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McPherson, Kan. – The final football game of the 2015 season should be a good one as McPherson College travels up the road to Lindsborg, Kansas to take on county-rival Bethany College. Start time for the November 14th game is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT)
McPherson is still searching for their first win of the 2015 season. The team has struggled to have all phases of their game click on the same day. When the offense is moving the ball, the D struggles to hold opponents but when the defense is on point, the O has a hard time gaining yardage.
This past week, the Bulldog defense did a nice job of slowing a high-powered Sterling team. While SC did put up 35 points, they only scored seven in the game's final 30 minutes. The Mac offense had a few productive drives but were always cut short; the lone score for the Bulldogs came on nearly the final play of the game, preventing the shutout.
A highlight for MC was Alwin Crawford who had a team-high six solo tackles, three of which were for a loss, along with three forced fumbles and a blocked field goal.
Heading into the final game of the year, Braden Bush leads the KCAC in interceptions with his five; he has 166 return yardage and a touchdown off those picks. Dalton Whitfield and Michael Rabara are second in the conference in tackles with 89 apiece; Bush is sixth on the list with 83.
Regardless of Saturday's outcome, both the Bulldogs and Swedes will be done for the year.
Scouting Bethany
The Swedes sit at 2-8 on the year with their two wins coming against the University of Saint Mary (18-16) and a big upset of Friends University (38-14) on Halloween. This past week, Bethany lost a 57-14 contest to KCAC-leading Tabor College.
BC scored all 14 of their points in the opening quarter and, at that point, were tied with the Bluejays. Tabor scored once more in the first quarter, again in the second and then four times in the final 30 minutes for the 57-14 win.
Bethany racked up 348 total yards with 190 rushing and 158 through the air. Bo Savage led the team in both rushing and passing yardage with 81 and 158, respectively; the quarterback was also responsible for both of the team's touchdowns and threw a pair of picks as well. Kayden Clements took the ball 10 times and ran for 46 yards; he was followed by De'Ontae Jones who had six carries for 31. Nile Daniel pulled in four receptions for 82 yards with a long of 72 to lead BC. Nate Morales recorded the receiving touchdown and ended the game with two catches for 19 yards.
Defensively, Bethany gave up 530 yards to Tabor with over 400 coming on the ground. The team forced three fumbles. Nick Patton led the Swedes in stops with nine total, five unassisted. Defensive backs Rhett Mizer and Tayler Stull each had seven tackles, four solo and three assisted. Bobby O'Neill and Quincy Carter had one forced fumble and four tackles apiece.
This season, BC has rushed for 1443 yards on nearly 400 carries for an average of 3.6 yards per rush. Clements leads the team in both categories with 474 yards on 108 attempts. Tevis Linnebur, who doesn't have a carry since Oct. 24, is next on the team with his 284 yards on 62 tries. Nathaniel Ocran is close to the 300-yard mark with his 279 total on 71 attempts. Savage has thrown for 1283 yards on 89-of-176 with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions; his average is 160.4 per game. Daniel is the leading receiver with 37 grabs for 526 yards and four touchdowns. Fred White is next on the list with 238 yards on 22 receptions.
The Swede defense has allowed nearly 5000 yards this year with 2783 coming on the ground. They have 10 picks and 16 sacks this season. Freddie Frazier tops the tackle list with his 73, 43 solo and 30 assisted; he leads the team in tackles for a loss with 13.5 including 2.5 sacks for 11 yards. Chris Washington and Mizer each have 40 solo tackles but Washington holds the edge in total tackles with four more assisted stops; Washington is atop the team in sacks with four for 26 yards. Stull has 52 tackles, three fumble recoveries, and two interceptions this year.
