LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University football team celebrated its 25th Anniversary of its return to football here Saturday afternoon as the Bearcats suffered a 63-62 overtime setback to Quincy University in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Leemon Field.
 
At halftime of Saturday's game, the Bearcats recognized the achievements that the football program has achieved since restarting the program in 1996 following a nearly 50-yard hiatus and also honored the program's 90-player 25th-Anniversary Team that was unveiled prior to the start of the 2022 season.

"It was nice to have a lot of those alumni, not just the ones I've coached, but the ones Coach (Carl) Poelker coached. A lot of those players being able to come back and enjoy the game was great and for a lot of them it was their first time back since they played here. To have those guys honored I thought was very important as we have a lot of tradition here at McKendree," Bearcats head football coach Mike Babcock said.
 
All those former Bearcats in attendance at Saturday's game were treated to a wild football game that featured a combined 125 points, 172 offensive plays, 64 first downs, 1,268 yards of offense, including 845 yards passing and a combined 77 points being scored in the first half. The 62 points were a season high for McKendree and were the most points scored in a game for the Bearcats since tallying 62 points in a 62-34 home win over Quincy on Nov. 9, 2019. 
 
With the loss, McKendree dropped its second straight game to fall to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the GLVC, while Quincy improved to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the GLVC. In addition, the Hawks picked up its first-ever win in the series at Leemon Field as Quincy came into Saturday's game having gone 0-12 all-time in Lebanon, including an 0-5 record in Lebanon in GLVC play. Quincy also snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Bearcats.
 
The game was a tale of two halves as McKendree scored 49 points and gained 400 yards of offense in sprinting out to a 49-28 lead at the half, but Quincy would turn tables on the Bearcats in the second half as they outscored McKendree, 28-7, after halftime, including scoring 28 consecutive points over a span of nearly 20 minutes that spanned the third and fourth quarters. In the second half and overtime, Quincy's offense would outgain the Bearcats, 309 to 165.

"This game was hard to describe. I thought offensively, it was one of the best halves I've ever seen, both running and passing and we were able to stop them once or twice defensively in the first half, but unfortunately in the second, third and into the fourth quarter, we had a really tough time getting off the field defensively and penalties really killed us," Mike Babcock said about Saturday's game. "It was the first time this year I thought we shot ourselves in the foot penalty-wise and we have to get that fixed. I am glad the guys battled back being down seven points in the fourth quarter to tie it and bring it to overtime."
 
For the game, QU ran 103 offensive plays, recorded 40 first downs and gained 703 yards, while McKendree finished with 70 plays, 24 first downs and gained 565 yards, including passing for 376 yards and rushing for a season high 189 yards. Quincy passed for 469 yards and added 234 yards rushing.
 
Despite outscoring the Bearcats in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, the Bearcats would mount a late rally as redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) hooked up with redshirt junior Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) for a 3-yard touchdown pass to cap an 11-play, 65-yard drive to force a tie at 56. The big play on the drive was a 25-yard pass completion from Pullen to sophomore receiver Diontay Griffin (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington).
 
Neither team would score over the final four minutes of regulation to force the second overtime game this season for the Bearcats.
 
In overtime, McKendree won the coin toss and elected to start on defense, but Quincy, who has now won two straight games on the season, would strike first as Tremayne Lee scored on a 2-yard plunge and Drew Lenzen added the extra point to give the Hawks a 63-56 lead.
 
Following Lee's fourth touchdown of the game, the Bearcats took possession of the ball on the 25-yard line and on a third-and-10 play, Pullen found Griffin in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass to bring the Bearcats within a point at 63-62. Babcock elected to try a two-point conversion following Griffin's score, but Pullen pass to sophomore running back Narkel Leflore (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood) was just shy of the end zone to seal Quincy's first victory over the Bearcats since earning a 38-19 win at Quincy in 2012.

"Our offense was our strong suit as a team and with the way the game was going, the ups and downs and highs and the lows, I felt like it it was make or break it, let's go for the two-point and be done with it one way or the other," Babcock said about the two-point try in overtime.

The Bearcats offense would score on four of its five possessions in the first quarter as they opened the scoring on a 41-yard touchdown run by Leflore on the fourth offensive play of the game.
 
After Quincy's first possession ended in a punt after three plays, the Bearcats would take a 14-0 lead with 11:08 left in the opening quarter following a 31-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to sophomore receiver Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University). The drive began on QU's 43-yard line following just a 16-yard punt that went out-of-bounds from Bryce Broussard.
 
On QU's next possession, the Hawks would get on the scoreboard as they used a 19-yard touchdown pass from Tionne Harris to Paul Sullivan, Jr., to drop McKendree's lead to 14-7 with 9:22 left in the quarter.
 
The Bearcats would add another score on its next possession as Leflore would score on a 72-yard run to give the home team a 21-7 lead with 8:31 left in the quarter. The 72-yard run was the longest rushing play and longest rushing touchdown of the season for the Bearcats.
 
Quincy would respond as they answered back with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Harris to AJ Hardin to pull within 21-14 with 5:18 remaining in the quarter.
 
The Bearcats would finally have a possession in the opening quarter without a score and after QU would be forced to punt the ball on the ensuing possession, Flager, Jr., gave the Bearcats a 28-14 lead following his school record 95-yard punt return. The 95-yard punt return was the longest in school history as the previous longest punt return was 90 yards by Derrick Curry against Truman State in 2016. In addition, it was the first punt return for a touchdown by the Bearcats since Matt Cole returned a punt 74 yards for a score against William Jewell on Oct. 19, 2019.
 
