LIBERTY, Mo. – McKendree University football opened Great Lakes Valley Conference play here Saturday afternoon by rallying to post a hard-fought come-from-behind 45-34 victory over William Jewell College on Homecoming at Greene Stadium.
 
With its third straight win, the Bearcats improve to 4-1 overall and 1-0 on the GLVC, while Jewell falls to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the league. The four wins this season matches the total number of wins achieved by last season's team as McKendree posted a 4-7 record in 2021.
 
McKendree's three game winning streak is the longest since reeling off three straight wins during the middle of the 2019 season.
 
The two teams combined for 79 points and that is the most points combined scored by both teams in the 10 all-time meetings. In fact, the 34 points by Jewell were the most they have ever scored against McKendree in a game as their previous high was 31 in a 47-31 McKendree win in 2018.
 
Additionally, McKendree has now scored 30 or more points in all five of its games season and that is the longest streak of scoring 30 or more points in a game since tallying six straight games of scoring 30 or more points during the 2018 season.
 
Trailing 17-3 just four-plus minutes into the second quarter, the Bearcats scored twice in the second quarter to tie the game at 17-all at the half, and then scored four touchdowns after halftime, including exploding for three scores in the fourth quarter to turn a 24-20 lead into a 45-27 advantage with a little more than three minutes left in the contest.
 
"It took us awhile to kind of getting going offensively, which isn't usually the case the past couple of the weeks," McKendree head coach Mike Babcock said. "We needed a little bit of a go on offense to get going and let Turner and those receivers do what they need to do. I also think, that defensively, we have to get in that right mindset that we can go out and play. It took us a little bit, but I think we finally got underneath us late in the second quarter and then in the third quarter."
 
Redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) played a big catalyst in the comeback as he was 5-for-11 passing for 39 yards in the first quarter, before going 20-for-24 for 303 yards and five touchdowns over the final three quarters of the game.
 
"I'll give it to William Jewell, they game planned pretty well and came out and dropped a lot of guys into coverage and that made it tough to pass the ball in the beginning of the game, but I got more and more comfortable as the game went along," Pullen said when asked about his play. "The receivers, the offensive line and the backs we've got make my life very easy right now."
 
The five touchdown passes helped Pullen set a new McKendree career school record for touchdown passes as his five on Saturday pushed his career to 65, which bettered the old school mark of 64 set by Isaac Fisher from 2012-15. 
 
"I love what Turner is doing. Turner always finds a way to keep a play going and today was no different," Babcock said. "Turner is just a playmaker, much like Isaac Fisher was."
 
Pullen, who entered Saturday's game as the Division II national leader in completion percentage, finished Saturday's game completing 71 percent of his passes as he was 25-for-35 for 343 yards and along with five touchdown passes did not throw an interception for the second consecutive game. On the season, Pullen is now completing 74 percent of his passes as he is 139-for-189 for 1,718 yards and has had 18 touchdowns and three interceptions. The single season school record for passing touchdowns is 27, which was set by Reese Metcalf in 2018.
 
Pullen spread the ball around as five different receivers caught a pass and four different receivers caught a touchdown pass with redshirt junior Jacob Bachman (Eureka, lll./Eureka) hauling in two of Pullen's five touchdown passes.
 
Sophomore Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University) recorded his fourth straight 100 yard receiving game as he was targeted 12 times and caught seven passes for 117 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass from Pullen in the fourth quarter to give the Bearcats a 38-27 lead.
 
In addition to Flager, Jr., who has caught 35 passes on the season for 577 yards and is averaging 115.40 receiving yards per game, Bachman caught six passes for 87 yards, including a 51-yard reception that set up's Flager's touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Sophomore running back Narkel Leflore also was big in the passing game on Saturday as he caught six balls for 46 yards and added 54 yards rushing.
 
Along with his 343 yards passing, Pullen gained 28 yards on the ground running the ball and finished the game with 371 yards of total offense, which is fourth highest of his Bearcat career.
 
Jewell scored the first points of the game on a 2-yard run by Taylor Eggers that capped a 10-play, 57-yard drive for the Cardinals.
 
The Bearcats would come right back and drive 55 yards in 13 plays and cap the drive with a 37-yard field goal from junior kicker Ryan Kastl (Washington, Ill./Washington) to drop WJC's lead to 7-3 with 3:49 left in the opening quarter.
 
On the ensuing possession for the Cardinals, CJ Ward hooked up with Jesse Thomas for a 57-yard touchdown reception to give the home team a 14-3 lead with 2:30 left in the opening quarter.
 
The Cardinals, who have now lost 22 consecutive GLVC games, pushed its lead to 17-3 following a 26-yard field goal from Paul Geelen just four -plus minutes into the second quarter.
 
McKendree, though, would mount a comeback as redshirt sophomore running back Jayden Mitchell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway Central) capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive by the Bearcats with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone to pull the Bearcats within 17-10 with 5:56 left in the second quarter.
 
The Bearcats would take advantage on a fumble by the Cardinals on a punt return late in the second quarter to tie the game following a 4-yard touchdown pass from redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) to redshirt junior receiver Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka). The score came five plays after Leflore forced a fumble on a punt returned by Grant Latin. The fumble was recovered by sophomore long snapper Wyatt Hall (Maynardville, Tenn./Union County).
 
