SALINA, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- McPherson College forced seven turnovers, including six interceptions, but could not hold off a furious second half rally by No. 25 Kansas Wesleyan University as the Coyotes overcame a 21-point deficit to top the Bulldogs, 42-35, in overtime Saturday night in a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) football contest at Bissell Field at the Graves Family Sports Complex.
The Bulldogs (2-3, 1-3 KCAC) opened the game with a methodical 13-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 3-yard
Ed Crouch (Miami Gardens, Fla., Coffeyville CC) touchdown run.
The Coyotes (4-2, 3-1 KCAC) responded on their first drive, driving 66 yards on eight plays to tie the score on a 6-yard Jerrod Ferguson dash. Kansas Wesleyan made it 14-7 a little over a minute later. After the recovering a Crouch fumble at the McPherson 17-yard line, Demarco Prewitt took it down to the McPherson 3. Ferguson plunged in on the next play to put the Coyotes back in front.
McPherson answered on its next drive as
Tyrone Campbell (Oakland, Calif., Laney CC) took a short pass from Crouch on a fourth-and-2 play and turned it into a 25-yard touchdown. A
Jack Reid (Frisco, Texas, Frisco HS) PAT tied the score at 14-14 with 2:32 to play in the opening quarter. Aside from the touchdown catch, Campbell had another huge play on the drive - a 42-yard scamper that moved the ball from the McPherson 25 into KWU territory.
Reid's ensuing kickoff pinned the Coyotes deep in their own end and the Bulldog defense was able to force a three-and-out. After a 9-yard punt return by
Jackson Goodmiller (St. George, Kan., Rock Creek HS) set the Bulldogs up at the KWU 44, Crouch and the McPherson offense took it the rest of the way over the next 10 plays. The drive, which was kept alive by a Crouch 6-yard completion to Goodmiller on a fourth-and-2, was capped by a Campbell 9-yard TD run.
Kansas Wesleyan had the makings of a solid drive snuffed out when Kelly Cordova's pass was picked off by
Cole Calkins (Rowlett, Texas, Sachse HS). McPherson was not able to sustain the drive, but
RJ Garza (McAllen, Texas, Roma HS)'s punt pinned the Coyotes at their own 11. Cordova was injured on the first play of the ensuing drive when he was tackled by
Thomas Lanktree (Magnsa, Utah, Cypress HS), among others, after an 8-yard gain. Three plays later,
Tanner Williams (Fairhope, Ala., Coffeyville CC) snatched a screen pass by KWU backup Chasen Gempeler out of the air and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown to go up by two scores.
Reid's ensuing kickoff was a line drive that ricocheted off an unsuspecting KWU front-liner. It was recovered by
Trey Bender (Abilene, Kan., Garden City CC) at the McPherson 47, but the Bulldogs were not able to make anything of it and were forced to punt.
Cordova returned for KWU's next drive but was knocked out of the game for the duration after being driven into the turf by
Isaiah Hill (Santa Maria, Calif., Alan Hancock CC) while trying to heave the ball downfield. The resulting pass was intercepted by Lanktree at midfield.
McPherson followed with a three-and-out but got the ball back almost immediately as Wesley Geisler's first-down pass was picked off when
Alwin Crawford (Roanoke, Texas, Byron Nelson HS) jumped the route and took the ball away from KWU receiver Johan Velez. The Bulldogs drove down to the Coyote 29 and nearly added to its lead but
Desmond Anderson (Fort Worth, Texas, Crowley HS) was unable to get a foot in bounds in the corner of the end zone after hauling in a Crouch pass.
Kansas Wesleyan opened the second half with the ball but saw the drive come to an end when Joey Hale tipped and intercepted a Geisler pass, returning it to the KWU 25. After a 6-yard pass to Goodmiller, Crouch scored from 19 yards out on a keeper to extend the lead to 35-14.
The Coyotes seemed to find a spark - and got a little lucky - on its next drive as Geisler found Trenton Poe-Evans for a 45-yard gain to get down to the McPherson 23. Four plays later, Geisler was picked off for the second time in the game by Crawford. Crawford returned the ball out to the McPherson 43 but was stripped by Johan Velez. Eli Smith recovered the fumble at that spot to give Kansas Wesleyan a fresh set of downs.
