ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The McKendree University football team concluded its 2022 season here on Saturday afternoon by suffering a 56-35 setback at the hands of NCAA FCS member Lindenwood University at Hunter Stadium.
 
With the setback, McKendree concludes the season with a 5-6 overall record, while Lindenwood ends its first season in Division I with a 7-3 mark.
 
Saturday's game was played with temperatures that hovered around 32 degrees as it was the coldest game of the season for the Bearcats.
 
Saturday's game was close for a majority of the first half as the two teams combined to score 28 points in the opening 18-plus minutes, but Lindenwood would take control of the game after reeling off 21 consecutive points to take a 35-14 lead at the half.
 
Both teams scored 14 points in the third quarter as Lindenwood led 49-28 heading into the final period and the Lions would outscore the Bearcats, 14-7 in the final quarter to cap its win.
 
"Today's game was a lot like the season. Had its ups and its downs and in the end, it wasn't how we wanted it to go from a win-loss column or points column, but I thought the guys had a lot of fight. They kept fighting, even when we were down,' McKendree head coach Mike Babcock said following the game.
 
The 63 points by Lindenwood tied a season high allowed by the Bearcats as McKendree also allowed 63 points to Quincy in their 63-62 overtime loss to the Hawks.
 
McKendree's offense finished with 454 yards of offense as they rushed the ball 38 times for 168 yards and redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) was 30-for-45 passing for 286 yards and those 286 yards helped Pullen become the school's all-time leader in passing yards with 8,761 yards. Those 8,761 yards bettered the old mark of 8,508 yards set by Isaac Fisher from 2012-15.
 
"The best way to describe it is I have no regrets. I played the hardest I could, did everything I felt like I could do for the team. I loved this team this year," Pullen said when asked about his play this season. "We had a special group of guys this season and I'm very proud of all of them."
 
Along with holding the school's career mark for passing yards (8,761), Pullen also holds school career marks in passing touchdowns (77), interceptions (30) and touchdowns responsible for (103). He is also second in passing attempts (1,158), completions (737) and total offense (9.627). He also set single season records this season in total offense (3,751), passing attempts (468), pass completions (329), touchdowns responsible for (36) and passing touchdowns (30).
 
"Turner had a phenomenal year. My hope is he can leave here feeling like he's done everything he could," the McKendree coach added about Pullen's performance this season.
 
In addition to Pullen, redshirt junior Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) also had a record setting day on Saturday as he caught 13 passes for 83 yards to push his season total to 100 receptions. Bachman is the first receiver in school history to catch 100 passes in a season. Along with holding the single season mark for receptions, Bachman closes his career as the school's all-time leader in receptions (216) and receiving yards (2,177) and was third in touchdown receptions (15) and ninth in all-purpose yards (2,540).
 
"I don't know if we'll ever be able to replace Jake. He is the hardest worker, a good athlete and a great man. I've never had a player like him and I truly feel like he's irreplaceable," said Babcock about Bachman.
 
Over the last two seasons, Bachman has caught 180 passes for 1,691 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Pullen has gone 533-for-828 passing for 5,971 yards and has had 51 touchdowns and 19 interceptions and amassed 6,581 yards of total offense.
 
"Jake is one of my best friends. I am really proud of him. He does everything the right way and is the definition of a team player and I love him to death," Pullen said about playing with Bachman.
 
On the season, McKendree's offense established several new school records as they set new records for total yards (5,005), pass attempts (468), pass completions (329), passing yards (3,541), passing yards per game (321.9), passing touchdowns (30), total touchdowns (54), total points (394) and first downs (268).
 
"Our offense was able to score points this season. Whether it was running or throwing, I always felt we had great playmakers on offense and we able to find ways to get them the ball this year," Babcock said. "We were really young on defense this season and at one point in the fourth quarter there wasn't one senior on the field and there were four true freshmen playing at the exact same time. We have to get more mature, got to hit the weight room, have to be more physical and keep developing and keep getting better."
 
Lindenwood got the scoring started in Saturday's game on its first offensive possession of the game as they drove 64 yards in six plays and capped the scoring with a 15-yard pass from Cade Brister to Payton Rose. The drive began when the Bearcats were stopped on a fourth-and-12 play from the Lindenwood 36-yard line.
 
The Bearcats, though, would answer right back following Lindenwood's score as they drove 75 yards in eight plays and capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Pullen to tie the game at 7-all. The big play on the drive was a 34-yard pass from Pullen to sophomore receiver Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University) that at first was ruled a touchdown, before a review overtuned the touchdown and put the ball on 1-yard line.
 
Lindenwood, though, would come right back and retook the lead at 14-7 following a 7-yard touchdown run by Brister. The drive was set up by a 48-yard kickoff return by Spencer Redd.
 
On the ensuing Bearcat drive, McKendree would run 12 plays and gain 75 yards and capped the drive with a 3-run touchdown run by Pullen to once again tie the game at 14-all. The two rushing scores by Pullen pushed his career total to 26, which was two shy of George Smith's school career mark of 28 rushing touchdowns.
 
The Lions would retake the lead on its next drive as Brister scored on a 1-run plunge to give Lindenwood a 21-14 lead with 8:30 left in the second quarter.
 
