Football Challenges Early in 49-25 Loss to No. 14 Kansas Wesleyan

McPHERSON, Kan. --- The McPherson College football team hung close with No. 14 Kansas Wesleyan University for a little over three quarters, but 21 straight fourth-quarter points gave the Coyotes a 49-25 win over the Bulldogs Saturday night at McPherson Stadium.

The McPherson (1-4, 1-2 KCAC) offense used a good mix of pass and run early on, driving 52 yards on nine plays on its initial drive. The Bulldogs weren't able to cash in, however, as Michael Guerrero picked off an Ed Crouch (Miami Gardens, Fla.) pass at the 1-yard line.

A quick three-and-out gave McPherson the ball back inside Kansas Wesleyan territory. The Bulldogs advanced five yards on a Tyrone Campbell (Oakland, Calif.) run, but no further and, after an unsuccessful gamble on fourth down, turned the ball over on downs at the KWU 40.

On the first play of its next drive, Kelton Evans ran 22 yards on a sweep to move the ball in to McPherson territory. A short time later, Wesley Geisler gave the Coyotes (4-1, 2-1 KCAC) the lead when he scored on a 24-yard quarterback keeper.

The Bulldogs drove down to the KWU 6 on their next drive, but Calef Contreras (Dallas, Texas)' 23-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Ahmad Hatim.

The Coyotes extended the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter with a 7-yard TD run by DeMarco Prewitt. KWU had gained prime field position after Brad Coombs stripped the ball out Zack Melius (Wakefield, Kan.)' grasp after hauling in a catch from Crouch at the McPherson 32.

After the teams traded punts on their next two drives, McPherson halved the lead when Crouch found Justin Fagan (Harper, Kan.) over the middle for a 54-yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs looked to cut further into the Coyote lead on its next possession, driving 52 yards on eight plays, only to see another low, line-drive field goal attempt by Contreras blocked by the Coyotes.

Kansas Wesleyan was headed toward another three-and-out on the ensuing drive after two Geisler-to-Jacob Tatge pass attempts fell incomplete. The third time was the charm, though, as Tatge hauled in a 66-yard touchdown pass to give the Coyotes a 21-7 lead with just 58 seconds to play in the half.

McPherson scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to cut into the lead as Crouch hooked up with Anthony Schmidt (Fountain, Colo.) on a 12-yard score and Fagan on a 27-yard strike. Kansas Wesleyan remained up 21-19, however, after Contreras' PAT attempt on the first touchdown went wide right and 2-point pass attempt on the second fell incomplete.

The Coyotes kept the ball on the ground, for the most part, on its next drive – marching 60 yards on 11 plays using only two passes before LonDarius Thomas scored on a 4-yard run to push KWU's lead back to 28-19 with 31 seconds to play in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs responded with their next drive as Crouch scored on a 13-yard quarterback keeper. Another Contreras extra point went wide right to leave McPherson down three. While Crouch finished the drive on the ground, he kept it alive through the air, targeting five different receivers, including Brandt Wolters (Osborne, Kan.) for seven yards on a fourth-and-4.

At that point, the Kansas Wesleyan offense kicked it into high gear, scoring on three consecutive drives to take a 49-25 lead. The drives averaged four plays, 55.6 yards and just 55.3 seconds of game time as Thomas scored on a 20-yard touchdown, Prewitt added a 5-yard touchdown, and Geisler hit Mitch Kufahl for a 66-yard strike. In that span, the Bulldog offense was forced into three straight three-and-outs.

McPherson outgained Kansas Wesleyan, 556-522, but needed 15 more plays (92-77) and had a 7:14 advantage in time of possession (33:37-26:23).

As has been the case all season long, Crouch was the offensive catalyst for the Bulldogs, rushing for 160 yards and a touchdown and going 14-of-32 for 215 yards, three touchdowns and an interception through the air.

Tyrone Campbell added 102 yards 23 carries and had two catches for 17 yards.

Jackson Goodmiller (St. George, Kan.) had five catches for 79 yards, while Justin Fagan had four grabs for 105 yards and two scores.

Wesley Geisler was 16-of-25 for 273 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Coyotes. He also had 13 carries for 48 yards.

LonDarius Thomas had 10 carries, mostly in the second half, for a team-high 86 yards. DeMarco Prewett added 72 yards on 19 carries and finished with a team-high five grabs for 51 yards. Jacob Tatge added three catches for 90 yards.

Defensively, McPherson's Travis Steenson (McPherson, Kan.) led all players with 16 tackles (five solo). He also split a tackle for loss and recovered a fumble. Michael Rabara (Kona, Hawaii) had 11 stops, including seven solos and 1.5 tackles for loss. Chandler Tisby (Houston, Texas) had seven tackles, including a sack and 3.0 tackles for loss.

Sam Pierce led KWU with 10 tackles as the Coyote defense racked up four sacks and 6.0 tackles for loss.

"I'm proud of our football team," said head coach Paul Mierkiewicz. "We still need to continue to improve in some areas. If we keep working, though, good things will happen."

The Bulldogs travel to Ottawa University next Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup against the Braves (2-3, 2-1 KCAC).

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McPherson College is proud member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).