Photo by Micah Gilbert
Salina, Kan. – The McPherson College football team had its five game winning streak snapped on Saturday by the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes.
The Coyotes came into Saturday's game as the no. 3 ranked team in the nation and against the Bulldogs they lived up to their billing. The Bulldogs, who were one of the hottest teams in the KCAC leading up to the game in Salina, and had the 4
th rated pass defense in the NAIA, struggled against the high powered Coyote offense.
The Bulldogs hung with the Coyotes through the first 15 minutes of play, trailing by just a single touch down at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter however, the flood gates opened up, and the Coyotes tacked on 34 more points, to lead 41-0 at the halftime intermission.
The Coyotes scored the first points of the second half, a touchdown off of a Mac College turnover, before the Bulldogs were able to put their first points on the board. The Bulldogs' first score was five yard touchdown run from
LaMeshio Hill (Jr. Rialto, Calif.) as time expired in the third quarter.
Midway through the final period, the Bulldogs struck again, this time on a quarterback scramble from four yards out by
Ed Crouch (Sr. Miami Gardens, Fla.). The Bulldogs won the second half 14-7, but the final score wound up 48-14 in favor of the home side.
Statistically, the Bulldogs finished with 217 yards of total offense, 53 on the ground, and 164 through the air. The Mac defense, which has been stingy all year, gave up 435 total yards to the Coyote offense. Crouch would have been the leading rusher for the Bulldogs, he ran for 71 yards on 19 attempts, but he was sacked nine times for 56 yards.
Throwing the ball, Crouch attempted 39 passes, completing 15 of them for 158 yards, with two interceptions. Three Bulldog receivers,
Eman McNeal (Sr. Aurora, Colo.),
Ben Nikkel (So. McPherson, Kan.), and Terrius Scroggis (Fr. Memphis, Tenn.) were Crouch's top targets. McNeal finished with four catches for 27 yards, Nikkel had 60 yards on three catches, and Scroggins hauled in to passes for 40 yards.
On defense,
Jeremiah Hawkins (Fr. Baton Rouge, L.A.) was the Bulldogs' leading tackler with six solo tackles, one of them for a loss. Two Bulldogs,
Thomas Lanktree (Sr. Magna, Utah) and
Kaden Tichenor (Fr. Holcomb, Kan.) recorded a sack, and three others
Brett Sykes Jr. (Sr. Houston, Texas)
Benjamin Bannister (Fr. Wichita, Kan.), and
Bailey Sites (So. Spearville, Kan.), each picked off a pass.
"The kids played hard but we made too many mistakes early", commented Coach Fiscus. "You can't do that with a top tier opponent. We didn't get on the board fast enough on offense and they made several explosive plays in the 2nd quarter. I was proud of the fight but and we have to grow from this."
With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 5-4 overall, and 5-3 in KCAC play. They will play their final home game of the season next Saturday when the Bethany College Swedes roll into town for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Paul Family Field. Prior to kickoff, the Bulldogs will honor their seniors, who will be playing in front of the home faithful for a final time.
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