NORTH NEWTON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- Jaylen Sykes scored on a 2-yard touchdown plunge with 4:34 to play to push Bethel College past McPherson College, 10-7, in a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) game Sunday at Thresher Stadium.
After forcing McPherson (1-3, 1-1 KCAC) to punt on their opening possession, Bethel (2-1, 2-0 KCAC) took advantage of a short field and drove inside the McPherson 20. The drive stalled and the Threshers were forced to settle for a 35-yard Brett Mathis field goal.
The Bulldog offense started to gain momentum on its second possession, driving 55 yards on 11 plays before giving the ball up on downs at the Thresher 20-yard line.
Bethel responded with a sustained drive of its own. Led by a couple of big runs for TyShawn Simon, the Threshers reached the McPherson 23 before a holding call scuttled the drive.
The Bulldogs were driving just before the half, but Rickey Rodriguez picked off
Ed Crouch (Miami Gardens, Fla.) to end the threat and keep it a 3-0 ballgame at the break.
After forcing a three-and-out to begin the second half, McPherson put their halftime adjustments to work on offense. The Bulldogs went on a 15-play, 84-yard drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass from Crouch to
Tyrone Campbell (Oakland, Calif.). A
Caleb Contreras (Dallas, Texas) PAT gave the Bulldogs a 7-3 lead with 6:19 to play in the third quarter. Crouch factored into two huge plays on the drive – a 21-yard QB scramble that moved the ball out near midfield and a 13-yard pass to
Brandt Wolters (Osborne, Kan.) on a 3rd-and-3 that gave McPherson the ball at the Bethel 12.
The Bulldogs recovered a Thresher fumble on the second play of the ensuing drive, but could not muster anything and were forced to punt.
On its next drive, Bethel relied heavily on the run and heavily on Jaylen Sykes. Sykes carried the ball eight times on the 14-play drive, accounting for 39 yards as the Threshers marched inside the McPherson 20 before the drive stalled. A 33-yard field goal attempt by Mathis was blocked by
Elliot Taylor (Opa-locka, Fla.) to preserve McPherson's lead.
Another three-and-out followed for the Bulldogs, however, giving the Threshers the ball back with 13 minutes to play. Bethel responded with another long drive with big chunks of yardage being gained through the air on passes from Jones to Marquis Jackson. Jones found Jackson for completions of 12, 17 and 12 yards, the last two being huge third-and-long conversions, before Sykes capped the drive with his 2-yard TD plunge.
McPherson looked to respond on its next drive as Crouch scrambled for a 13 yards out to the McPherson 41 on the second play. The drive came to an abrupt end on the next play, however, as Antonio Rustin got the strip sack of Crouch, which was recovered by Jariah Booker at the MC 39.
The Bulldogs forced a three-and-out on defense to regain possession with under 90 seconds to play, but a fourth-and-3 pass attempt to
Justin Fagan (Harper, Kan.) was dropped, allowing a pair of kneeldowns from Jones to seal the Thresher victory.
Offense was at a premium for both teams in the contest as Bethel outgained McPherson, 273-257.
Crouch finished 14-of-26 for just 105 yards and two interceptions but did have the TD pass to Campbell. Campbell led all rushers with 90 yards on 23 carries, while Crouch added 62 yards on 14 carries.
Justin Fagan hauled in five passes for 52 yards, while Brandt Wolters added four catches for 33 yards.
Simon tallied 69 yards on 11 carries, mostly in the first half, to lead Bethel. Sykes added 61 yards on 18 carries and Jones was 12-of-20 for 134 yards and no picks through the air.
Marquis Jackson was Jones' favorite target with the pair hooking up five times for 60 yards, mostly on the Threshers' final scoring drive. Montero DuBose and Rashaka Lucas had two catches each.
Defensively, McPherson was led by
Travis Steenson (McPherson, Kan.) with 17 tackles (seven solo). He also had two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss.
Dominic DeLuca (Hutchinson, Kan.) added eight tackles and Ashton Serpas and
Michael Rabara (Kona, Hawaii) added seven each.
Darius Jackson had nine stops to lead Bethel, while Antonio Rustin had eight tackles and 1.5 sacks. Jariah Booker also had eight tackles.
"It was a frustrating day across the board, especially on offense," said head coach
Paul Mierkiewicz. "Our effort was very good, but there were too many breakdowns and too many penalties in big spots. We'll have to bounce back with the shorter week because we have a tough Kansas Wesleyan team coming to town."
McPherson returns home to face Kansas Wesleyan University at 7 p.m. Saturday, October 1 for Kids Appreciation Day.
