(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 23)—The McKendree University football team made sure that its Homecoming streak stayed intact on Saturday against William Penn University.
The Bearcats built a 24-7 lead midway through the third quarter and held off a late comeback attempt by the undefeated Statesmen to post a 24-14 victory Saturday at Leemon Field. McKendre extended its perfect record in Homecoming games to 15-0 since the Bearcats' program was revived back in 1996. The loss was also the first of the season for William Penn, the No. 11-ranked team in the NAIA. The Statesmen fall to 7-1 on the year.
McKendree, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA poll, won for the fourth time in the last five games to improve to 6-2 overall. The Bearcats also moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Mid-States Football Association-Midwest League standings at 4-1. McKendree now shares the top spot in the league with William Penn and the University of St. Francis (Ill.), who defeated Olivet Nazarene University 49-35 on Saturday.
William Penn, which came into the contest leading the NAIA in rushing offense at just under 404 yards per game, were held to 268 yards on the ground by the McKendree defense. The Bearcats' offensive unit rushed for 260 yards on the day and held the ball for 34 minutes against the Statesmen.
“That was our game plan coming in, to keep their offense off the field,” said McKendree coach Carl Poelker. Who moved into a tie for eighth place on the NAIA's all-time win list with his 197th career victory. “The other thing is we thought their defensive linemen had a tendency to wear down towards the ends of the halves. We keyed on pounding the ball (on the ground) in the first and third quarters.”
McKendree also forced four turnovers, including three fumbles, by William Penn. The Statesmen gave the ball away just nine times in its first seven games before coming to Leemon Field.
“Turnovers played a big role in this game,” said Poelker. “All of them came at critical times where they were driving in our territory. Our guys played with a lot of intensity and closed to the ball very well today.”
William Penn needed just two plays to take a 7-0 lead when quarterback Taylor Parsons connected with Bernard Luster on a 72-yard touchdown pass. The Bearcats answered at the 5:54 mark of the opening period when senior running back Marlone Chenault (Bellwood, Ill./Proviso East) (Bellwood, Ill./Proviso East) scored on a five-yard run, and senior kicker Jordan Fark (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) added the extra point to tie the game at 7-7.
After junior defensive lineman J.T. Smith (Clinton, Ill./Clinton) (Clinton, Ill./Clinton) recovered a fumble by Parsons on a fourth-down rush at the Bearcats' 36-yard line, McKendree took the ball and drove 56 yards in 15 plays. Fark capped the drive with a 25-yard field goal to give the Bearcats a 10-7 advantage with 4:05 remaining in the first half.
McKendree got the ball back for its next possession with just 2:15 left in the second quarter. With the Bearcats out of timeouts, junior quarterback Austin Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) (Washington, Ill./Washington) went to work. Fisher accounted for 48 yards on another scoring drive that gave McKendree a 17-7 lead. He rushed three times for 11 yards and completed 4-of-5 pass attempts for 37 yards on the drive that took just 1:17. Fisher closed out the march with a 19-yard scoring strike to senior running back Jimmy Berezik (Fraser, Mich./De La Salle) (Fraser, Mich./De La Salle). Fisher completed 8-of-11 pass attempts for 62 yards, hitting seven different receivers in the process.
Smith recovered another fumble in the third quarter that led to the Bearcats' final touchdown of the day. Chenault added his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run, and Fark's point after pushed McKendree to a 24-7 lead with just over six minutes left in the period. William Penn answered on the next drive as P.J. Perry scored from six yards out to trim the deficit to 24-14.
The Bearcats' defense came up big in the fourth quarter, forcing two turnovers and stopping another William Penn drive on a key fourth-down play. Senior defensive back Jon Malandrucco (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail) (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail) had a hand in two of the plays, recovering a Parsons fumble at the Bearcats' 16-yard line midway through the period, then flying in to make a tackle on the Statesmen's Corey Ketchum a yard shy of the first-down marker on fourth-and-two on the next drive.
“We knew going in they were a good football team,” said Malandrucco, who had a career-high 13 tackles, including nine solos, against William Penn. “We knew they would pick up big chunks (of yardage), and that our goal was to come up with big plays at big times. Thank goodness we made enough big plays.”
McKendree came up with its final takeaway on William Penn's final drive, when freshman defensive back Ryan Keen (Country Club Hills, IL/Hillcrest) (Country Club Hills, Ill./Hillcrest) grabbed a tipped pass out of the air at the Bearcats' two-yard line with just under a minute left. At least three Bearcats got a hand on the ball before it fell into Keen's hands.
For the second straight game, Chenault led the Bearcats in rushing with 87 yards on 14 attempts. Berezik added 70 yards on 19 carries, while junior running back Chris Montgomery (Avondale, AZ/Mascoutah) (Avondale, Ariz./Mascoutah) chipped in with 43 yards on nine rushes.
Junior linebacker Jason Rejfek (Arlington Heights, IL/John Hersey) (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) helped out defensively with 10 tackles, while senior defensive back Derrick Quals (North Hills, Calif./Chaminade) (North Hills, Calif./Chaminade) collected nine tackles.
The win helped McKendree extend its record to 9-1 all-time against William Penn. The Bearcats have now won their last 10 home games, dating back to the 2008 season. Ironically, the last team to defeat McKendree at Leemon Field was William Penn, which earned its only victory of the series with a 17-14 win in a turnover-filled contest two years ago.
McKendree will play its final regular-season road game of the 2010 season next Saturday (Oct. 30) at Quincy University. Kickoff for the MSFA Midwest League game is set for 1 p.m.
