POST-GAME INTERVIEW WITH COACH MIKE BABCOCK

(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 15)—The McKendree University football team was defeated for the first time this season in a 47-41 home loss at Leemon Field against Bowie State University.
 
The Bearcats trailed by 28 points midway through the third quarter before staging a comeback attempt against the visiting Bulldogs. McKendree scored the final 21 points of the contest and nearly completed the rally in front of a crowd of nearly 1,200 fans.
 
Senior quarterback Reece Metcalf (Mount Carmel, IL/Mount Carmel) – who set a career-high with four touchdown passes last week at Kentucky State University – matched a program record by throwing for six TDs against Bowie State. Four of them came in the final 22 minutes during the Bearcats' comeback bid. Metcalf also threw for a career-best 354 yards on the day, completing 25-of-44 passes. His six touchdown passes equaled the record first established by Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington), who had a six-TD performance in McKendree's 50-27 win in the 2015 season opener at West Liberty University.
 
Saturday's game featured two of the top quarterbacks in NCAA Division II, and the match-up lived up to its billing. Along with Metcalf's record performance, Bowie State's Amir Hall had 352 passing yards and a pair of TD strikes while rushing for 95 yards and two more scores on the ground. McKendree and Bowie State combined for 1,013 yards of total offense in the contest.
 
"I thought Bowie State came out and established themselves early, and you have to give them a lot of credit," said McKendree football coach Mike Babcock. "We did some good things as well. Reece had a phenomenal day throwing the football and our receivers came up with some big catches, but we needed to do more good things against a very good football team in Bowie State."
 
Senior wide receiver Josh Revay (Livermore, CA/Granada) had a team-leading eight receptions for 68 yards. He caught Metcalf's final two touchdown passes, including a nine-yard grab on the final play of the game. Senior wide receiver Jalyn Williams (Carbondale, IL/Carbondale) added six catches for 60 yards with another score. Junior wide receiver Matt Cole (Chicago, IL/Curie), senior tight end Zach Bobos (Lowell, IN/Lowell) and senior running back Preston Thompson (Hazel Crest, IL/Tinley Park) each registered a TD reception against Bowie State.
 
Bowie State (2-1) scored on five of its six first-half possessions, including a score on its opening drive to take a 7-0 lead a little less than six minutes into action. On the ensuing drive for McKendree, Cole caught a pass over the middle, eluded two tacklers and raced 62 yards into the end zone to bring the Bearcats within a point at 7-6. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 21-6 before Williams made a spectacular diving catch in the back of the end zone on a fade route early in the second quarter. The nine-yard grab midway through the second quarter helped McKendree trim the deficit to 21-13.
 
The visitors answered with two scores in the final 4:14 of the first half to take a 35-13 lead into the locker room. Bowie State then added a touchdown in the early stages of the third quarter to take its largest lead of the day at 41-13.
 
McKendree needed just 85 seconds after the Bowie State score to begin its comeback bid. The Bearcats marched 67 yards in just four plays to pull within 41-20. Metcalf capped the drive when he connected with Thompson on a screen pass for a 26-yard TD strike with 7:05 left in the period. The Bulldogs added its final score of the day before Metcalf zipped a 10-yard touchdown pass to Bobos with 1:43 to play in the third quarter to get McKendree back within 47-27.
 
Metcalf set a new personal high with his fifth TD pass with 10:12 remaining, a 10-yard connection to Revay that shaved the Bearcats' deficit to 47-34. The duo combined again for McKendree's final score of the day, a nine-yard TD pass on the last snap from scrimmage to account for the final score. Metcalf, who entered Saturday's game with seven touchdown passes in the Bearcats' first two games, upped his season total to 13.
 
Junior linebacker Ricco Gipson, Jr. (Godfrey, IL/Alton), matched a career-high on Saturday with 14 tackles against Bowie State. Junior defensive back Jason Bennett established a new career-best with nine stops against the Bulldogs, as did freshman defensive backs Kenneth Garrett (Memphis, TN/Whitehaven) (eight tackles) and Tony Pisoni (Arnold, MO/Fox) (seven stops).
 
McKendree will look to bounce back next Saturday – Sept. 22 – with its final non-conference game of the season at Chowan University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Murfreesboro, N.C.
 
BEARCAT TRACKS
**Reece Metcalf (Mount Carmel, IL/Mount Carmel) is the second McKendree quarterback in the last four seasons to begin the year with at least 13 touchdown passes without throwing an interception. Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) threw for 14 scores without a pick to start the 2015 campaign.
**With his 13 touchdown passes through three games in 2018, Metcalf has already matched his entire 2017 season total. The Bearcats' single-season record for TD passes is 21, which was set by Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) in 2015.
**Saturday's game marked the second time in his McKendree career that Metcalf has thrown for 300 yards in a contest. In his first collegiate start back in 2016 at Lincoln University, Metcalf threw for 346 yards. 
**Matt Cole's (Chicago, IL/Curie) 62-yard TD catch is the second-longest of his McKendree career. He had a 68-yard catch and run as a freshman against William Jewell in 2016.
**With six catches against Bowie State, Jalyn Williams (Carbondale, IL/Carbondale) has moved into a tie for seventh place on the Bearcats' career list for receptions. Williams has matched Pat Doty (Springfield, IL/Springfield), who had 73 catches at McKendree. Williams has also moved into the Bearcats' top 10 with 886 yards and sits in eighth place all-time.
**The combined 88 points scored in Saturday's game marks the second-highest scoring game in Leemon Field history.