team threw a pair of picks, lost one fumble, and were penalized seven times.
Marshall McShan led the 'Jays in rushing attempts and yardage with 16 and 63, respectively. Quarterback Jordan Bernhardy racked up 26 yards on the ground on 14 tries; he threw the ball 10 times, completing three to Tabor players for 52 yards and two to Friends players. Ben Gardner led the defense with his 12 tackles; he was followed by Dylan Delk who had nine including four for a loss and a forced fumble.
TC is a run first, run second, run third, run fourth, and throw fifth team; they are ranked second in the NAIA in total rushing offense with 2442 yards. Tabor has totaled 2823 yards this season and 381 have come through the air. The Bluejays have attempted just 57 passes this season, completing 30; three times this year they have thrown it six or fewer times including a contest where they didn't attempt one pass. Tabor averages nearly 30 points a game while allowing close to 17. Defensively the squad is giving up just over 300 yards a contest to their conference opponents with most of the yards coming through the air.
McShan has rushed 115 times this season for 590 yards and two scores. He is followed by Cole Owen who has ran for 510 yards on 99 attempts and a pair of touchdowns. Both Cody Coleman and Bernhardy lead the team in rushing TDs with seven apiece; Bernhardy also has two passing touchdowns and is 8-of-21 through the air this season. Tabor has gone through three quarterbacks through their first five games with Bernhardy being the most recent QB. No TC running back has caught more than six passes with Kaden Anderson and Coleman being the two Bluejays with six grabs for just over 200 total yards; Coleman has three receiving TDs.
Gardner leads the team in tackles with 50 nearly evenly split with 24 solo stops. Derrick Lawrence is the team leader in tackles for a loss and sacks with 10 and six, respectively; Shawn Johnston also has six sacks on the year. The team has racked up 21 sacks through their seven games which is good enough for fifth in the Nation.
Tabor has the two BCs next as they take on Bethany College on November 1st and Bethel College on the 8th.
