Junior running back Dominique Jones (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood Central) (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood Central) piled up a school-record four touchdowns, including three rushing scores, as the McKendree College football team cruised to a 41-9 victory Saturday afternoon at home against St. Ambrose University.
Jones equaled the Bearcat record for rushing touchdowns in a game and added a 31-yard touchdown reception from junior quarterback Brendon Delaney (Highland, Ill./Highland) (Highland, Ill./Highland) as McKendree, the No. 10-ranked team in the NAIA, rolled past No. 9 St. Ambrose. The Bearcats have won four consecutive games to improve to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Mid-States Football Association Midwest League.
In addition to his record-breaking output, Jones scored four of the 13 times he touched the ball against St. Ambrose (12 rushes, one pass reception). Senior running back Daryle Jones (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer North) (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer North) rushed for a game-high 88 yards on 17 carries to lead the McKendree rushing attack. Eleven different players had at least one rushing attempt for the Bearcats.
“We knew this was a big game for us on many levels,” said McKendree football coach Carl Poelker. “It was Senior Day, and we wanted to send those guys out on a high note. It was also a big game looking at the playoff situation. This was a total team effort. Everyone stepped up and made a contribution.”
McKendree piled up 490 yards of total offense against St. Ambrose, which entered the game with the No. 1 rushing defense in the NAIA. The Fighting Bees had allowed just 65.5 yards per game on the ground heading into Saturday’s contest, but the Bearcats racked up 341 yards rushing in the victory. Delaney also threw for a season-high 149 yards as he connected on 7-of-11 pass attempts.
On the defensive side, McKendree held the high-powered St. Ambrose offense in check. The Fighting Bees were ranked fifth in the NAIA in both scoring offense (36.8 points per game) and total offense (454.8 yards per game). The Bearcats limited St. Ambrose to just 197 yards on the day, including 41 yards on the ground.
After Evan Gutierrez booted a 21-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to give the Fighting Bees a 3-0 lead, McKendree reeled off 41 unanswered points. Jones started his scoring frenzy with a five-yard run to give the Bearcats the lead for good, 6-3. Jones then added his 31-yard TD reception on McKendree’s next possession, and senior kicker Stephen Webb (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) added the extra point to extend the margin to 13-3.
Webb’s extra point moved him past Brian Schneider in the McKendree record books for most successful PATs in a career. Webb now has 138 to surpass Schneider’s mark of 133 set from 1998-2001.
Sophomore running back George Smith (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail) (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail) scored on a four-yard run with less than two minutes left in the first half to push the Bearcats’ lead to 20-3. Jones burst up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown run on McKendree’s first possession of the second half for a 27-3 lead. Jones then completed his busy afternoon with an eight-yard TD run with 1:55 remaining in the third quarter.
Daryle Jones (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer North) capped the Bearcats’ offensive explosion early in the fourth quarter with a three-yard run to put McKendree in front, 41-3. St. Ambrose (2-7, 4-2 MSFA Midwest) notched its only touchdown of the day with just 1:43 to play, when quarterback Jeff Kietzman connected with Chris Burhans on an eight-yard scoring pass. That marked the first touchdown allowed by McKendree at home this season. The Bearcats have outscored their opponents by a margin of 216-12 at Leemon Field in 2005.
Senior linebacker Deveon Moss (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) led the McKendree defense with 10 tackles, including two quarterback sacks and a forced fumble. Sophomore defensive back Lawrence Davis (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) and senior linebacker Joe Bendoraitis (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way) (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way) each added six stops.
For the Fighting Bees, Kietzman completed 24-of-44 pass attempts for 156 yards. His favorite target was Burhans, who caught eight passes for 82 yards. Tyler Driscoll rushed for a team-high 58 yards on 11 carries for St. Ambrose. Defensively, Nathan Shultz had a game-high 14 tackles, including 13 solos, for the Fighting Bees.
McKendree will close out its 2005 regular-season schedule next Saturday at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
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