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2004 Awards Ceremony
Entering the season with lofty dreams, the 2004 Bulldogs’ year ended in injuries, unfulfilled expectations and a fifth place finish in the KCAC. Coming off back-to-back 6-4 seasons, which had given McPherson ties for third in the 2002 and 2003 conference races, the Bulldogs were ranked #16 in the NAIA pre-season polls and picked by both the conference’s coaches and media as the favorite to win their first KCAC title since 1952.
 After playing their opening game at home the previous two years, the Bulldogs journeyed to Lawrence to open the 2004 season against Haskell Indian Nations. Having an opponent come in with two games under their belt plus the opportunity to knock off a nationally ranked opponent was a little more than the Bulldogs could overcome as Haskell handed the Bulldogs a disappointing 18-0 loss. Hidden late in the loss was a knee injury to All-America candidate running back Lamar Jacobs, who had gained 93 yards on 10 carries.
The Bulldogs returned to McPherson Stadium for its week #2 meeting with Sterling College, which came to town with the NAIA’s longest losing streak at 23 games. McPherson got back to doing what it did best, running the football, led by senior slotback Sean Eason, who had a career night as he ran for 174 yards on just 10 carries in leading McPherson to the 24-13 win.
For the second year in a row Bethel jumped out to an early lead, taking advantage of mistakes by the Bulldogs, then holding on for a win. This time, the Threshers came away with a 27-17 win. With Lamar Jacobs, transfer Matt Housman, and cornerback Preston Taylor already on the sidelines in street clothes with various injuries, McPherson lost senior wide receiver John Irvine to a broken leg while covering the Bulldogs’ first punt of the evening. Mental errors and/or lack of focus were a factor in each Bethel score as McPherson struggled to find consistency on the offensive side of the ball.
Back home in McPherson Stadium for week four, the Bulldogs drove 93 yards to cap a come-from-behind 14-13 win over Bethany. This win, McPherson’s first over Bethany since 1998, was sweet as it was the first over Bethany for the McPherson seniors, and gave a measure of revenge after the Swedes had come from behind to defeat the Dogs a year earlier, 35-34. Led by senior Nick Griggs, rushed for a career high 155 yards on 31 attempts, and who everyone now knew was the Dogs’ go-to back with Lamar Jacobs gone for the season.
The following week, the Bulldogs didn’t even let the Homecoming crowd settle into their seats before scoring on their second play from scrimmage. They then scored twice within a span of 58 second in the second period to build a 26-3 halftime lead. While Griggs rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight week and Erik Johnson threw for 152 yards to lead McPherson, the visiting Spires of Saint Mary scored a pair of cosmetic touchdowns in the fourth period to narrow the final margin to 29-17.
With four of its final five games on the road, McPherson saw two long pass interceptions returns, a fumbled pass interception return, and a bad snap on a punt all result in short fields for Southwestern, and the home-standing Moundbuilders took full advantage of the Bulldogs mistakes to take a 17-0 lead on its way to a 24-14 win. Griggs just missed his third straight 100-yard rushing game, getting 99 yards on 20 carries. In the final period, McPherson quarterback Erik Johnson went to the sidelines after a shot to his already tender right shoulder, a preview of things to come.
Back on the road again the next week, McPherson scored early, but squandered a perfectly played on-side kick on the ensuing kickoff, then saw undefeated Tabor score twice in the second period on its way to handing McPherson its fifth straight road defeat, and fourth road loss in 2004. With the 30-14 loss, McPherson fell to 3-3 in the KCAC race and 3-4 overall. Just before halftime, McPherson lost Erik Johnson as he re-injured his throwing shoulder and did not return. This time it would be career ending as he would not return to the field in 2004.
McPherson’s Senior Day meeting with Kansas Wesleyan didn’t go as the Bulldogs had planned as the visiting Coyotes pinned a 20-7 loss on the home team. The Dogs were fortunate to be down only 7-0 at the break as they only had 72 yards of total offense while giving up 259 yards in the first 30 minutes of play. The lone highlight of the day for the Bulldogs was Kris Smiley’s 93-yard touchdown return of the kickoff after KWU had taken a 14-0 lead, but it wasn’t enough as McPherson could garner only 230 yards of offense while giving up 450.
With its chances of a winning season gone, the Bulldogs found themselves on the short end of a 21-3 halftime score at Friends, but they righted the ship and scored 19 unanswered points while holding the Falcons out of the endzone in the final 30 minutes to pull out a 22-21 win. After narrowing the margin to 21-16 with 12:05 left in the game, McPherson took advantage of a Preston Taylor pass interception deep in Friends territory to set up the winning score, which came when Deke Belcher recovered a Sean Eason fumble in the endzone with 3:15 remaining. The Bulldogs then watched Friends drive into McPherson territory before a long Falcon field goal attempt with 30 ticks on the clock sailed wide left.
With their win over Friends the week before keeping their hopes of a third non-losing season alive, McPherson made the long trip to Ottawa for its season finale. The Bulldogs took advantage of the first of two Lamar Holmes pass interceptions to set up a short field situation, which led to a Nick Griggs TD and 7-0 first quarter lead. Two Ziya Gunay field goals in a span of less than three minutes late in the second period gave McPherson a 13-0 halftime lead. Four minutes into the second half, a high snap from center on an Ottawa punt resulted in a safety and a 15-0 McPherson lead. The Braves blocked Gunay’s third field goal attempt, and with that play it appeared the momentum switched to the Braves as they scored on a 42-yard run and then a 10-yard pass to knot the game at 15-15 with 6:50 left. Then, just over a minute later, the Braves picked off a Bulldog pass and returned it 27 yards for the winning score. While McPherson did drive to Ottawa 8-yard line, the drive stalled as the clock ran out on the 23-15 loss and the Bulldogs’ 4-6 season. “This was a frustrating end to a frustrating season,” said McPherson coach David Cunningham. “We had expectations of doing so much. We have a lot of work ahead of us between now and next fall; coaches, players, every one of us.”
In a vote by the conference’s coaches Jared Ratzlaff, junior linebacker, Sean Eason, senior quarterback/slotback, and Kris Smiley, junior kick returner, were named to the All-KCAC first team. Alan Childress, senior offensive tackle, and Lamar Holmes, senior defensive back, were named to the All-KCAC second team. Earning honorable mention recognition were Preston Taylor and Mitch Maginot, sophomore defensive backs, Ricky Gottschalk, junior defensive end, and seniors Jason Henry, defensive end, and Joe Blas, defensive nose, Todd Davis, senior offensive guard, Louie Schneider, junior offensive center, Nick Griggs, senior running back, Tory McBroom, junior wide receiver, Ziya Gunay, senior place kicker, and Jacob Walden, sophomore punter.
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