Box Score (FINDLAY, Ohio, Sept. 13)—The McKendree University battled back from a 20-0 deficit late in the first half, but came up on the short end of a 37-28 final score Saturday afternoon on the road against the University of Findlay.
 
Senior wide receiver Dewayne Gatti (Pasadena, CA/Bonita) caught seven passes for a game-high 165 yards, while junior quarterback Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) tossed three second-half touchdown passes as the Bearcats pulled to within two points on two different occasions late in the contest. McKendree slips to 0-2 with the loss and will close out the non-conference portion of its schedule next Saturday (Sept. 20) when it heads to Michigan for a meeting with Northwood University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET (Noon CT).
 
"This was a much better effort than we had last week," said McKendree head football coach Mike Babcock. "We got down early, but you could see that our guys were ready to battle. They would not quit and give up. We corrected the mistakes as we went along today, and you could see that in the way we played, especially in the second half."
 
Findlay (2-0) used a pair of short scoring drives in the first quarter to open up a 13-0 lead, with Lloyd Henry catching a pair of touchdown passes from Verlon Reed. Midway through the second quarter, Reed capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 15-yard scoring run to extend the Oilers' margin to 20-0 with 7:57 left until halftime.
 
McKendree began its comeback thanks to its defense, which forced a pair of three-and-out possessions by Findlay in the closing moments of the first half. After an Oilers' punt and penalty gave the ball to the Bearcats near midfield, McKendree produced its first scoring drive of the afternoon. Fisher closed out a five-play, 51-yard drive on a one-yard quarterback sneak with just 36 seconds remaining in the half. Gatti had the spectacular 27-yard diving reception that sparked the drive for the Bearcats.
 
Sophomore kicker Steven O'Block (Libertyville, IL/Carmel Catholic) added the extra point to help McKendree pull to within 20-7 at the intermission.
 
On its first possession of the second half, McKendree scored again to pull within 20-14. Fisher threw the first of his three TD passes on the day a 24-yard connection to Gatti with 10:23 left in the third quarter to cap an 11-play, 84-yard drive which is the longest of the season for the Bearcats. After Findlay countered with a 38-yard field goal by Tyler Bugeja to push the lead back to 23-14, Fisher led McKendree down the field again and tossed a 10-yard TD pass to sophomore wide receiver Tyler Brewer (Arnold, MO/Fox), and O'Block's point after trimmed the Bearcats' deficit to 23-21.
 
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Findlay's Henry caught his third TD pass of the game to help the Oilers regain a nine-point advantage at 30-21. McKendree answered yet again when Fisher found Gatti in the end zone for a 29-yard TD pass with 11:59 to play, brining the Bearcats within 30-28.
 
Findlay responded with a 13-play drive that took more than six minutes off the clock. Daiquone Ford scored from three yards out to give Findlay a 37-28 lead with 5:40 on the clock. McKendree mounted one final drive, marching to the Oilers' 28-yard line before Fisher was sacked on the Bearcats' final offensive play to preserve the victory.
 
After a slow start, Fisher completed 21-of-41 pass attempts for 219 yards, He also rushed for a team-leading 29 yards on nine carries.
 
Defensively, sophomore linebacker A.J. Wentland (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) and junior linebacker Alec Gerdes (Normal, IL/Normal) each posted eight tackles to lead McKendree. Senior defensive back Harrison Skokos (Bradenton, FL/Lakewood Ranch) chipped in with seven stops, while senior defensive lineman Cameron Ford (Danville, IL/Danville) helped out with five tackles.
 
For Findlay, Reed was 21-of-35 for 212 yards with three TD passes. He also ran for 44 yards and another score. Ford collected a game-high 117 rushing yards on 26 carries, while Henry had seven receptions for 109 yards in addition to his three TD grabs.