McKendree appeared poised to retie the game on its next drive as Flager, Jr., began the drive with a 48-yard kickoff return and after redshirt sophomore running back Brady Feldmann (Highland, Ill./Highland) gained eight yards on first down to put the ball at Lindenwood's 38-yard line, but the Lions would stop the drive thanks to an interception on Pullen by Lloyd Lockett.
 
Lockett's interception would help the Lions pushed its lead to 28-14 following a 19-yard run by Brister with 5:10 left in the quarter. Brister's run came seven plays after Lockett's interception.
 
After the next Bearcat drive resulted in a punt, the Lions would add another score as Brister hooked up with Rose for a 13-yard touchdown pass to give Lindenwood a 35-14 lead with 2:38 left in the first half.
 
The Bearcats would get the ball back and drive 35 yards in 10 plays, but Pullen was stopped five yards short of first down on a fourth-and-10 run late in the quarter to turn the ball back over to the Lions.
 
Lindenwood would use seven plays to move into field goal range, but a 37-yard field goal attempt by Logan Siebert was wide left to keep the score 35-14 at half in favor of Lindenwood.
 
The Bearcats would use a fumble on a kickoff return by Lindenwood to open the third quarter to pull within 35-21 following a 6-yard touchdown run by redshirt sophomore running back Jayden Mitchell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway Central). Mitchell's score came six play after sophomore defensive back Michael Showers (Normal, Ill./Normal) recovered a fumble on Redd's return.
 
Lindenwood, though, would answer right back as Brister hooked up with Rose for a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Lions a 42-21 lead with 8:44 left in the third quarter.
 
An interception later in the third quarter by Brister would lead to another score by the Bearcats as following the interception by redshirt sophomore Andrew Sherry (Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) deep in McKendree territory, the Bearcats needed one play, which was a 61-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Ronnie Hunsaker (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) to pull the Bearcats within 42-28 with 3:34 left in the third quarter.
 
The Lions would answer back to two consecutive touchdowns to take a 56-28 lead with 11:52 left in the game. The first score was a 22-yard rush by Andrew Martin and the other score was a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brister to offensive lineman Blake Rogenhofer.
 
Following Rogenhofer's score, the Bearcats would respond with an 11-play, 75-yard drive and cap the drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to sophomore receiver Diontay Griffin (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington). The touchdown pass marked Pullen's 26th consecutive game with at least one touchdown pass.
 
Lindenwood would cap the scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run by Martin with 2:19 left in the game.
 
In addition to Bachman's 13 catches for 83 yards, Flager, Jr., finished the game with nine catches for 114 yards to push his season total to 75 catches for a single-season school record 1,144 yards. Along with his 114 pass receiving yards, Flager, Jr., added 196 all-purpose yards thanks to his 82 yards on three kickoff returns.
 
Hunsaker, who made his first career start at running back, led the ground game for McKendree with 72 yards on four carries, while Mitchell added 48 yards on 11 carries.
 
Lindenwood finished the game with 631 yards of total offense as they rushed for 362 yards on 35 carries and passed for 269 yards. Martin and Brister each run for over 130 yards in the game as Martin carried the ball 13 times for 152 yards and scored twice, while Brister gained 135 yards on 15 carries and scored three times.
 
Brister finished the game 24-for-31 passing for 269 yards and had three touchdown passes and one interception.
 
Rose led the Lions receiving corps with 10 catches for 131 yards and three touchdown receptions.
 
Sherry paced McKendree's defense with nine tackles and added his second interception of the year. In addition to Sherry, sophomore defensive back Brandon Wilson, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) added eight tackles and two pass break-ups.
 
Saturday's game was also the final one of McKendree's 25 member senior class and the seniors that played their final game were Bachman, Mitchell, Pullen, defensive back Arnell Anderson (Chicago, Ill./Davenport), tight end Jacob Catron (Hoopeston, Ill./Hoopeston), offensive lineman Chase Colvis (Chester, Ill./Chester), linebacker Kavari Cunningham (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita), linebacker Luca Gualdoni (Johnston City, Ill./Johnston City), long snapper Wyatt Hall (Maynardsville, Ill./Union County), linebacker Travis Jones (Paxton, Ill./Paxton-Buckley-Loda), linebacker Iben King (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice), defensive lineman Kevin Memminger (Philadephia, Pa./Golden West College), tight end Antonio Munoz (Elmhurst, Ill./York), defensive back Darrwin Perkins (Crete, Ill./Marian Catholic), offensive lineman Nolan Puent (Washington, Ill./Washington), defensive lineman Shaun Reid (Centralia, Ill./Centralia), offensive lineman Jake Rich (Paxton, Ill./Paxton-Buckley-Loda), defensive back Kenneth Scarbrough III (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis), receiver Tyler Siever (Carlyle, Ill./Carlyle), defensive lineman Trevon Stokes (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove), linebacker Connor Thomason (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour), offensive lineman Kenny Thomason (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour), student assistant Taveous Bell (Rantoul, Ill./Rantoul), student assistant Isaac Boyd (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) and student assistant Dylan Powell (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg).