Photo by Jakob Komel
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College football team went toe to toe with the NAIA's 15
th ranked team, Southwestern College, on Saturday, but ultimately came up a few plays short, falling to the Moundbuilders, on homecoming 45-34.
The Bulldog offense, which racked up 368 total yards, was able to move the ball efficiently for the majority of the game. The Bulldogs stayed relatively balanced offensively with 151 yards on the ground, and 217 in the air attack. It was on the defensive side of the ball, especially defending the pass, where the Bulldogs struggled. The Builders finished with 525 yards of total offense, including 355 through the air.
The game opened with each team scoring at will. The Bulldogs and Builders combined for seven touchdowns in the first seven drives of the game. The Builders final forced the Bulldogs to punt on their fourth drive, but the home team caught a break when the visitors fumbled the ball on the punt return. Unfortunately the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on the turnover, giving the ball back to the Builders on down when they were unable to convert on 4
th and 1 from the 16 yard line.
That play was a turning point in the game. The Builders went down and kicked a field goal right at the end of the half taking a 31-20 lead into the halftime intermission. In the second half, the teams played dead even, each scoring two touchdowns and leaving the scoring spread the same as the clock hit zeros.
Individually, the Bulldogs were led by
Tristan Szabo who was 18 of 24 through the air with two touchdowns and one interception. He also had 12 rushing attempts for 35 yards and another touchdown. Leading the Bulldog ground game was
Jonathan White who ran for 88 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown. The Bulldogs' top receiver was
J'Kobi Reddick who caught six passes, including two that went to the house, for 124 yards.
Defensively,
Bailey Sites led the team in tackles with eight. The defensive unit forced two turnovers, the fumble recovery by
Camron Mayshaw Jr., and an interception by
Aaron Cyrus.
Coach Fiscus gave his thoughts on the game saying, "I thought we played very hard today. Offensively were we were very explosive and consistent, though obviously there were a couple of fourth downs you wish could have got converted, coming in situations where we needed to be aggressive and we were right there. Defensively the kids certainly played hard but struggled to stop them in the passing game in space a little bit. We did some nice things but when you're playing a really talented team you've got to make some of those plays, you've got to create couple of stops and you have to convert some of those aggressive fourth downs. Overall the effort was great, I'm proud of the team. Now we just have to fix a couple of things, respond and get better for next week."
With the loss, the Bulldogs are now 2-2 on the season. Next Saturday they will on the road to play Friends University, who is still winless on the season at 0-4. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm in Wichita, Kansas.
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