Hillsboro, Kan. – The McPherson College football team improved to 2-1, going on the road Saturday and defeating the Tabor College Blue Jays 21-14, but in the process lost their starting quarterback to injury.
The Bulldogs received the kick-off, and on the third play from scrimmage, Josh Pisik (Jr. San Diego, Calif.), dropped back to pass and was sacked. Pisik suffered a leg injury on the play and did not return. For the remainder of the game, the Bulldogs turned to veteran Max Tucker (Sr. St. Charles, Ill.), who finished with 73 yards on 15 of 18 attempts and a pair of interceptions.
The offensive focus shifted when Pisik went out, with the Bulldogs leaning heavily on the run game. They pounded out 172 yards from scrimmage on 52 run plays, led by three headed monster of LaMeshio Hill (Sr. Rialto, Calif.), DeWayne Lykes (Sr. Cleveland, Ohio), and Corey Davis (Sr. Houston, Texas). Hill and Lykes both finished with 69 yards, while Davis tallied 40, and Davis and Lykes each found the end zone.
The third Bulldog touchdown from special teams when Melvin Reid (Jr. Winslow, N.J.) scampered 52 yards to pay dirt. It was his second return for a touchdown this season, the first one was a 103 yard kick return against Sterling in week 1.
At kick-off, they was a stiff Kansas wind coming out of the south. The Bluejays won the coin toss and elected to defer their decision to the second half. The Bulldogs then made the choice to receive the kick-off and to have the wind in their face to start the game. Losing the coin toss worked in the Bulldogs favor as they had that strong Kansas wind behind them in the fourth quarter.
The Bluejays started the scoring on Saturday, marching 60 yards in four plays on their opening drive of the game. That touchdown would turn out being the only points put on the board the entire first half as the two teams went into the intermission with Tabor on top 7-0.
Again with the wind behind them to start the second half, the Bluejays went 46 yards on 7 plays and scored another touchdown. The Bulldogs struggled to move the ball early in the quarter, but with 6:30 on the clock the defense forced the Bluejays to punt and the offense took over at the 22 yard line. The Bulldog offense began to pound away at the Tabor defense on the ground. They marched 51 yards in nine plays, and as the 3rd quarter expired, they were just outside the redzone on the 25 yard line, knocking on the door.
Four plays later, Davis took a pitch to the right from Tucker, waited for the blocks to form, and then found a gap to shoot through to score the Bulldogs' first touchdown. On the next possession by the Bluejays, the Bulldog defense came up big again, forcing another three and out. Kicking into the wind, Tabor gave the Bulldog offense a short field to work with, starting the next drive on the Tabor48.
The Bulldogs took advantage of the short field and went back to work. They put together another 10 play drive that resulted in a one yard run into the end zone by Lykes. With the game now tied at 14, the momentum had clearly shifted to the Bulldog sideline. The defense was amped up, and on the next Tabor possession, forced another three and out.
With the Bluejays kicking from their own 23 yard line, Reid position himself just across mid field. He caught the punt on his 48 yard line, eluded the first would be tackler, then took off to his left. He appeared to be wrapped up by a gang of Bluejays at about the 45 yard line, but somehow he managed to avoid being tackled. After his escape he turned on the jets, and he was off to the races, scoring the touchdown, and giving the Bulldogs the lead 20-14. The extra point by Caden Bush (Fr. Watkinsville, Ga.), who was perfect on the day, was good, giving the Bulldogs a 7 point advantage.
Tabor would have a shot to tie the game, but the relentless Bulldog defense thwarted their efforts, forcing them to turn the ball over on downs after they couldn't connect on a fourth down pass attempt. There was 2:14 left on the clock and the Bluejays had two timeouts in their pocket, meaning the Bulldogs would need at least one first down to be able to run out the clock.
Hill was stopped for no gain on first down, but on second down he found a hole and ran for 20 yards, giving the Bulldogs the first down they needed to secure the win. One of the greatest sights in football is watching your quarter back take a knee at the end of the game, called "victory formation" by coaches and analysts. After seeing Pisik go down with an injury and the uncertainty that that brought, it was very satisfying to see Tucker secure the win by kneeling down at the end of the game.
"Today's win was a team win," said Bulldog head coach Jeremiah Fiscus. "The kids responded to adversity, patiently letting their training and fundamentals put them in good positions to make plays. It takes a lot to come from behind and they hung in there together until the end." On the injury to his starting QB, Fiscus added, "It's unfortunate that we lost Pisik. We are currently waiting and praying for a smooth procedure and a recovery free of complications."
Next week for the Bulldogs is Homecoming. They will square off at 5:30 at Paul Family Field against the Friends University Falcons, who also defeated Tabor last week 17-7.