"We needed to tie the score up going into half, especially when them (WJC) getting the ball to start the second half. We knew that as an offense and hats off to the special teams on getting the ball back to us," Pullen said when asked about that touchdown right before the half.
 
On Jewell's first possession of the second half, the Bearcats defense forced the Cardinals to turn the ball over on downs at Jewell's 46-yard line after Eggers was stopped a yard shot on a fourth-and-2 play.
 
"I thought we had some big plays when we needed them today," added Babcock, who moved to 52-41 as McKendree's coach. "Offensively I was pleased with how we play and defensively, we showed signs, but we have to still play a complete game and that is the one thing we haven't done yet."
 
Nine plays later, the Bearcats took its first lead of the game thanks to a 2-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to Bachman. The touchdown came one play after Jewell was called for pass interference in the end zone on a third-and-goal play from the six-yard line.
 
The next Jewell possession ended with an interception of a Ward pass by freshman defensive back Logan Turbyfill (Cottage Hills, Ill./Civic Memorial) on the first play of the drive.
 
McKendree's next drive following the turnover resulted in a punt after Pullen was whistled for an intentional grounding on a third-and-play that took the Bearcats out of field goal range. The penalty pushed the ball back from Jewell's 27-yard line to Jewell's 39-yard line.
 
That seemed to ignite the Cardinals as they responded by driving 76 yards in 11 plays and capping the drive with a 21-yard field goal by Geelen to drop McK's lead to 24-20 with 27 seconds left in the quarter.
 
The Bearcats would right back on its next possession as they answered the field goal by Geelen with a touchdown as Pullen connected with sophomore tight end Jordan Sprycha (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn Community) for a 9-yard touchdown pass to give the Bearcats a 31-20 lead with 9:59 left in the game. Flager, Jr., had two big catches on the drive as he caught a 37-yard pass from Pullen on a second-and-seven play and then added a 23 yard reception later in the drive on a third-and-23 play.
 
The Cardinals, though, wouldn't go away as they came right back and marched down the field in two plays, including a 68-yard touchdown pass from Ward to Amos to pull Jewell within four points at 31-27 with 9:23 left in the final quarter.
 
On the ensuing possession, the Bearcats offense needed just three plays to added their fifth touchdown of the game as Flager, Jr., caught a 20-yard pass from Pullen to give the Bearcats a 38-27 lead. Flager, Jr.'s score came one play after Bachman turned a what looked like would be a short gain into a 51-yard pass completion.
 
After Jewell failed to move the ball on its next possession, the Bearcats would once again find the end zone as Pullen connected with redshirt junior receiver Tyler Siever (Carlyle, Ill./Carlyle) for a 47-yard touchdown pass to give the Bearcats a 45-27 lead. On the play, Siever so how was left wide open and sprinted the end zone after catching the ball. Siever's touchdown reception was Pullen's school record 65th career touchdown pass.
 
Jewell would cap the scoring on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ward to Amos with 1:27 left in the game. Amos' score brought the Cardinals within 11 at 45-34.
 
The on-side attempt by Gleeten went out of bounds and the Bearcats ran two plays to run out the clock and seal the win.
 
As a team, McKendree finished the game with 478 yards of offense, but gained 401 of those yards over the final three quarters, while Jewell finished with 513 yards of offense, including running for 225 yards on 38 carries, but the Cardinals gained 357 yards over the final three quarters after gaining 156 yards in the first quarter of play.
 
Along with 343 yards passing, the Bearcats gained 135 yards rushing for game and that number pleased Babcock.
 
"We were able to run the ball today. Overall, we had over 100 yards rushing from our running backs. We tried to make a statement with that," the Bearcat coach added.
 
Ward paced the Cardinals offense as he was 13-for-20 passing for 280 yards and had three touchdown passes and one interception, while Amos caught six of those passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Jordan Clay paced the Cardinals ground game with 100 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Tabren Yates added 89 yards rushing on eight carries.
 
For the game, McKendree's defense recorded five tackles for loss and a sack and had four quarterback hurries, including two from redshirt sophomore linebacker Denzel Stephens (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood).
 
Turbyfill, who made his first career start on Saturday, paced the Bearcat defense with nine tackles, including seven solo stops and 1.5 tackles for a loss, while sophomore defensive back Brandon Wilson, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./St Laurence) added six tackles in the win.
 
McKendree went 5-for-10 on third down conversions and was a perfect 6-for-6 on red zone scoring chances, including scoring five touchdowns in the red zone. On the season, the Bearcats are now 21-for-22 on red zone scoring, including scoring 19 touchdowns in 21 red zone chances.
 
While McKendree was 5-for-10 on third down, Jewell was 1-for-7 on their third down opportunities in the game.
 
The Bearcats will look to make it four consecutive wins as they return to action next Saturday, Oct. 8 as they host 14th-ranked Indianapolis for a 1 p.m. GLVC contest at Leemon Field in Lebanon, Ill.
 
"We just need to continue to get better heading into next week's game at home with UIndy," the coach added.