Bulldogs nip Ottawa to finish perfect 6-0 at home

McPherson College's John Berlanga goes high to haul in this pass here Saturday.

By STEVE SELL, Sentinel Sports Editor

McPherson College Stadium will have a shiny, new artificial playing surface next year.

But given the Bulldogs' success this year on the worn-out dirt, they might want to dig up a little and put it in packets to keep as good-luck charms for next year.

The Bulldogs closed out a perfect 6-0 season at home Saturday with a brutally physical 20-18 victory over Ottawa, which last year hung 76 points on the Bulldogs in a 76-7 humbling.

"This is a big win for our program," said first-year coach David Cunningham, whose team was assured of a winning season as it's now 6-3 with a road game left at Tabor. "Our defense played great and our special teams were huge. Ottawa has had some injuries, just as we have, but they're still a very good team. We wanted to win it for our seven seniors and they can say now they were undefeated at home in their final year."

The Bulldogs are 5-3 in the KCAC and with a win Saturday, can finish no worse than a tie for second place, quite remarkable since they were picked ninth in the preseason.

As usual, it wouldn't be a Mac game without a scary finish. Ottawa had the ball with 3:29 left and all it needed was a field goal to take the lead. But a Joe Izzard sack, followed by a knocked down pass by Brian Glover, caused the Braves to turn the ball over on downs.

Mac nearly ran the clock out. A Kevin Steiner 26-yard run was huge and the Bulldogs were able to get the clock down to 27 seconds after driving to the OU 12 before giving it up. Ottawa did hit one long pass for 24 yards, but time ran out.

"You can't say enough about our defense," Cunningham said. "We asked an awful lot of them today."

The Bulldogs were down 6-0 just 53 seconds into the game, as Erik Johnson was picked off and G.C. McCoy returned it for a score. The extra point was blocked.

But the deflation turned into elation moments later as John Irvine rocketed 90 yards with the kickoff to give Mac a 7-6 lead.

It went to 14-6 still in the first quarter on a 15-yard run by Johnson, who hit big pass plays to John Berlanga and Omar Mireles to set up the score.

In the second quarter, Mac linebacker Gad Jacobs literally stole the football from OU receiver Kelly Rojesware, which set up a 4-yard Johnson toss to Berlanga. The Mac defense then had its only lapse, as OU went 72 yards in just over a minute, capped by Raul Salas' 33-yard pass to Daniel Schneider.

Ottawa had the only score of the second half, a five-yard run by Tyler Davis early in the fourth quarter. But on the two-point attempt to tie the game, the Bulldogs stuffed Davis to keep it at 20-18.

Ottawa appeared to have a golden chance to take the lead, recovering a Mac fumble with 7:12 to go on the Bulldog 18, but Lucus Lanning, who had 18 tackles on the day, stepped up and made an interception.

Ottawa was determined not to let Steiner get his yards, but he still managed to rush for 85 on 17 carries, despite playing on an ankle so sore he could barely walk after the game. He also injured his knee, as did Matt Holtry, who still managed to play in the second half and came up with several monster plays. Holtry also had a catch on a fake punt, which came from the Bulldogs' own 17.

Mac had only 129 rushing yards, but the passing game clicked for 157.

"We knew we could throw because they were geared to stop the run," Cunningham said. "We love running the football, but we didn't get it done, but we threw the ball well enough to move the chains."

With a win over Tabor, Mac can win seven games for the first time since 1999.

STATISTICS

Mac Listed First

First Downs -- 20, 16. Rushes-Yards -- 43-129; 42-206. Passing -- 14-21-2-157; 7-24-2-92. Punts-Avg. -- 5-25.6; 4-36.2. Fumbles-Lost -- 2-2; 3-1. Penalties-Yards -- 9-110; 9-103.

INDIVIDUALS

Rushing

Mac -- Steiner 17-85, Johnson 16-20, Cole 4-10, Griggs 4-10, Mireles 2-4.

Ottawa (top two) -- Davis 24-132, Fisher 10-54.

Passing

Mac -- Johnson 13-20-2-129, Binfet 1-1-0-28.

Ottawa -- Salas 6-20-2-60; O'Neill 1-4-0-24.

Receiving

Mac -- Berlanga 5-82, Irvine 1-14, Holtry 1-28, Mireles 2-10, Cole 3-24, Steiner 2-1.

Ottawa -- Schneider 3-34, four tied with 1.