Photo by Jakob Komel
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College football team dropped to 3-4 on the season with a 41-27 loss at home on Saturday to the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes.
It was a tale of two halves for the Bulldogs on Saturday. In the first half, the Bulldog defense forced three turnovers, two fumbles and an interception, and the offense capitalized scoring three touchdowns and leading at the break, 21-14. In the second half, the Coyotes righted the ship, and it was the Bulldogs who coughed up the ball. The Coyotes outscored the Bulldogs 27 to 6 in the second half, leading to the 14 point victory.
Things started out good for the Bulldogs. On their opening drive, Trent Graves (Fr. Colorado Springs, Colo.) found Melvin Reid (Jr. Winslow, N.J.) for a 42 yard touchdown on 3rd and 20. Weselyan answered on their first possession of the second quarter, on a one yard touchdown run by Christopher Fluker making it 7-7.
McPherson answered right back when Corey Davis (Sr. Houston, Texas) found pay dirt on a two yard scamper, putting the Bulldog back on top 14-7. After a stop by the Bulldog defense, Mac went up 21-7 when Graves found David MacMahon (Jr. Turon, Kan.) on a two yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing kickoff, the Coyotes' Drevon Macon went to the house on a 99 yard return to keep his team within striking distance. Despite the long return for the touchdown, the Bulldogs felt pretty good going into the half up 21-14.
In the third quarter, the Coyote offense came alive scoring three touchdowns. They tied the game on their opening drive of the quarter on a 51 yard pass from Isaiah Randalle to Eren Jenkins. The Bulldogs retook the lead on their next possession, with Graves connecting with Ben Nikkel (Jr. McPherson, Kan.) on a 7 yard pass to the back of the endzone. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score at 27-21.
From there, the rest of the scoring was done by the Coyotes. They added two more touchdowns in the third quarter, a 10 yard run by Fluker, and then their defense stripped the ball out of the hands of a Bulldog receive and ran it back 34 yards into the endzone. The only score of the 4th quarter came on another 5 yard run by Fluker with less than a minute to go in the game.
As a team, the Bulldogs finished with 309 yards of total offense, and their defense held the Coyotes to 344 yards. Graves finished the game going 29 of 40 for 250 yards, three TDs and two interceptions. Reid was the top receiver with four catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. Davis had the most targets with five, and was also the top rusher with seven carries for 37 yards and a TD.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs held the no. 1 passing offense in the KCAC to just 164 yards, and one of the top receivers in the nation, Stevie Williams to four catches for 64 yards and zero touchdowns. Cory Chairs (Fr. New Orleans, La.) was the top tackler with four solo tackles, 15 assisted, one sack, and one tackle for a loss. The Bulldog defense had four sacks total, two by Reid Palmer (Fr. Pearland, Texas) and the other by Kale Mog (So. Hutchinson, Kan.).
 Next up for the Bulldogs is their annual intra-county rivalry game with team up north next Saturday. The Bulldogs will travel to Lindsborg for a 1:00 pm match up with the Bethany College Swedes next weekend.
