McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College football team jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead en route to a 44-30 homecoming victory over Ottawa University Saturday afternoon at McPherson Stadium.
The opening kickoff was delayed by over an hour due to a strong thunderstorm that rolled through the McPherson area. Once the game commenced, though, it was the Bulldogs that began to roll. The McPherson defense recovered a fumble at midfield on the fourth play from scrimmage and almost immediately turned it in to points.
Jake Tiernan (Solomon, Kan., Solomon HS) - making his first career start - hooked up with
Eman McNeal (Aurora, Colo., Hinkley HS) for a 33-yard gain on the Bulldogs' first offensive play and three plays later
Ed Crouch (Miami Gardens, Fla., Coffeyville CC) found
Brandt Wolters (Osborne, Kan., Osborne HS) in the middle of the end zone for a 9-yard scoring strike to put McPherson up 7-0 just three minutes in.
The Bulldogs forced a three-and-out on the Braves' next series and, for the second time in three weeks,
Rinaldo Gagiano (Sydney, Australia, Knox HS) blocked a punt and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown. After another three-and-out resulted in a 6-yard punt that once again gave McPherson the ball at midfield, the Bulldog offense drove down the field with
Tyrone Campbell (Oakland, Calif., Laney CC) scoring on a five-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 21-0 with 5:40 to play in the opening quarter. Campbell's run capped a nine-play, 50-yard drive.
Ottawa's fourth drive of the quarter resulted in a missed 40-yard field goal by Kyle Wokutch that hit an Ottawa player and landed well short of its intended target. The Bulldogs - hampered by a pair of holding calls - were unable to make anything of the missed field goal and the ensuing
RJ Garza (McAllen, Texas, Roma HS) punt gave the Braves the ball back at the McPherson 48 as the opening quarter drew to a close.
Given the short field, Ottawa drove down to the Bulldog 10 aided by a 34-yard pitch-and-catch from James Valentine to Mauricio Uribe. The drive would stall, though, as
Chandler Tisby (Houston, Texas, Dobie HS) sacked Valentine for an 8-yard loss on third down. Wokutch hit a 35-yard field goal to get the Braves on the board.
The Braves took a page out of McPherson's book on the Bulldogs' next drive, holding the hosts to a net gain of three yards on three plays to force a punt deep in McPherson territory. Jakeem Martin broke through the Bulldog punt protection to block the Garza attempt, giving the Braves the ball inside the red zone at the McPherson 15. Ottawa capitalized one play later as Valentine hit Conor Cox for a touchdown. Wokutch missed the PAT to leave McPherson with a 21-9 lead.
The Bulldogs used a heavy dose of running plays on its next drive, moving from their own 25 to the Ottawa 38 on eight straight runs before the drive stalled when Crouch was sacked on consecutive plays near midfield. Garza pinned the Braves inside their own 20, but Ottawa embarked on a 10-play, 85-yard drive capped by a 21-yard TD pass from Valentine to Dylan Wheeler to get within a touchdown. The ensuing PAT was blocked.
McPherson's response was quick and almost immediate, needing less than a minute to move 75 yards on four plays - the last being a 48-yard TD pass from Tiernan to
Desmond Anderson (Fort Worth, Texas, Crowley HS). Anderson caught the ball over an Ottawa defender at the 7-yard line, then broke a tackle en route to the end zone. The Braves picked up a first down on the first play of the ensuing drive but lost all of the yardage gained when Valentine was sacked for a 13-yard loss by
Charles Tisby (Houston, Texas, Dobie HS) to force a punt by Jarod DeMott. The McPherson punt return squad let the ball go and it took a huge Ottawa roll before being downed at the one-yard line with just 17 seconds left in the half.
The Bulldogs attempted to run the ball to get out of the shadow of their end zone but Campbell was stripped after just a one-yard gain. Ottawa's Marcus Fenderson recovered the ball at the 2, giving the Braves a huge opportunity with time in the half running short. The McPherson defense held, however, denying Ottawa on four straight opportunities as the clock ran out in the half.
Ottawa forced a McPherson three-and-out to open the second half, the Braves cut the lead to five when Valentine found Uribe from 21 yards out. After the teams traded punts on their next two series, the Bulldogs took advantage of a short field with a 25-yard Reid field goal. McPherson had started the drive at the Ottawa 16 after a short Ottawa punt coupled by a facemask penalty.
The Braves responded with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Valentine to Cox on their next drive. Valentine then found Uribe open in the end zone on the PAT to tie the game at 30-30.
McPherson wasted little time breaking the tie. Tiernan scrambled for a 15-yard gain on the first play of the next drive. He then found
Jackson Goodmiller (St. George, Kan., Rock Creek HS) on a short pass. Goodmiller weaved through the defense and - at one point - was nearly tackled by a handful of Ottawa defenders. Keeping his feet, he continued into the end zone despite pleas to the contrary to the officials from Ottawa players.
The Bulldogs added a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter as Tiernan found Goodmiller again, this time from 18 yards out. The Braves had a pair of sustained drives in the frame but could not come away with any points.
McPherson finished with 385 yards of total offense on just 59 plays compared to 354 yards in 88 plays for Ottawa. The Bulldogs stuck to the ground after building the big early lead, carrying the ball 39 times for 161 yards. Most of that workload came from Campbell, who finished with 127 yards and a score on 26 carries. Tiernan was also efficient through the air, completing 14 of 19 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Goodmiller was his top target, hauling in six passes for 91 yards and two scores, while Anderson added four catches for 76 yards and a score.
Valentine finished 29-of-46 for 321 yards, four touchdown and an interception to lead Ottawa. Uribe hauled in 14 passes for 148 yards and a score, while Cox added five catches for 60 yards and two TDs. Ottawa struggled to run the ball, finishing with 33 yards on 41 carries. Ethan Paul-Davis (33 yards) and Jones (30 yards) had nearly that much themselves, but Valentine - who was sacked six times - ended up with minus-36 yards on the ground once those losses were factored in.
Charles Tisby had a monster game in the middle, making 10 tackles (six solo), including 4.0 for loss and three sacks.
Isaac Murphy (Houston, Texas, Cypress Creek HS) matched Tisby with 10 tackles, primarily downfield, although he did have one tackle for loss.
Dominic DeLuca (Hutchinson, Kan., Trinity Catholic HS) and
Isaiah Hill (Santa Maria, Calif., Alan Hancock CC) each added nine stops, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Hill also finished with 1.5 sacks.
Alwin Crawford (Roanoke, Texas, Byron Nelson HS) intercepted Valentine on the final play of the game to pick up his team-leading fourth interception of the year.
Jonathan Dawson had eight tackles, including 4.0 for loss, a sack and a forced fumble to lead the Braves defense. Rodney Latham and Elisha Allen each picked up seven stops.
"I was really pleased with the way our team performed, especially after a tough loss last week," said head coach
Paul Mierkiewicz. "There's no quit in this football team."
McPherson will look to keep things rolling next Saturday as they take to the road to Wichita to face Friends University. Already past the halfway mark in the season, the Bulldogs are still looking for the first road victory. Kickoff from Adair-Austin Stadium is slated for 1:30 p.m.
