LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University football team will play host to Missouri S&T on Saturday, Oct. 23 at Lemmon Field for a 1 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference battle. The Bearcat Sports Network will provide live video of the game beginning with Colin Suhre's pregame show beginning at 12:50 p.m. at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree.
 
Saturday's game will also mark Homecoming on the McKendree campus. The Bearcats will playing their 25th Homecoming tilt since returning to the football field in 1996. McKendree has posted a 22-2 record in homecoming games since 1996 and has won five of its last six homecoming contests with the lone loss coming in its last homecoming game in 2019 against Lindenwood University. In that game, the Lions picked up a 45-37 win over the Bearcats.
 
The Bearcats enter its annual Homecoming game sporting a 3-4 overall record and a 2-1 mark in the GLVC after posting a come-from-behind 51-48 win last Saturday at Quincy University. In the win against the Hawks, the Bearcats trailed 31-7 just 48 seconds into the third quarter, before rallying to score 44 points, including tallying a school record 30 points in the fourth quarter. The comeback was completed following a 39-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Ryan Kastl (Washington, Ill./Washington) with 25 seconds left in the game and the win was sealed when redshirt junior defensive lineman Jamari Johnson (Chicago, Ill./Goode STEM Academy) and redshirt sophomore defensive back Darrwin Perkins II (Crete, Ill./Marian Catholic) were able to block a game-tying 48-yard field goal by the Hawks with three seconds remaining.
 
In the win over Quincy, McKendree's offense gained a season high 559 yards of offense and passed for a season high 358 yards and gained a school record 34 first downs. Additionally, the Bearcats gained 304 yards and scored on five of its six possessions in the fourth quarter. It also marked the second time in its last three games that the Bearcats topped 50 points as they opened GLVC play at home on Oct. 2 with a 52-10 win over William Jewell College.
 
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) played a big role in the play of McKendree's offense as he was 23-for-44 passing for a career-high 358 yards and had four touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for a team-high 82 yards on the ground and scored two touchdowns and amassed a career high 440 yards of total offense. The 440 yards of total offense is the second highest total for a GLVC player this season. In the fourth quarter, Pullen was 11-for-20 passing for 228 yards and added three touchdown passes and gained 61 yards on the ground.
 
In addition to Pullen, senior running back Jace Franklin IV (Springfield, Ill./Minnesota State) added 56 yards and pushed his McKendree career total to 1,926 yards, which is sixth on the school's all-time list and he is now just 74 yards shy of becoming the sixth Bearcat to rush for 2,000 yards in a career. Second-year freshman running back Narkel Leflore (Chatham, Ill./Chatham) added 48 rushing yards and accounted for a career high 158 all-purpose yards as he returned five kickoffs for 110 yards.
 
With the six touchdowns Pullen was responsible for, he pushed his career total to touchdowns responsible for to 54, which is tied for second most in school history. On the season, Pullen, who was named this week's GLVC Offensive Player of the Week, is 96-for-178 passing for 1,230 yards and has tossed 12 touchdowns and thrown five interceptions. He has also gained 234 yards rushing on 46 carries and has scored seven touchdowns, which leads the team.
 
Among Pullen top targets when throwing the ball are redshirt sophomore receiver Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) and redshirt junior receiver Steven Towns, Jr. (Normal, Ill./Normal Community). Bachman leads the team in receptions with 40 for 422 yards and is averaging 10.6 yards per catch and 60.3 yards per game, while Towns, Jr. has caught 27 passes for 402 yards and is averaging 14.9 yards per reception and 67 yards per game. Bachman and Towns, Jr. have combined to catch eight touchdown passes as Towns, Jr., has had six touchdown receptions and is now tied for third in school history with 13 career receiving touchdowns, while Bachman has caught two touchdown passes and leads the team in all-purpose yards with 688 and is averaging 98.3 all-purpose yards per game.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats enter the game on Saturday fourth in the league in total defense as they are allowing 406 yards per game and are fifth in rushing defense as they are allowing 164 yards per game. In addition, the Bearcats defense has created 14 turnovers on the season and are third in Division II in fumbles recovered with nine and has picked off five passes, including two interceptions last Saturday at Quincy. McKendree is also 26th in Division II in turnovers gained with 14.
 
