Jacobs rushes for 305 in wild win

By STEVE SELL, Sentinel Sports Editor

The numbers here Saturday for McPherson College's Bulldogs were simply staggering.

The key figures:

62-34 -- the score in which the Bulldogs defeated the Saint Mary Spires.

19-7 -- the deficit the Bulldogs faced after the first quarter.

34-305 -- the number of carries and school-record number of yards for Mac tailback Lamar Jacobs, who would have been a shoo-in for KCAC Player of the Week had Friends' Aaron Howell not gone off for 388 yards against Sterling.

208 -- the combined total yards by Mac slotback Darrell Cole, who had 164 yards receiving and 44 rushing.

4 --The number of touchdowns passes freshman quarterback Chris Johnson threw in his first varsity start.

609 -- The total number of yards put up by the Buldogs against a shellshocked Saint Mary defense.

It was indeed a memorable day at the stadium, as the Bulldogs won their first KCAC game against two losses and moved to 2-2 overall.

But early, it didn't look good.

"We were looking at the abyss," Mac coach David Cunningham said. "We were teetering. There could have been a lot of finger pointing and blaming each other."

Saint Mary already was up 19-7 and threatening when Mac's Preston Taylor made a sensational interception, and darted and dashed his way for a 29-yard return to set up Jacobs' 5-yard TD run. From there, the Bulldogs were able to control the game, as they went ahead by halftime 27-19 and then scored on nearly every possession in the second half when they didn't fumble.

Jacobs, Cole and John Berlanga all scored twice, with Cole and Berlanga catching the touchdown passes from the lanky Johnson, who fumbled four times in the first quarter but bowed it up and came back strong. "He's a cool customer," Cunningham said, as the youngster turned jeers to cheers.

Colt Knigge actually scored Mac's first touchdown on an exciting 84-yard interception return, his fourth interception in as many games. Brooke Dufrene also scored on a 15-yard run and Johnson had a 1-yard run for a TD.

"Our offensive line played well," Cunningham said, adding that the unit of Todd Davis, Alan Childress, Aaron Rothenberg, Brian Goodell and Jarrod Zerr "cowboyed up" and decided to move some people around.

"I have to thank the offensive line," said Jacobs, who was a slotback in junior college last year and was featured more in the passing game. "I thought I was in the low 200s. Then they told me I had 298 and I was just praying I could get those two yards."

The Bulldogs did have to overcome nine fumbles, five of which were lost. But they recovered three of the Spires' fumbles and also came up with four picks of Saint Mary quarterback Brian Caler, who suffered an injured hand on the final play of the game and appeared to be in a lot of pain.

The Bulldogs, after a comfortable home schedule that saw them at the friendly confines three of the first four games, now hit the road for a stretch of four away games in five weeks. Mac plays Saturday at Southwestern.

STATISTICS

First Downs -- 27, 15. Rushes-Yards -- 60-376; 32-111. Passing -- 10-21-0-233; 16-38-4-212. Punts-Avg. -- 1-30; 6-37.5. Fumbles-Lost -- 9-5; 3-3. Penalties-Yards -- 7-85; 2-10.

INDIVIDUALS

Rushing

Mac -- Jacobs 34-305, Cole 7-44, Chavez 6-21, Griggs 2-30, Dufrene 1-15, Johnson 10-(-35).

Saint Mary -- Nobriga 11-51, Grubbs 7-45, McGlinn 8-13, Osborne 1-5, Caler 4-0, Suter 1-(-3).

Passing

Mac -- Johnson 10-20-0-233, Heinen 0-1-0-0.

Saint Mary -- Caler 16-38-4-212.

Receiving

Mac -- Cole 5-164, Berlanga 2-46, Montoya 2-13, Mireles 1-8.

Saint Mary -- Osborne 5-76, Shelley 3-32, Suter 3-23, Quisenberry 2-15, McGlinn 2-13, Nobriga 1-53.