McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- James Augusta nailed a 46-yard field goal as time expired to push Bethany College past McPherson College, 18-15, in a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) football matchup at McPherson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
After forcing McPherson into a three-and-out on the game's opening drive, Bethany drove down to the Bulldog 20-yard line before its drive stalled and a 37-yard attempt by Augusta sailed wide left. The Bulldogs followed with another three-and-out but were able to hold on defense as a bad snap on a fourth-and-2 gave McPherson the ball back on its own 49-yard line.
Ed Crouch (Miami Gardens, Fla., Coffeyville CC) wasted little time capitalizing on the short field, hooking up with
Brandt Wolters (Osborne, Kan., Seward CC) for a 51-yard touchdown. The point-after attempt by
Calef Contreras (Dallas, Texas, Skyline HS) was no good, leaving McPherson with a 6-0 lead at the 6:30 mark of the first quarter.
Bethany responded with a 13-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Nate Ocran. Kyle Gfeller converted the PAT, giving the Swedes a 7-6 lead after one quarter.
The Bulldogs took the ensuing kickoff and drove into Bethany territory. After an incomplete pass on a third-and-12 play at the Swedes' 41, the drive looked to be stalled. In a special teams' no-man's land, McPherson opted to go for it on fourth down and Crouch made the gamble pay off, finding
Anthony Schmidt (Fountain, Colo., Fort Carson HS) for a 41-yard score. A failed two-point conversion left the Bulldogs with a 12-7 lead.
McPherson forced Bethany to punt on its next two drives but was unable to add to its lead. A great punt return by
Jackson Goodmiller (St. George, Kan., Rock Creek HS) was wasted after Crouch was picked off by Chris Owens at the Bethany 24 to end one drive and an incomplete pass to Justin Fagan on a fourth-and-8 at the Swedes' 25 ended another drive.
Bethany reached McPherson territory on its final drive of the first half, but
Chandler Tisby (Houston, Texas, Dobie HS) sacked Swedes quarterback Isaiah Salazar for an eight-yard loss on fourth down.
The Bulldogs forced a three-and-out from the Swedes to start the second half and drove all the way to the Bethany 31 before the drive stalled and McPherson turned the ball over on downs. On the ensuing drive, Bethany moved deep into McPherson territory but the drive was cut short as
Braden Bush (Blanchard, Okla., Blanchard HS) laid out to intercept a Salazar pass intended for Michael Wimberly at the Bulldog 8-yard line.
McPherson took advantage of the turnover, keeping the ball on the ground for 10 of the next 12 plays to exhaust the final 5:37 of the third quarter. Of those 10 runs,
Tyrone Campbell (Oakland, Calif., Laney CC) had seven carries for 35 yards. As the game moved into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs continued to eat up the clock with its running game, killing another 1:56 and getting to the Bethany 5 before settling for a 28-yard Contreras field goal to extend its lead to 15-7.
Stuck deep in its own end on the ensuing drive, the Swedes were able to flip the field on special teams as Augusta's 64-yard punt pinned the Bulldogs at their own 10-yard line. McPherson was able to gain one first down before the drive stalled. Faced with a fourth-and-6 at their own 26, the Bulldogs lined up to punt, but the Bethany punt rush swallowed up McPherson punter
RJ Garza (McAllen, Texas, Roma HS) for a seven-yard loss before a kick could even be attempted.
Taking over in the red zone, the Swedes lost a yard on a first-down carry by Ocran and saw two passes fall incomplete to set up a fourth-and-11. Salazar's fourth-down pass attempt to Dalton Goodwin fell incomplete, but Bush was called for pass interference to give Bethany a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line. Ocran found the end zone on the very next play and a successful two-point conversion pass from Salazar to Trevon Jones tied the game at 15-15 with seven minutes to play.
After the teams traded punts on the next two drives, the Bulldogs took over at their own 20 with 2:59 remaining and looked to be in business for a go-ahead score after 36-yard pass from Crouch to Schmidt set McPherson up with a fresh set of downs at the Bethany 32, but
Zack Melius (Wakefield, Kan., Wakefield HS) was stripped by Zach Mizer on the next play, who returned the fumble out to near midfield and might have scored if he not been caught from behind by McPherson offensive lineman
Logan Anderson (Golden, Colo., Columbine HS).
Salazar completed a pass to Anthony Jackton to get into McPherson territory and another to Ocran to take the ball to the 29-yard line to set up Augusta's game-winning attempt.
The Bulldogs outgained the Swedes, 411-288, and held a commanding 211-46 advantage on the ground. Crouch completed just nine of 24 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns and also had 14 carries for 76 yards. Campbell had a game-high 129 yards on 29 carries but was kept out of the end zone. He also had three catches for 23 yards.
Wolters caught a pair of balls for 87 yards and a score, while Schmidt added two catches for 77 yards and another score.
Salazar completed 13 of 24 passes for 164 yards, two touchdowns and an interception after taking over for Darius Handcox in the second quarter. Handcox was 8-of-13 for 78 yards. Both players were sacked twice.
Wimberly hauled in 10 passes for 121 yards. Jackson added four catches for 43 yards.
Defensively,
Travis Steenson (McPherson, Kan., Butler CC) registered a team-high 11 tackles with 0.5 tackles for loss, while
Dalton Whitfield (Cleveland, Ga., White County HS) had 10 stops, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Tisby added six tackles, including 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Chris Owens had a game-high 15 tackles for Bethany with one interception.
"I am extremely proud of our football team," said head coach
Paul Mierkiewicz. "Even though it doesn't show in the win-loss record, we have made major improvements and are going in the right direction. These young men have worked extremely hard and I know they will continue to do so as we keep building this program that all McPherson supporters will be proud of."
The Bulldogs open the 2017 season at home on Saturday, September 2 against an opponent to be named later as part of the KCAC-GPAC Challenge.
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