(LIBERTY, Mo., Oct. 19)—The McKendree University football team won for the third time in its last four outings with a 42-12 victory Saturday afternoon at William Jewell College.
 
Senior wide receiver Matt Cole (Chicago, IL/Curie) scored three times on the day, including a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown in the final period to help the Bearcats collect their first Great Lakes Valley Conference win of the year. McKendree improves to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the GLVC, and will look to maintain its winning ways next Saturday (Oct. 26) with another league game at Southwest Baptist University. Kickoff at Leemon Field is set for 2 p.m.

Cole had receiving touchdowns of 26 and 68 yards during Saturday's win, then added his punt return for a score with 9:01 remaining to help bolster the Bearcats' offense. Cole finished the day with six catches for 123 yards among his 222 all-purpose yards in the win. He now has eight TD catches on the year, matching the team's single-season record of eight set just last season by Jalyn Williams (Carbondale, IL/Carbondale).
 
Freshman quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, IL/Shelbyville) threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns against the Cardinals for his fifth game with multiple TD passes this season. Pullen also ran for a touchdown in Saturday's win. The Bearcats' defense also registered three quarterback sacks against William Jewell, giving the Bearcats nine sacks in their last three contests.
 
"I thought we had a great first half today, perhaps the best first half we have played all season," said McKendree head football coach Mike Babcock. "Our offense was clicking both in the run game and in the passing game, and thought our defense was stellar. I give credit to (William Jewell quarterback Will Schneider) was able to create and escape and keep us off-balance with his scrambling ability. I saw a lot of good things out there today, and a lot of things we can build on heading into the latter stages of our season."
 
Junior running back Jace Franklin IV (Sprinfield, IL/Williamsville) – who led McKendree with 65 rushing yards at William Jewell – started the scoring for McKendree midway through the first quarter with a three-yard touchdown run. Junior Josh Lazaro (Bradley, IL/Bradley-Bourbonnais) tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 advantage. The Bearcats then erupted for 21 second-quarter points to build a 28-0 lead at the intermission. Pullen capped a 12-play, 79-yard drive on fourth-and-goal when he plunged in on a one-yard quarterback keeper to double the lead to 14-0.
 
Cole then split double coverage on a post pattern to catch a 26-yard touchdown pass from Pullen with just over six minutes remaining until halftime to enable the Bearcats to stretch the margin to 21-0. After the Bearcats' defense held on a fourth-and-two play at their own 20-yard line, McKendree engineered the two-minute offense to perfection for another score in the closing seconds of the period. Pullen capped the 67-second drive when he found freshman wide receiver Tyler Siever (Carlyle, IL/Carlyle) over the middle for a two-yard TD pass with 23.2 seconds on the clock to send the Bearcats into the locker room with a 28-point cushion.
 
After William Jewell (1-6, 0-5 GLVC) broke up the Bearcats' shutout bid with a field goal on its first possession of the second half, McKendree needed just two plays to take its largest lead of day. Cole took a screen pass from Pullen, reversed field and weaved his way down the sideline for a 68-yard touchdown to give the Bearcats a 35-3 advantage. The Cardinals then used a field goal and touchdown to pull within 23 points before Cole put an exclamation point on the scoring with his 74-yard punt return for a score. He fielded the ball and immediately evaded two tacklers before picking his way down the sideline in front of the William Jewell bench, outracing two defenders over the final 30 yards to cap off the scoring on the afternoon.
 
 As a team, McKendree racked up 433 yards of total offense, including 301 in the first half at William Jewell. The Bearcats also had 22 first downs and committed just one penalty in Saturday's contest.
 
Senior linebacker Ricco Gipson, Jr. (Godfrey, IL/Alton), junior defensive lineman Ebrima Njie (Chicago, IL/De La Salle Institute) and sophomore defensive back Devon Myles (Chicago, IL/Westinghouse College Prep) shared team-high honors in tackles with seven apiece for McKendree. Senior linebacker Kennith Wilson (Chicago, IL/Simeon) contributed six stops in the effort.
 
McKendree improved to 8-0 all-time against William Jewell since the teams started competing as members of the GLVC in 2012. The Bearcats have averaged nearly 34 points per game against the Cardinals in that span.