Springfield, MO – Saturday night featured a great three hours of KCAC football between McPherson and host and 22
nd nationally ranked Evangel. Both of these sides came into the matchup undefeated at 3-0, but only one side would come out of this contest with the victory, making it for a great battle of the undefeateds.
The Basics
Location: Eagle Stadium
Score: MC 17, EU 10
Records: MC 4-0 (0-0 KCAC), EU 3-1 (0-0 KCAC)
How it Happened
This first half of this contest was a test of each side's defense, and both sides proved worthy of a strong defense. McPherson and Evangel exchanged a punt on their opening drive, but the Bulldogs started knocking on the door with their second drive. From the Evangel 11-yard line,
Ryan Markarian looked to throw a strike into the endzone for the first score of the night but was intercepted by Javeon Turner for a touchback. On the ensuing drive, the Valor would go for a 4
th and 10 at the Bulldog 30-yard line. After three straight incompletions, the Bulldogs forced an incomplete pass from Reid Potts to James Dowdy to give the ball back to the offense in their own territory.
Quarter two opened with a punt-off between
Jack Finder and Evangel punter Mason Bendabout, but it was the Valor who struck with points first as Cody Voysey connected on a 20-yard field goal; despite giving up points, this was a massive win for the Bulldogs' defensive unit as they had held strong with a goal line defense deep in their own territory. The Valor took a 3-0 lead into the locker room following the first half defensive battle.
Evangel got the ball back to start the second half and proceeded to score the first touchdown of the night for either side as Reid Potts found Broc Lyle for a 17-yard reception to extend their lead to 10-0. With 4:43 left in the third, the Bulldogs found their first points of the night off the reliable legs of
Jalil Brown. Brown made his way into the endzone on a three-yard rush to cut the lead at 10-7 with plenty of football remaining.
With a 4
th and 4 in the fourth quarter, the Valor were forced to punt at McPherson's 42-yard line. A bad snap missed Bendabout's hands too low for him to grab, forcing him to run back and attempt to gather the ball and minimize the damage on the play. Before he could pick up the ball,
Kenneth Ray knocked him away from the action and scooped the ball up, running the other way for the go-ahead touchdown in a crazy sequence of events.
With a 14-10 lead, McPherson's defense continued to limit Evangel, forcing a punt and allowing for the offense to find three more points off the leg of
Jack Finder from 25 yards out for the 17-10 advantage. Both sides would exchange punts, but Evangel's final punt of the night came from quarterback Reid Potts who tried to surprise the Bulldogs with a quarterback punt. The ball was deflected at the line, but still made its way forward 35 yards. On McPherson's last drive,
Jalil Brown took the game into his own hands rushing for 57 yards combined on the first two plays of the drive. Despite having three timeouts, the Valor couldn't use them to save themselves time after Brown's first-down carries. The Bulldogs left Eagle Stadium with an astounding 17-10 victory over no. 22 Evangel.
Up Next
It'll be Homecoming Weekend for the Bulldogs this upcoming Saturday! They'll face the Ottawa University Braves on September 27
th at 1:00 PM.
