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 Bulldogs fall in NAIA Football Championship Series First Round
Four fourth quarter turnovers proved to be too much for the Bulldogs, as McPherson College dropped their first round matchup with MidAmerica Nazarene University 40-24 Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Stadium. The Bulldogs complete their season with a 9-2 (8-1 KCAC) mark.
Game Recap | Photos
Bulldogs qualify for the NAIA National tournament
Full Story
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Excitement was in the air coming out of spring football for the Bulldogs. The maturation of returners along with the addition of key players at the skills positions gave fans hope for 2009. In the annual KCAC media day, McPherson was selected in the middle of the pack, but it would not be long before the Bulldogs showed everyone they were underrated!
McPherson opened the season with a 61-6 win at Haskell Indian Nations, prior to taking on the nationally ranked (ninth) Friends University Falcons in the College Fanz Sports Network’s NAIA National Game of the Week. Friends was also the preseason pick to win the conference as they are the defending champions. The Bulldogs scored 28 unanswered points to start the game against the Falcons en route to a 60-38 victory. The win propelled McPherson into the NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 for the first time since 2004.
Two weeks later, McPherson dropped a disappointing 44-41 double overtime decision to Ottawa University (preseason #2 in KCAC) in Ottawa. In the loss, McPherson gained 572 yards of total offense, 515 of which came through the air. Even with the loss, McPherson jumped four spots in the poll to No. 20.
The following week, the Bulldogs were matched up against Sterling College (preseason #3 in KCAC) in the annual Homecoming football game. In 2008, McPherson was shutout by the Warriors, but that was not the case in 2009. The McPherson defense showed its toughness holding the nationally ranked Sterling rushing attack to only 66 yards en route to a 21-0 victory. The win was the first time the Bulldogs have recorded a shutout since 1989.
The next six weeks saw the Bulldogs defeat the University of Saint Mary (58-13), Kansas Wesleyan (52-38), Southwestern College (48-7), Tabor College (43-10), Bethel College (34-16), and Bethany College (44-17) placing MC in second place in the KCAC with a 8-1 conference mark.
With their 9-1 overall record, the Bulldogs successfully completed the season with their best record in school history! (That one loss came in double overtime 44-41 to conference champion Ottawa.)
A day after the Bulldogs finished the regular season it was announced by College Fanz Sports Network that the 12th ranked Bulldogs would be given an at-large bid into the NAIA Football Championship Series, the College’s first ever appearance in the national tournament. McPherson was pitted against the eighth ranked Pioneers of Mid-America Nazarene University. The Bulldogs led most of the game, but costly turnovers in the fourth quarter enabled MANC to secure the victory at 40-24.
Junior quarterback Shane Mascarenas, Peoria, Ariz., led the McPherson offensive attack. Mascarenas threw for over 3,000 yards and 33 touchdowns in 11 games in 2009. He set the McPherson College single game passing record with a 515-yard performance in game three against Ottawa University.
For the second year in a row, senior Jeff Paulson, Limon, Colo., captained the McPherson defensive attack. Paulson, a preseason Super 72 pick by College Fanz Sports Network, led the team in both tackles and tackles for loss.
Spring Game & Youth Day
The Bulldogs wrapped
up spring practices with their spring game on April 18, 2009 at McPherson Stadium.
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