GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at WILLIAM JEWELL -- Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, 1 p.m.
Greene Stadium -- Liberty, Mo.

LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
WATCH LIVE (William Jewell Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE GAME NOTES
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
WILLIAM JEWELL GAME NOTES
WILLIAM JEWELL SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS

VIDEO PREVIEW WITH COACH MIKE BABCOCK

(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 18)—The McKendree University football team will head to the Kansas City area this weekend to resume Great Lakes Valley Conference action at William Jewell College. The Bearcats and Cardinals will meet Saturday at Greene Stadium in Liberty, Mo., with kickoff set for 1 p.m. The game will be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network (www.glvcsn.com/mckendree) beginning with the pre-game show at 12:45 p.m.
 
McKendree won its second game in three tries last Saturday at Wheeling University in a 28-14 non-conference victory. The Bearcats relied on a strong ground game that produced a season-high 305 rushing yards in the win. Jace Franklin IV (Sprinfield, IL/Williamsville) carried most of the load for the Bearcats as he pounded out a career-high 185 yards on 28 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Jayden Mitchell (St. Louis, MO/Parkway Central) also produced his first collegiate touchdown with a 27-yard burst in the first quarter.
 
With his 185-yard outburst, Franklin has moved into second among all GLVC players in rushing. He has gained 526 yards on the ground, with 321 coming over the last two weeks. He collected 136 yards back on Oct. 5 at home against Lindenwood University.
 
Matt Cole (Chicago, IL/Curie) continues to lead the league in all-purpose yards (160.5 YPG) and kick returns (29.5 YPR). In addition, Cole is second in the conference in receiving yards per game (84.3 YPG) and fifth in overall scoring (7.3 PPG).
 
Quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, IL/Shelbyville) sits in the top six in the GLVC in passing efficiency (fifth with a 140.8 rating), passing yards per game (sixth at 206.2 YPG) and total offense (sixth at 237.3 YPG). Pullen registered 59 yards on the ground last week at Wheeling.
 
McKendree turned in perhaps its most all-around performance on defense in 2019 at Wheeling. The Bearcats held the Cardinals to 235 yards of total offense, including just 45 rushing yards. McKendree also collected four quarterback sacks, with two each by Brandon Purnell (Chicago, IL/Simeon) and Michael Smith (Smithton, IL/Freeburg). Purnell has moved into the league lead in sacks with five, averaging 0.83 sacks per game in the process. Ricco Gipson, Jr. (Godfrey, IL/Alton), sits in a tie for sixth in the GLVC in tackles per game at 8.3, while Kennith Wilson (Chicago, IL/Simeon) is close behind in eighth place at eight tackles per outing.
 
Following Saturday's game at William Jewell, McKendree will return home to host Southwest Baptist University on Oct. 26. Game time at Leemon Field has been pushed back one hour to a 2 p.m. start.
 
ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL
The Cardinals bring a 1-5 overall record into Saturday's game with McKendree. William Jewell is also in search of its first GLVC victory of 2019, having dropped each of their first four league outings. The Cardinals played Southwest Baptist for the second time this season last Saturday in Bolivar, Mo., as the host Bearcats hung on for a 32-30 win. William Jewell nearly overcame an 18-point deficit in the final minute of the third quarter before falling just shy in the contest.
 
Brad Dee rushed for a team-leading 122 yards on 23 carries with a pair of touchdowns at Southwest Baptist. Quarterback Will Schneider threw for 183 yards and rushed for 73 more in the contest. A quartet of William Jewell defenders -- Zac Bayless, Jack Gordon, Kole Wagener and Cameron McKasson -- registered eight tackles at SBU. Donte Colum grabbed two interceptions, one of which was returned 88 yards for a touchdown. Wagener had four tackles for loss, including 1 1/2 quarterback sacks for the Cardinals.
 
Dee paces the William Jewell ground attack with 302 yards, while Schneider has rushed for 199 yards with a team-leading five touchdowns. Through the air Schneider has completed just over 52 percent of his pass attempts for 1,375 yards with eight touchdowns. Jalik Jaggwe leads all Cardinal receivers with 25 catches for 484 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Defensively, Brock Geisz has recorded a team-high 58 tackles, while Cameron McKasson is next with 46 stops, including 5 ½ for loss.
 
McKendree has won each of the previous seven meetings with William Jewell. The last contest between the two schools came back on Oct. 27, 2018 at Leemon Field, when McKendree rolled up 574 yards of total offense in a 47-31 win over the Cardinals. Reece Metcalf (Mount Carmel, IL/Mount Carmel) set a team record for the Bearcats with 391 passing yards in the contest.