When the first quarter was over, the two teams had combined for 42 points and 399 yards of offense as McKendree gained 191 yards on 12 plays, while QU had 208 yards on 31 plays.
 
The Bearcats' lead grew to 35-14 just a little over four minutes into the second quarter as Pullen connected with redshirt junior receiver Tyler Siever (Carlyle, Ill./Carlyle) for a 7-yard touchdown pass, which came after a 43-yard pass from Pullen to Flager, Jr. Siever's touchdown came two plays after QU's Sa'hron Cummingham muffed a punt at midfield that was recovered by Leflore.
 
Quincy, though, wouldn't go away after they answered Siever's score by driving 76 yards in 11 plays and capping the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run by Miles Cheatum to pull the Hawks within 35-21 with 7:13 left in the second quarter.
 
The scoring wouldn't stop in the quarter as McKendree followed up QU's score with a score of their own as redshirt sophomore Jayden Mitchell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway Central) scored from one-yard out for his third touchdown of the season to cap a nine play, 78-yard drive. The big play on the drive was a 26-yard pass from Pullen to Griffin on a second-and-8 play.
 
Quincy would come right back and drive 65 yards in three plays and score on a 24-yard touchdown run by Lee to pull the Hawks within 42-28 with 1:37 left in the half.
 
McKendree would get the ball with 1:30 left in the first half and would drive 79 yards in eight plays and cap the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to Flager, Jr., with 30 seconds left in the first half. The big play on the drive was a 23-yard run and catch from Pullen to Leflore on a third-and-1 play.
 
At the half, the two teams had combined to score 77 points, run 86 plays and gain 794 yards as McKendree finished with 400 yards on 34 plays in the half as they passed for 240 yards and rushed for 160, while QU had 394 yards on 52 plays as they passed for 249 yards and rushed for 145 yards.
 
The third quarter belonged to Quincy as they scored three touchdowns to force a tie at 49 heading into the fourth quarter. One of those scores came on a 68-yard fumble return by Peyten Chappel. Chappel's score brought QU within seven points at 49-42 with 8:09 left in the quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, Quincy took its first lead of the game as Jalen Lawrence caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Harris with 9:40 left in the game. The score gave Quincy a 56-49 lead. The scoring drive was set-up by a fumble by sophomore defensive back Ethan Young (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville), who had picked off a Harris pass on QU's 34-yard line and had returned it 34 yards before Marlin Washington poked the ball from behind. The interception by Young was his third of the season.
 
Following Lawrence's score, the Bearcats would respond with an 11-play, 65-yard drive that resulted in Bachman's game-tying touchdown catch from Pullen with 4:16 remaining in regulation.
 
Pullen, who entered the game leading Division II in passing yards, completion percentage and touchdown passes, finished the game completing 75 percent of his throws as he was 36-for-48 for 376 yards and tied a career high with five touchdowns and added 42 yards rushing for a season-high 418 yards of total offense. Pullen pushed his season passing yard total of 2,456 yards as he is 217-for-296 passing for 25 touchdowns and is completing 73 percent of his passes on the year.
 
Two receivers finished with 100-plus yards in the game as Griffin caught a career-high eight passes for 138 yards and had one touchdown, which came in overtime, while Flager, Jr., caught six passes for 112 yards and had two touchdown receptions to push his season total to nine, which is three shy of the school's single season mark of 12 set by Matt Cole in 2019.

The running game was paced by Leflore, who finished with 134 yards on 11 carries and averaging 12.2 yards per carry and scored two times. Leflore also caught eight passes for 73 yards and returned three kickoffs for 57 yards as he tallied a career-high 264 all-purpose yards.  
 
Flagler, Jr., finished with 207 all-purpose yards as along with his 112 receiving yards, he added 95 yards on his one punt return.
 
Quincy's offense was paced by the play of Harris as he was 35-for-50 passing for 469 yards and had three touchdowns and one interception. Lee finished with 192 yards rushing on 36 carries and scored four times and averaged 5.3 yards per carry.
 
Lawrence caught six passes for 119 yards, while Sullivan, Jr., and Hans Wisnewski each caught seven passes for a combined 177 yards.
 
QU held a nearly three-minute advantage in time of possession (31:39 to 28:21) and each team had two turnovers in the game.
 
The Bearcats, though, were flagged 12 times for 119 yards, while QU committed just five penalties for 48 yards.
 
McKendree recorded the only sack in the game and finished with seven tackles for loss, including two tackles for a loss by freshman defensive lineman Jireh Mays (Fairview Heights, Ill./East St. Louis) and 1.5 tackles for a loss and a sack from sophomore defensive lineman Jacob Stoneburner (Effingham, Ill./Effingham).
 
McKendree will look to snap its two-game losing streak next Saturday, Oct. 22 as the Bearcats travel to Rolla, Mo., for a 1 p.m. GLVC game at Missouri S&T (3-4 overall, 2-1 GLVC). Missouri S&T picked up a 41-14 road win Saturday at William Jewell.

"Always treat every opponent as one that's going to be your best week and I felt our focus wasn't as great this week, so we need to have a great week of practice, especially now that we're going back on the road playing at their place and they (Missouri S&T) is tough at home," added the McKendree coach.