LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University and Delta State combined for 1,038 yards of offense and 92 points in the Bearcats' 2022 home opener here Saturday afternoon on Celebration of Champions Day at Leemon Field.
 
Delta State would ultimately prevail in the contest as the Statesmen offense combined to score six touchdowns in the second and third quarters en route to posting a 58-34 victory over the Bearcats.  
 
With the setback, McKendree falls to 1-1 on the season and drops its home opener for the second straight season, while Delta State moves to 2-0 on the season.
 
The 58 points are the most allowed by the Bearcats in a game since allowing the University of Indianapolis to score 57 in a 57-28 setback last season at Key Stadium on the UIndy campus. In addition, it is the most points allowed in a home game since allowing 63 to UIndy on Sept. 21, 2019.
 
Despite the setback, McKendree redshirt junior Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) set a new single game record for pass completions with 41 as he finished the game 41-for-50 passing for 384 and added four passing touchdowns. The 41 completions bettered the old school mark of 34 set by Isaac Fisher against both Saint Joseph's (Ind.) and Missouri S&T during the 2014 season. In addition, Pullen had a stretch of 17 consecutive completions in the second half and those 17 consecutive completions are believed to be a school record.
 
Pullen hooked with nine different receivers in the game as sophomore receiver Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University) caught 10 passes for 103 yards, including 5-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to cap the scoring in Saturday's game. In addition to Flager, Jr., redshirt junior Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) caught nine passes for 59 yards to push his career total of 132, which is 18 shy of the school's career mark of 150 set by Cameron James from 2012-15.
 
For the day, Pullen completed nearly 82 percent of his passes and had a quarterback rating of 168.9. With his 384 passing yards, Pullen increased his career total to 5,903 yards and his four touchdown passes increased his career total to 54, which is second-most in program history.
 
"I thought at times our offense played really well. We had three offensive lineman that were out and that is tough to do, but I thought Turner (Pullen) had a lot of poise," McKendree head football coach Mike Babcock said following the game. "I thought we able to have sparks in the run game late, and even though we were down by however many points, the offense being able to continue to go down and score points, I think says a lot about their character and a lot about the guys out there."
 
For the game, McKendree finished with 497 yards of offense on 85 plays and averaged 5.8 yards per play as along with passing for 384 yards, the Bearcats gained 113 yards rushing on 35 carries, including sophomore running back Narkel Leflore (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood) had 101 yards rushing on 15 carries and tallied 176 all-purpose yards as he caught five passes for 57 yards and returned on kickoff for 18 yards.
 
The Bearcats defense got off to a strong start in Saturday's home opener as Delta State quarterback Austin Davidson, who earned his first career start for the Statemen, tossed an interception that was picked off by sophomore defensive back Ethan Young (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) on DSU's third offensive play of the game.
 
On the ensuing possession by the Bearcats, McKendree drove the ball nine plays in 38 yards, but the drive stalled and junior kicker Ryan Kastl (Washington, Ill./Washington) missed his field goal attempt from 42 yards wide right to keep the game scoreless.
 
After both teams were unable to move the ball on their next possessions, Delta State would finally find the end zone on its third possession of the game as Kory Gainwell capped the scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
 
The Bearcats would finally find the end zone just five-plus minutes into the second quarter as sophomore receiver Timothy Middleton II capped a 15-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.
 
Delta State, though, seized the momentum right back on its next possession as Patrick Shegog connected with Dohnte Meyers for a 79-yard touchdown reception to give the Statesmen a 14-7 lead.
 
The Statesmen lead grew to 21-7 with 4:38 left in the second quarter following an eight-yard touchdown run by Christian Malloy.
 
After Malloy's touchdown, the Bearcats would march 75 yards in eight plays and cap the drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to redshirt junior receiver Tyler Siever (Carlyle, Ill./Carlyle). On the drive, Pullen was 5-for-6 passing for 72 yards with the big play on the drive being a 21-yard pass reception to Leflore to put the Bearcats into DSU territory. Siever finished the game with seven receptions for 88 yards. 
 
Following the touchdown pass to Siever, the game was delayed nearly 35 minutes due to a lightning strike that was within eight miles of the stadium. The stadium was cleared and the teams went back to the locker room.
 
