| Search for past games.
Warriors hand gridders 28-0 setback
Held to 54 yards of total offense in the first half, McPherson still was in the game, trailing only 7-0 in its Homecoming battle with Sterling College.
The Warriors’ first half scoring drive of 74 yards was frustrating to watch as Sterling was aided by 45 yards in penalties on the Bulldogs.
“We can’t afford to have stupid penalties that continue drives and get opponents out the hole,” observed McPherson head coach Brian Ward.
On that drive, the McPherson defense actually held Sterling to -25 yards rushing on the Warriors’ first four carries, but penalties gave it all back plus some.
At the halftime break, Sterling had picked up 96 yards rushing plus 38 yards on a perfect four-for-four passing, while McPherson had rushed for only 28 yards on 17 attempts and connected on two of nine passes for another 29 yards of offense.
A 23-yard kickoff return by the Bulldogs’ Gary Cox opened the second half and set up McPherson at the Sterling 37-yard line. An 8-yard pass from Aaron Sunday to Cain Wright gave McPherson a first and 10 on the Warriors’ 26, and Chris German followed with a run of 15 yards to the 11. But, on the next play, the ball was popped free of German’s grip and recovered by the Warriors, although it appeared to many to be in the possession of the Bulldogs in the pile.
After an exchange of punts, Sterling drove 60 yards in 13 plays to paydirt and a 14-0 lead with 2:03 left in the third period.
Gary Cox returned the ensuing Sterling kickoff 46 yards to the Sterling 30, but on the first play from scrimmage, an underthrown Sunday pass was intercepted ended the threat.
“We’re a young team and we’re going to make some young mistakes. We just have to learn from it and move on.”
McPherson would gain only one first down the remaining 16:44 of the game. Sterling added a touchdown with a drive of 81 yards in just six plays, upping its lead to 21-0 with 14:24 to play.
Now down by three touchdowns, the Bulldogs were forced to gamble, trying to move the chains on fourth down, and only once in four tries was the home team successful.
In the second half, McPherson snapped the ball only 25 times to Sterling’s 39 times, and the Bulldogs were outgained in second half total offense, 37 yards to 253 yards. In the final analysis, McPherson gained only 91 yards of total offense while the Braves racked up 387 yards.
While the damage had been done in the first half with six penalties for 70 yards, the Bulldogs were only flagged once in the final 30 minutes, that time for eight yards. Sterling meanwhile was tagged three times for 45 yards in the second half and ended the game penalized six times for 70 yards.
Chris German was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher, gaining 35 yards in 15 carries while Josh White rushed for 20 yards in nine attempts in his first appearance on the field since the season opener.
Aaron Sunday came into the game ranked second in the KCAC in passing yardage per game, but against the relentless defensive pressure of the Warriors, the freshman was just 5 of 15 passing for 43 yards and one interception. White ended the afternoon connecting on 2 of 5 passes for 15 yards. Gary Cox, the KCAC’s leading receiver entering the game was limited to just two catches fro 22 yards.
Again, Jeff Paulson and Scott Jones led the McPherson defense with 15 and 8 tackles, respectively. Paulson was also credited with 3 ˝ tackles for lost yardage, one sack of eight yards, and a fumble recovery. Jones also had 2 ˝ tackles for lost yardage.
Next Saturday, the Bulldogs play their lone non-conference game of the season when they travel to Lawrence to meet Haskell Indian Nations University in a 2:00 kickoff.
|
