Hillsboro, Kan. – The McPherson College football team fell to 3-5 on the year with a shutout loss on the road at Tabor College.
The Bulldogs had 223 yard of total offense, 112 on the ground and 111 through the air, but struggled stopping the Blue Jay offense, that had 238 yards rushing and 84 passing yards.
Corey Davis,(So. Houston, Texas), was the Bulldogs' leading rusher, with 109 yards on 13 carries, for an average of 8.4 yards per attempt. Through the air, the Bulldogs'
Ed Crouch, (R-Jr. Miami Gardens, Fla.), completed 10 of 21 passes for 106 yards. On defense,
Joey Hale, (Sr. Hutchinson, Kan.), led the Bulldogs with 9 tackles, and 2 sacks. Three of his tackles were unassisted, and two and a half were for a loss.
The Bulldogs had 7 first downs, but struggled maintaining drives on third down. For the game, the Bulldogs converted just 1 of 13 third down attempts. They also struggled to drive the ball into the red zone. They found themselves inside the Tabor 20 yard line, just once in the game, but failed to convert that opportunity into points. Turnovers also played a factor in the Bulldogs' inability to finish drives. They turned the ball over three times, twice the Mac signal caller was picked off, and the other was a lost fumble.
The Blue Jays led the Bulldogs 7-0 after one quarter, and then added another touchdown in the second quarter, but missed the extra point, to go up 13-0 heading into halftime. After the intermission, Tabor broke the game open with 11 points in the 3
rd frame, on a pair of field goals and a touchdown with a successful two point conversion. Neither team found a way to score points in the final 15 minutes of action, and the score remained 24-0 at the end of regulation.
The Bulldogs are now 3-5 on the year with two games remaining on their schedule. They will look to turn things around next week, when they go on the road against Sterling College. Next week's game against the Warriors is scheduled to kick off at 1:30 pm, and will be aired on ESPN3. The following week the Bulldogs will wrap up the season at home against the St. Mary University Spires.
