(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 29)—Junior running back Jacob Rohman (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) enjoyed a career day as the McKendree University football team rolled to a 37-19 victory Saturday at home against Quincy University.

 

Rohman rushed for a career-high 136 yards on 22 carries, including a 25-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-short play, to lead a Bearcat rushing attack that piled up a season-high 376 yards on the day. In addition, Rohman became the 14^th player in team history to reach 1,000 yards rushing for a career, moving to 1,101 yards in his third season at McKendree.

 

“We had a much better all-around effort today,” said McKendree head coach Carl Poelker. “You could see the effort out there today. Our backs were running hard, and our defense was around the ball all afternoon. It’s a good way to open up conference play.”

 

McKendree evened its overall record at 2-2 by winning its Mid-States Football Association Midwest League opener. Quincy drops to 2-3 on the year and 0-1 in the conference.

 

Junior running back George Smith (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail) (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail) added 86 yards on 15 attempts. Smith also rushed for a pair of touchdowns, while freshman Marcell Phiffer (Washington Park, Ill./East St. Louis) chipped in with 70 yards on just eight carries.

 

Sophomore quarterback Dan Loudenslager (Summerfield, Fla./Belleview) (Summerfield, Fla./Belleview) completed 5-of-6 pass attempts – all in the first half – for 71 yards. After the team traded field goals in a low-scoring first half, Loudenslager connected with Phiffer on an eight-yard touchdown to give McKendree a 10-3 lead with just 15 seconds left before halftime.

 

After taking the ensuing kickoff and returning it to their 42, Quincy quickly moved into field goal range as Craig Moore completed a 39-yard pass to Mike James down to the Bearcats’ 19-yard line with 0.3 seconds on the clock. Eric Broughton’s second field goal of the afternoon, a 36-yarder, brought the Hawks within 10-6 at the intermission.

 

The Bearcats took the second-half kickoff and marched to the Quincy 25 and faced a fourth-and-one. Rohman took the handoff and bounced off a tackle at the line of scrimmage and rambled down the left sideline. Rohman broke two more tackles on his way to the end zone to extend the McKendree lead to 17-6. Rohman then added a two-yard scoring run on the Bearcats’ next drive to push the margin to 24-6 midway through the third quarter.

 

Quincy scored late in the third to trim the Bearcats’ lead to 24-13 before Smith added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. His 11-yard run early in the fourth quarter gave McKendree a 31-13 advantage. Then, after a Hawks’ score and failed onside kick attempt, Smith capped a five-play drive with a four-yard scoring run to close out the scoring.

 

Junior linebacker Steve Moravec (Dupo, Ill./Dupo) (Dupo, Ill./Dupo) led the McKendree defense with seven tackles. He also blocked a Quincy field goal attempt late in the third quarter.  Junior linebacker Heath Bohannon (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) and senior safety Lawrence Davis (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) each chipped in with five stops. Davis also had a fumble recovery for the Bearcats.

 

Edward Harriel led Quincy with a game-high 13 tackles, including nine solos. Jacob Zsuppon and Kaleb Webb each added 11 tackles for the Hawks.

 

McKendree will head to Deerfield, Ill., next Saturday for an MSFA Midwest League contest at Trinity International University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.