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All-KCAC Honors | Weekly KCAC & NAIA Honors
2005 Awards Ceremony
Picked for a bottom third finish in the KCAC pre-season polls, the Bulldogs were stunned in their season opener at Sterling, 45-6.
But, rather than packing it in, the Bulldogs stuck to their plan and put together a four-game win streak to move into contention in the KCAC race.
During the four-game win-streak, McPherson came back with three fourth quarter touchdowns to defeat Bethel (33-24), after trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, as Kris Smiley scored twice and Brendan Netherton returned a pass interception 74 yards for the final score.
The next week, the Bulldogs
never trailed as they put together their best offensive performance
of the season (466 yards of total offense) in posting a 33-27
win at Ottawa, led by Patrick Luz' four touchdown passes, three
to Troy McBroom..
Against Southwestern
Assemblies of God, things looked bad as McPherson found itself
down by 21 points 10 minutes into the contest. But, the Dogs battled
back to take the a third quarter lead on the third of Brison Gray's
school record four field goals, before closing out the 33-28 win
with another Gray field goal.
Week five saw McPherson lead Friends 21-7 at halftime, thanks to a pair of touchdowns within 39 seconds (Luz to David Hale pass, then Jared Ratzlaff, 56-yard fumble return). The Dogs then had to hold on before Lamar Jacobs gave the Bulldogs the 28-21 win with a 3-yard run with less than three minutes left in the game.
Standing 4-1 on the season, the Bulldogs traveled to Hillsboro to take on nationally ranked Tabor, and the Bluejays lived up to their billing as they ran off to a 41-0 halftime lead on their way to a 55-13 win over the Dogs.
Week six brought nationally ranked Kansas Wesleyan into McPherson Stadium, and after trailing early 10-0, the Bulldogs battled back behind a school record 45-yard field goal by Brison Gray and the Patrick Luz-Dwight Hale combo to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter, 10-10 and 17-17, before KWU pulled out the 20-17 win with a field goal as time ran out.
Even though McPherson
finished the day with 411 yards of offense while holding intra-county
rival Bethany to 180 yards, the Bulldogs again found themselves
in a hole early on, trailing by 10 late in the first half. A Brison
Gray field goal, as time ran out on the first half, was followed
by third quarter TDs by Lamar Jacobs and Jeff Krehbiel as McPherson
took a 24-17 lead into the final period. Tim Benyshek recovered
a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown, then Gray iced the 34-24
win with another field goal late.
With a 7-win season
still in sight, the Bulldogs went out-of-state to Platte City,
Missouri, to meet the University of Saint Mary. The Dogs never
were able to establish a consistent offensive attack against the
Spires' defense as they fell 18-0.
In their season finale,
the Bulldogs gave up two early TDs to Southwestern and trailed
14-0 before Luz hit Kris Smiley on a 64-yard bomb, the McBroom
and Jacobs added second period scores to give McPherson a 21-14
halftime lead. But, with injuries depleting the Bulldog lines,
both offensive and defensive, the Builders ran off 35 second half
points to hand McPherson a disappointing 49-21 loss and close
the door on a 5-5 season, the Bulldogs' third non-losing season
in the past four years, and a conference record of 4-5, tying
for fifth.
Troy McBroom and Jared
Ratzlaff led McPherson's post-season honors as both were named
first team All-KCAC. Louie Schneider and Ricky Gottschalk were
named to the All-KCAC second team while Tim Benyshek, Rayn Flores,
Alex Holtry, Matt Housman, Lamar Jacobs, Patrick Luz, Kris Smiley
and Josh Wentling each received honorable mention recognition.