That play seemed to be the turning point for both teams. Given new life, KWU marched 43 yards on eight plays with Geisler finding Prewitt for a touchdown on a fourth-and-goal pass from the 3-yard line to cut the McPherson lead to 35-21.
Crouch left the game with a shoulder injury after a 23-yard scramble on the initial play of the Bulldogs' next drive, which ended with a blocked punt. The Coyotes were unable to capitalize on the McPherson special teams miscue, though, turning the ball over on downs after just four plays.
After punting the ball away, the Bulldogs recovered a KWU fumble at the Coyote 31-yard line. McPherson was unable to capitalize, however, and the situation was compounded when Garza's punt netted just four yards.
The Coyotes took advantage of the favorable field position as Geisler completed a pair of 26-yard passes to Poe-Evans and Prewitt to get down to the McPherson 6. Geisler nearly scored two plays later on a QB keeper to the left, but
Ashton Serpas (Saucir, Miss., Holmes CC) dislodged the ball at the 1-yard line. Poe-Evans fell on the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown to get KWU within a score.
After McPherson's next drive stalled after moving 18 yards on six plays, Kansas Wesleyan went 63 yards on eight plays in just over two minutes to get within a successful PAT of tying the game after Geisler found Alex Kiriluk from six yards out. Jhonatan Morales' point-after attempt skirted just inside the upright to tie the game at 35.
The Bullodgs had one final opportunity in regulation. Starting at their own 10-yard line, McPherson moved just 37 yards on 11 plays while bleeding most of the remaining 4:23 from the clock. In the end, they were forced to punt and KWU took a knee to send the game to overtime.
Kansas Wesleyan went on offense first in the overtime period and made good on the opportunity as Ferguson scored on a 10-yard run to put the Coyotes ahead.
Crouch returned to the McPherson lineup in their half of the overtime, alternating snaps with
Jake Tiernan (Solomon, Kan., Solomon HS). He ran for no gain on first down, then after Tiernan was sacked for a loss of four yards, gained 13 yards on a scramble. The latter play was largely negated by a holding penalty downfield that left the Bulldogs with a third-and-10 at the 25. After another KWU sack, Tiernan's desperation heave on fourth down fell just outside the grasp of
Brandt Wolters (Osborne, Kan., Osborne HS).
The Coyotes out-gained the Bulldogs, 447-333, overall and held a 248-133 edge through the air despite the six interceptions.
McPherson totaled 200 yards on the ground behind 105 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries by Crouch. Campbell added 90 yards and one score on 23 carries.
Through the air, Crouch was 10-of-21 for 97 yards and a touchdown before exiting the game. In his stead, Tiernan was 7-of-15 for 36 yards. Goodmiller was the Bulldogs' top receiver, hauling in seven passes for 46 yards, while Campbell had two catches for 25 yards and a touchdown.
Lanktree led the Bulldogs defensively with nine tackles, including seven solo stops, and an interception. Williams added seven tackles, a pair of tackles for loss, a forced fumble and an interception, while
Dominic DeLuca (Hutchinson, Kan., Trinity Catholic HS), Hale and
Charles Tisby (Houston, Texas, Dobie HS) each chipped in with six tackles.
Geisler was 14-of-23 for 191 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in relief of Cordova, who went 4-of-9 for 57 yards and two picks.
Ferguson led KWU on the ground with 67 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. Tyler Welch added 51 yards on seven carries and Prewitt had five carries for 35 yards. Ferguson and Johan Velez each had a team-high five catches, while Poe-Evans topped the yardage chart with a pair of grabs for 71 yards.
Zeriam Jackson and Pierce Williams matched Lanktree's game-high total of nine tackles. Jackson added a tackle for loss, while Williams had two tackles for loss and a sack.
"There's nothing I could tell my guys that was going to make them feel any better," said head coach
Paul Mierkiewicz. "They played as hard as they could. Offensively, defensively, and special teams - they did everything we asked them to do. We just couldn't make one more play at the end. You can't ask more out of our defense [with seven turnovers]. There were some opportunities in the first half where we left some points on the board but, in the end, we just couldn't get out of the fourth quarter."
The Bulldogs will be at home next weekend (Oct. 14) as Ottawa University visits McPherson Stadium in the annual homecoming contest. The Braves (2-4, 2-2 KCAC) defeated Bethel, 34-10, at home on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
