GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at LINCOLN -- Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, Noon
Dwight T. Reed Stadium -- Jefferson City, Mo.

VIDEO PREVIEW WITH COACH BABCOCK
LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
WATCH LIVE (Lincoln Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE GAME NOTES
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
LINCOLN GAME NOTES
LINCOLN SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 8)--The McKendree University football team will close out its 2018 season Saturday with a short trip to Jefferson City, Mo., to take on Lincoln University in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Bearcats and Blue Tigers will have a noon kickoff at Dwight T. Reed Stadium. The game will air live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree, beginning with the pre-game show at 11:45 a.m.

McKendree enters the contest with a 5-5 overall record and 3-3 GLVC mark. The Bearcats were defeated on Senior Day last Saturday by Missouri S&T, 49-20. Matt Cole (Chicago, IL/Curie) provided a big portion of the highlights for McKendree thanks to a nine-yard touchdown run on the team's opening drive before ripping off a 97-yard kick return for a score in the third quarter. Cole finished the day with 253 all-purpose yards on his way to GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. 

Preston Thompson (Hazel Crest, IL/Tinley Park) rushed for 71 yards in the contest, giving him 976 yards heading into Saturday's season finale. Thompson needs 24 yards to become just the fourth player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. It would also give the Bearcats back-to-back 1,000-yard efforts as Shayeen Edwards (East St. Louis, IL/Cahokia) posted 1,035 yards during his senior year in 2017. Thompson also moved into the top 10 on McKendree's career rushing list with 1,682 yards during last Saturday's contest. 

Reece Metcalf (Mount Carmel, IL/Mount Carmel) continues to rank in the NCAA Division II top 20 in seven different categories. He is seventh in passing efficiency (171.3 rating) and ninth in points responsible for per game (19.6 PPG). Metcalf is also 11th in passing touchdowns (25) and 13th in completion percentage (.650). Metcalf needs 111 yards on Saturday to register 5,000 career passing yards. 

Ricco Gipson, Jr. (Godfrey, IL/Alton), registered a career-high 15 tackles against Missouri S&T, giving him 97 for the season. Gipson is three tackles shy of becoming the fourth McKendree defensive player with at least 100 tackles in a season. 

McKendree still paces all GLVC schools in scoring offense (34.3 PPG) and total offense (441.7 YPG). The Beaercats also pace the conference in net punting, as Monte Wolke (Sigel, IL/Cumberland) has a net average of 38.4 yards per boot. Josh Lazaro (Bradley, IL/Bradley-Bourbonnais) also has the Bearcats atop the GLVC leaderboard in field goals as he has hit 11-of-13 attempts in 2018. 

ABOUT LINCOLN
The Blue Tigers bring a 3-7 overall record and 2-4 GLVC slate into Saturday's season finale. Lincoln has not played at home since a 14-13 loss to Quincy University on Oct. 6. The Blue Tigers' last outing resulted in a 59-3 loss at Tarleton State in non-conference play last Saturday in Texas. Fernando Ramirez hit a 22-yard field goal with just under six minutes remaining to provide Lincoln with its only points of the afternoon.

Quarterback Henry Ogala has thrown for 1,539 yards and nine touchdowns this season for Lincoln. His favorite target is Blake Tibbs, who has caught 42 passes for 743 yards with a pair of TDs in 2018. The Blue Tigers' ground game is led by Kimbo Ferguson, who has rushed for 462 yards on 125 attempts. On defense, Edwin Durissaint has posted a team-leading 87 tackles and 12 quarterback hurries. Isaiah Gray has collected 51 tackles, including nine for loss with 3 1/2 sacks for Lincoln. 

McKendree has won all four previous meetings with Lincoln, including last season's 36-12 victory at Leemon Field on Oct. 28, 2017. Reece Metcalf (Mount Carmel, IL/Mount Carmel) threw for 190 yards and three touchdowns against the Blue Tigers as Josh Revay (Livermore, CA/Granada) had a breakout game with five catches for 125 yards with a 69-yard scoring grab.