McPHERSON, Kan. – After a bye week followed by consecutive road games, McPherson College returns to the comfy confines of McPherson Stadium for a game for the first time in nearly a month as Bethel College makes the trek up Interstate 135 Saturday for a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) matchup. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. The 0-3 Threshers are coming off a 37-33 loss at home to Bethany College last week.
The Series
McPherson holds a slim 46-45 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to 1922. Bethel has rattled off three straight wins, including a 10-7 decision last year in a game that was moved to Sunday due to lightning. The teams have split the last 10 meetings overall, while the Bulldogs are 6-3 in the last nine meetings in McPherson.
Last Meeting
After being delayed a day due to lightning in the North Newton area, the two teams engaged in a defensive slugfest with Bethel emerging with a 10-7 victory after Jalen Sykes scored on a 2-yard run with 4:40 to play to cap a 14-play, 68-yard drive that bled over eight minutes off the clock. Ed Crouch found Tyrone Campbell from 2 yards out in the third quarter for McPherson's only score. Crouch threw for just 105 yards and rushed for 62, while Campbell had 90 yards on 23 carries.
Blake Reed Memorial Football Game
As Saturday night's game against Bethel is the first KCAC home game of the season, the game has been designated as this year's Blake Reed Memorial Football Game. Now in its seventh year, the game honors Reed's lifelong enthusiasm for Bulldog football.
Reed was a student assistant coach for the Bulldog football team who died from complications of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2010. Donations will be accepted at the gate to benefit the Blake Reed Mac2Mac Football Scholarship Fund. To date, the scholarship fund has raised $57,000, which is used to fund an annual scholarship to benefit one McPherson football player who exemplifies Reed's positive spirit and attitude.
Past recipients of the scholarship include James Temaat, John Davidson, Michael Ramos, Cole Long, Evan Clary, and Kavoderic McIntyre. Junior linebacker Dominic DeLuca has been selected as this year's recipipent and will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's game.
Though he could not take the field, McPherson College football coaches considered Blake the heart of the team. He learned the nuances of football and became both a leader and inspiration for the Bulldogs. He died Aug. 3, 2010, and hundreds attended his funeral in honor of his life and spirit.
Coaches to Participate in Coach To Cure MD This Weekend
During Saturday's game, head coach Paul Mierkiewicz and the McPherson College coaching staff will also be joining coaches all over America in wearing a patch in support of Coach To Cure MD. A project of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) in partnership with the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Coach To Cure MD seeks to raise awareness and money to fund research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most prolific lethal genetic disorder of childhood.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2017, Coach To Cure MD has raised $1.5 million over the last nine years. Every dollar raised has helped advance promising research, which led to two drug approvals for Duchenne in the last year alone.
Talking About the Threshers
Bethel outgained Bethany, 259-253, in its last outing, but the Swedes used a 15-play, 80-yard fourth-quarter drive that drained nearly nine minutes off the clock to help put the game out of reach in a 37-33 win over the Threshers last Saturday at Bethel.
Bethel's offense currently ranks last in the KCAC at 202.3 yards per game, more than 100 yards fewer - on average - than any other KCAC squad. The Threshers are averaging 137.7 yards through the air and just 64.7 yards on the ground.
McPherson has the KCAC's best rush defense at 86.0 yards per game, but teams have run on the Bulldogs less than any other team in the league so far this season.
McPherson (446.7 ypg) ranks a close second behind Kansas Wesleyan (448.5 ypg) in total offense and trails just Saint Mary in pass offense at 276.3 yards per game. The Bulldogs are mid-pack in the KCAC in rushing offense, ranking sixth at 170.3 yards per game.
Both teams have struggled to get off the field on third down. The Bulldogs rank eighth in the KCAC at 34.1 percent (14-of-41), while the Threshers are last at 29.8 percent (14-of-47). Those numbers seem bound to improve as both teams have allowed their opponents to convert third downs at over a 50-percent clip.
Another area that will be of focus is kickoff returns. McPherson has been succeptible to a handful of big returns in its first three games, but Bethel has struggled in that area, averaging just 11.9 yards per return.
Individually, McPherson's Ed Crouch leads the KCAC in total offense at 338.7 yards per game. On the other sideline, Bethel has used a pair of quarterbacks. Dominic Webb started the first two games, completing 51.1 percent of his passes for 210 yards. He also accounted for 61 yards on the ground. Zach Esau came on against Bethany and went 15-for-40 for 193 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Fourteen different players have a carry through three games for Bethel, led by Tyshawn Simon's 88 yards on 35 carries. Webb is the team's second leading rusher. Montero DuBose and Adrian Palmore have been the two most popular targets for Webb and Esau. DuBose has 14 catches for 152 yards, while Palmore has nine catches for 113 yarsd and one of the Threshers' two receiving touchdowns. Ben Marshall has the other. He has six catches for 49 yards. Dubose also averaged 20.4 yards per kickoff return.
Crouch leads the Bulldogs with 199 rushing yards and two scores, followed closely by rookie Corey Davis, who has 183 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries. Armond McCray has added 69 yards on 17 carries in spot duty.
Defensively, the Threshers are led by Jariah Booker and Reggie Young. Booker leads the team with 28 tackles, including 13 solo stops, 4.0 tackles for loss, one sack and one interception. He also ranks third in the KCAC at 9.3 tackles per game. Young has 20 stops (14 solo), three interceptions and a fumble recovery.
The Bulldogs are led by Thomas Lanktree, who leads the KCAC at 11.3 tackles per game. Dominic DeLuca is tied for sixth at 8.3 stops per game.
Up Next
McPherson is on the road next week to Salina to face Kansas Wesleyan University. Kickoff from the the Graves Family Sports Complex is 6 p.m.
