SOUTHWEST BAPTIST POST-GAME VIDEO

(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 26)—Freshman running back Jayden Mitchell (St. Louis, MO/Parkway Central) had the most productive day of his young career in leading the McKendree University football team to a 24-14 home victory Saturday afternoon over Southwest Baptist at a soggy Leemon Field.
 
Mitchell rushed for 133 yards on 27 with a pair of touchdowns to help the Bearcats to their fourth victory in their last five games. McKendree improves to 4-4 overall and is now 2-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Bearcats will head to Kirksville, Mo., next Saturday (Nov. 2) for a GLVC contest at Truman State University. Kickoff is slated for 12 noon.
 
Sophomore defensive back Devon Myles (Chicago, IL/Westinghouse College Prep) also registered a career-high with 16 tackles along with a forced fumble for a McKendree defense that stifled Southwest Baptist on a trio of fourth-down attempts in the fourth quarter. Senior linebacker Ricco Gipson, Jr. (Godfrey, IL/Alton), matched his career high with 15 tackles set last season at Missouri S&T.
 
"It was nice to see all three phases of the game work together despite the wet field conditions today," said McKendree head coach Mike Babcock. "It was a struggle offensively knowing we had to run the ball quite a bit but Jayden had an outstanding day. Our defense came up with the stops when we needed it, particularly in the fourth quarter, and I thought we did a good job of flipping field position on special teams as well. It was another good team effort today, and I told them that after the game."
 
After Southwest Baptist (3-5, 1-4 GLVC) kicker Kyle Ghetes booted a 39-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to grab an early 3-0 advantage, McKendree took its first lead of the day in the second period. Freshman quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, IL/Shelbyville) bulldozed his way into the end zone from eight yards out to finish off a 14-play, 80-yard drive to push the Bearcats to a 7-3 lead that stood at the half. Ghetes then added a 36-yard field goal on the visitor's first drive of the second half to trim the Southwest Baptist deficit to 7-6.
 
Mitchell scored his first touchdown of the day following a muffed punt by Southwest Baptist to extend the McKendree lead to 14-6. After junior long snapper Caleb Shipley (Centralia, IL/Centralia) recovered the visitor's fumble at the SBU 28-yard line, Mitchell accounted for all but two of the Bearcats' yards to close out the drive, which he punctuated with a six-yard scoring burst with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Southwest Baptist pulled even with a touchdown and two-point coversion midway through the final period to knot the score at 14-14. Junior kicker Josh Lazaro (Bradley, IL/Bradley-Bourbonnais) answered on the ensuing drive for McKendree when he kicked a 42-yard field goal with 4:24 on the clock to push the Bearcats in front to stay at 17-14.
 
After McKendree forced a turnover on downs on SBU's next possession, Mitchell helped put the exclamation point on the Bearcats' victory. On the second play of the drive, he steamed up the middle for a 21-yard gain down to the visitor's eight-yard line. Mitchell then took a handoff on the next play and scored on an eight-yard run to extend the McKendree lead to 10 points.
 
McKendree's defense registered three more quarterback sacks against Southwest Baptist, giving the Bearcats 11 in the last four games. Gipson led the charge with 1 ½ sacks, while senior linebacker Darnell Harris, Jr. (San Diego, CA/Kearney), added a solo sack on Southwest Baptist's final offensive play of the game. Senior defensive lineman Michael Smith (Smithton, IL/Freeburg) had a season-high with nine tackles to go along with a trio of quarterback pressures.