When play resumed after about a 40 minute delay, the Statesmen scored on next play from scrimmage after the delay as Shegog once again connected with Meyers for 75-yard touchdown pass to give DSU a 28-14 lead with 1:15 left in the first half.
 
On McKendree's ensuing drive, the Bearcats moved the ball to near midfield with about 40 seconds left, but Pullen tossed an interception that was returned 30 yards from midfield to the McK 18-yard line from Sirvares Snow. Two plays later, the Statesmen pushed its lead to 35-14 after a 3-yard touchdown run by Kelvin Smith with 28 seconds remaining in the first half.
 
The Bearcats once again mounted a drive late in the quarter as they drove 24 yards in four plays, but a holding penalty on sophomore receiver Diontay Griffin (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) on a what was a 35-yard pass play from Pullen to Leflore. The penalty pushed the Bearcats back and they were unable to score to give Delta State a 35-14 halftime lead.
 
"Overall, it was a tough game, especially when you lose by close to 30 points, but I thought we got a little momentum as we were going into the (lightning) delay. We had just scored a touchdown and were down by seven, but I think the wind came out of our sails right after that with four plays and two touchdowns the other way. That was not a good finish to the first half," said Babcock about the momentum lost by his team following the delay.
 
McKendree's loss was aided by nine penalties for 131 yards, while DSU had seven penalties for 68 yards. In addition, DSU recorded four sacks on Pullen against an offensive line that was missing two starters and suffered several other injuries on the line during the game.
 
"When you play good teams, you can't have penalties and shoot yourself in the foot and you have to find a way to keep fighting and keep finishing," added Babcock.  
 
In the second half, the two teams combined for 43 points and 502 yards of offense as DSU scored 23 points and gained 272 yards, while McK scored 20 points and had 230 yards, including Pullen going 21-for-25 passing for 117 yards.
 
Delta State opened the third quarter with another touchdown as Kory Gainwell scored on a 15-yard run to give the Statesmen a 42-14 lead with 12:19 left in the quarter.
 
The Bearcats, though, came right back and marched 75 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to sophomore tight end Jordan Sprycha (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn Community) to cut DSU's deficit to 42-21 with 7:58 left in the quarter.
 
DSU would score another touchdown on its next possession on a 7-yard touchdown run from Shegog to give the Statesmen a 49-21 lead.
 
Nick Herber would give DSU a 52-21 lead following his 36-yard field goal just 67 seconds into the fourth quarter.
 
The Bearcats would answer right back as they used 79-yard drive in six plays and capped the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to Griffin. Pullen was 4-for-4 passing on the drive for 52 yards to pull McK within 52-28 with 11:15 left in the game.
 
On the ensuing possession, DSU added another score on a 9-yard touchdown run by Gainwell, but the extra point was missed to give DSU a 58-28 lead with 7:56 remaining in the game.
 
The Bearcats would cap the scoring on its next drive of the fourth quarter as they capped a 16-play drive with a 5-yard pass from Pullen to Flager, Jr., to pull the Bearcats within 58-34 as the extra point attempt by Kastl was blocked by Malik Jones.
 
Shegog finished the game 12-for-18 passing for 296 yards and had two touchdown passes, while adding 36 yards rushing on seven carries for a total offense of 332 yards.
 
Eight Statesmen carried the ball in the win as Smith led the way with 66 yards on 12 carries, while Gainwell had 10 carries for 47 yards and scored three touchdowns.
 
Meyers caught two passes for 154 yards and had those two long touchdown receptions.
 
Redshirt sophomore defensive end Josh Bleich (Melvin, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) led the Bearcat defense with five tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Redshirt freshman defensive end Chase Maxey (Arnold, Mo./Fox) had four tackles, all solo stops, in his first career start.
 
Tyrell Goldsmith paced the Statesmen defense with eight tackles, while Davontre Henderson had two of DSU's four sacks and added three of their 12 tackles for loss in the win.
 
The Bearcats will look to get back on track as they return to the road for a 5 p.m. Eastern game next Saturday, Sept. 17 at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. Last season, Lake Erie earned a 17-10 win in Lebanon.
 
"Last week was all about how do you handle success and now this week is how you handle failure. What kind of week are we going to have right now going into this next week. This is a team (Lake Erie) that we lost to in a close battle a year ago, on the road at their place, so this is a tough competition for us and I hope the guys are excited to get after it because we have a lot of football season left."