Leading the way defensively for the Bearcats Is senior linebacker Michael Tucker (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale College Prep), who has recorded 55 tackles, including 32 solo stops and has had eight tackles for loss and four sacks. In addition to Tucker, redshirt sophomore linebacker KeShon Spraggins (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) has had 45 tackles, four tackles for loss and three pass break-ups, while sophomore defensive lineman Sidney Houston (Cahokia, Ill./East St. Louis) has had 33 tackles and leads the team in tackles for loss (8.5) and sacks (6.5). Houston is second in the league in sacks and tied for third in tackles for loss.
 
On special teams, the Bearcats are second in the league in net punting as they average 36.1 yards per punt and third in the league in field goal percentage at 72.7 percent as Kastl is 8-for-11 on field goals this season. In addition, Kastl leads the GLVC in field goals as he is averaging 1.1 makes per game and senior punter Andrew Anckle (Riverview, Fla./SIU-Carbondale) leads the league in punting average as he is averaging 39.2 yards per punt and has downed six punts inside the 20-yard line and has had two 50-plus yard punts.
 
Meanwhile, Missouri S&T comes into Saturday's game sporting a 3-4 overall record and a 1-2 mark in the league following its 37-16 home win last Saturday over William Jewell. The win over William Jewell snapped a three-game losing skid for the Miners, including opening league play with back-to-back losses to Quincy (31-28) and Truman State (38-21).
 
Following Saturday's homecoming game with Missouri S&T, the Bearcats will return to the road for a 1 p.m. GLVC contest next Saturday, Oct. 30 in Bolivar, Mo., against Southwest Baptist.
 
ABOUT MISSOURI S&T
The Miners, who were picked to finish fourth in the Preseason GLVC Coaches poll, have won just once in its last four games with that win coming at home last week against William Jewell, 37-16. In that win, S&T sophomore quarterback Max Conard recorded five touchdown passes in just his second career start under center. With his five touchdown passes, which went to four different receivers, Conrad is now the sixth player in school history with a five-touchdown game and is one of three quarterbacks this season to record five or more touchdown passes.
 
On defense against William Jewell, the Miners recorded a season high nine quarterback sacks and held the Cardinals to a net of 11 rushing yards. S&T is 11th nationally in Division II in sacks with 26 and they average 3.71 sacks per game.
 
Leading the way for the Miners offensively is senior quarterback Luke Hertzler. Hertzler is 60-for-91 passing for 808 yards and had thrown eight touchdowns and three interceptions and is averaging 202 passing yards per game and 197.8 yards of total offense. Along with Hertzler, Conard, who is listed as the starting quarterback on the Miners two-deep for Saturday's game, is 37-for-60 passing for 441 yards and he has tossed eight touchdown passes and thrown four interceptions.
 
When the Miners throw the ball, the primary target is fifth-year senior Breon Michel. Michel has caught 46 passes for 820 yards and is second in Division II with 11 touchdown receptions. He is averaging 17.8 yards per catch and 117.1 receiving yards per game. Michel is just 378 yards shy of S&T's single season mark for receiving yards.
 
On the ground, the Miners are averaging 170.1 yards per game with senior running back Aaron Moya leading the way with 441 yards on 90 carries and he has scored five touchdowns. Senior Payton McAlister has carried the ball 78 times for 326 yards and has scored two times.
 
Perhaps the biggest strength of the Miners team is their defense as they enter this week's action second in the league in defense as they are allowing just 365.6 yards per game and is third in scoring defense as they allow 28.9 points per game. In addition, the Miners are second in the league in both sacks and tackles for loss as they average 7.7 tackles for loss per game.
 
Leading the way defensive for S&T is junior linebacker Ben Straatmann. Straatmann has recorded 57 tackles and leads the league in both sacks (10) and tackles for loss (16) and his 1.43 sacks per game is third-best in Division II. Along with Straatmann, fifth-year senior free safety Justin Onwugbufor is second in tackles with 51 and has had 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack and has broken up three passes, while fifth-year senior Dontay White has had 31 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks on the season.

Missouri S&T holds a 5-3 lead in the all-time series against McKendree, including earning a 51-50 win over the Bearcats in the 2019 regular season finale in Rolla, Mo. The Miners have won two straight games in the series and 2-2 against McKendree at Leemon Field.