Photo by Junior Silva
Leavenworth, Kan. – Week eight found the McPherson College football team on the road, taking on the University of St. Mary Spires.
Things didn't go as planned out of the gate. The Spires scored on their opening drive going 60 yards in four plays to take a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs tied the game on their next possession when
Tristan Szabo hit David Macmahon on an 18 yard pass, capping a six play 67 yard drive. That would be the lone highlight of the first half for the Bulldogs.
A Bulldog fumble led to a short field for the Spires, and they quickly punched the ball into the end zone to take a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second period, the only change to the scoreboard was a field goal for the Spires to end the half. The Bulldogs headed into the locker room trailing 16-7.
The Bulldogs looked like a different team out of the break, on both sides of the ball. The defense pitched a shutout in the third quarter while the offense cut the Spires lead to 16-14 on a four yard touchdown run by
Jonathan White. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs took the lead for the first time in the game. White scored his second touchdown of the day, this time from two yards out, to put the Bulldogs up 21-16.
St. Mary ended their scoring drought at the 11:37 mark in the fourth, adding another field goal to cut the Bulldog lead to 21-19. On their next offensive possession, the Bulldogs went 75 yards in eight plays ending in a four yard touchdown pass from Szabo to
Jaxon Douthit.
Caden Bush's extra point put the Bulldogs up 28-19.
That insurance touchdown would prove important as the Spires marched 77 yards in nine plays, on their next drive, ending in a touchdown to make the score 28-26. With 1:36 remaining, the Spires kicked the onside attempt out of bounds, and the Bulldogs took over at the 50 yard line. A 14 yard run by White on 3
rd and 8 gave the Bulldogs the first down they needed to run the clock out and secure the win, 28-26.
Statistically it was pretty even between the two sides. The Bulldogs had 25 first downs, to 22 for the Spires and the Bulldog offense outgained the Spires by five yards, 352 to 347. The Bulldogs racked up 132 yards on the ground, and threw the ball 29 times for 220 yards. The Bulldogs' defensive unit surrendered 143 yards to the Spires' ground game, and 204 yards through the air.
Individually, Szabo finished the game going 18 for 29 for 220 and a pair of TDs while White was the workhorse on the ground, carrying the ball 20 times for 102 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns. He was also Szabo's top target with 7 catches for 136 yards. On the defensive side of the ball,
Bailey Sites led the Bulldogs with 12 tackles, 9 of them of the solo variety. The defense recorded one sack, an 8 yard loss by
Kaleb Hamblin.
"It's always great to get a win, doesn't matter if it's by one or a hundred," said Coach Fiscus. "The game started out with us just doing some silly things in terms of the offense turning the football over twice, the defense did not tackle well in the first half, and we had a bunch of penalties. At halftime I challenged the team to do two things, execute with fundamentals and pour their energy into each other. It doesn't matter if you are a starter or a third string guy when you're on the road you have to create your own environment, give your energy back to your defense or offense on the field. They did those things, they started tackling better, started playing fundament football, and they came back after being down at halftime. I couldn't be prouder of the kids, they did a great job."
The win puts the Bulldogs two games above .500 at 5-3. They have two weeks of the season remaining. Next week they will be on the road at Avila University for a 1:00 pm kickoff then wrap things up the following week at home against Sterling College.
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