LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University football will return to the road for the second time in the 2022 season as the Bearcats travel to Painesville, Ohio, to face Lake Erie College for a 6 p.m. Eastern non-conference game on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium.
 
Saturday's game will be the second road game this season for the Bearcats as they opened the 2022 season on the road on Sept. 1 with a 31-24 overtime win against Northern Michigan.
 
McKendree comes into Saturday's game sporting a 1-1 overall record following a 58-34 setback in last Saturday's home opener against Delta State. The Delta State loss came 10 days after the Bearcats picked that overtime win at Northern Michigan.
 
Against Delta State, the Bearcats gained 497 points and scored a season-high 34 points as the two teams combined for 92 points and 1,038 yards of total offense in McKendree's home opener.
 
Against the Statesmen, redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) set a new single game record for pass completions as was 41-for-50 passing for 384 yards and had four touchdown passes. The 41 completions bettered the old single game mark of 34 set by Isaac Fisher during the 2014 against both Saint Joseph's (Ind.) and Missouri S&T. In addition to the school record 41 pass completions, Pullen had a stretch of 17 consecutive completions in the second half.
 
Pullen hooked up with nine different receivers in the game as sophomore receiver Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University) caught 10 passes for 103 yards, including a five-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring in Saturday's game. Along with Flager, Jr., redshirt junior receiver Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) caught nine passes for 59 yards to push his career total to 132 receptions, which is 18 shy of school's career mark of 150 set by Cameron James from 2012-15 and redshirt junior receiver Tyler Siever (Carlyle, Ill./Carlyle) caught seven passes for 88 yards and had a touchdown reception.
 
On the season, Pullen ranks in the Top 10 in the latest Division II statistics in completions per game (32.0, 1st), completion percentage (.810, 2nd), passing yards (691, 3rd), passing touchdowns (7, 4th), passing yards per game (345.5, 5th), total offense (346.0, 6th) and passing efficiency (178.7, 9th). Pullen is 64-for-80 passing on the season for 691 yards and has had two interceptions and seven touchdowns and is completing 80 percent of his passes.
 
Bachman comes into this week's action sitting ninth in Division II in receptions per game as he is averaging 8.0 per game as he has caught 16 passes for 141 yards and has had two touchdown receptions. In addition to Bachman, Flagler, Jr. has caught 15 passes for 189 yards and is averaging 94.5 yards per game and is 12th nationally in receptions per game (7.5), while sophomore running back Narkel Leflore (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood) has caught nine passes for 133 yards and has gained 156 yards rushing on 29 carries and is averaging 78.0 yards per game and 175.5 all-purpose yards per game, which is 11th nationally in Division II.

As a team, the Bearcats lead Division II football in completion percentage (.810) and is in the Top 20 nationally in third down conversion percentage (.571 percent, 7th), passing yards (345.5, 7th), first downs offense (50, 10th), team passing efficiency (178.6, 11th) and time of possession (33:29, 19th).
 
On special teams, junior kicker Ryan Kastl (Washington, Ill./Washington) is 1-for-3 on field goals and 8-for-9 on the extra points as he has scored 11 points, while redshirt sophomore punter Caleb Barry (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) is averaging 34.0 yards per punt, while Leflore and sophomore receiver Timothy Middleton II (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) have combined to return five kickoffs for 99 yards and are averaging 19.8 yards per return, which is fourth in the latest Great Lakes Valley Conference statistics.
 
In addition, McKendree is fourth in Division II in punt returns this season as they are averaging 29.0 yards per return on the season.
 
McKendree's defense has had its ups-and-downs early on this season as the Bearcats are allowing 498.5 yards and 41.0 points per game. Additionally, the Bearcats have picked off one pass which was by sophomore defensive back Ethan Young (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) last week on the third offensive play of the game by Delta State. The Bearcats have recorded two sacks and eight tackles for loss on the year.
 
Leading the way defensively for the Bearcats through two games this season is redshirt junior linebacker Luca Gualdoni (Johnston City, Ill./Johnston City) as he has recorded 12 tackles, including seven solo stops, while redshirt sophomore defensive end Josh Bleich (Melvin, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) and sophomore linebacker Clark Dilger (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) have each had nine total tackles and have combined for 1.5 tackles for loss each.
 
The Bearcats two sacks have been recorded by both freshman defensive end Tanner Hollerich (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) and Dilger, who have had 1.5 and 0.5 sacks respectively.
 
Saturday's game will mark the third of five non-conference games this season for the Bearcats and the first of two consecutive games for McKendree against an opponent from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference as the Bearcats will host Walsh University next weekend at Leemon Field in Lebanon, Ill.
 
The game with Lake Erie will mark the 21st all-time contest for the Bearcats against a team from the Buckeye State. The Bearcats are 10-10 all-time against teams from the state of Ohio. In addition, Saturday's game will mark the second meeting all-time between the two teams as Lake Erie posted a 17-10 win last season at Leemon Field.
 
McKendree, who will look to open the season 2-1 for the first time since 2018, will return home to Leemon Field for a 1 p.m. game next Saturday (Sept. 24) against Walsh University. McKendree picked up a 24-10 win last season at Walsh.

ABOUT LAKE ERIE
The Storm come into Saturday's homecoming game with McKendree sporting a 1-1 overall record after picking up a 26-21 win last Saturday at Kentucky Wesleyan. The win over Kentucky Wesleyan followed a 35-31 loss at home in its 2022 home opener on Sept. 3 against Hillsdale (Mich.) College. Saturday's game will mark the second home game this season for the Storm.
 
Lake Erie, who was tabbed to finish in a tie for eighth in the Preseason GMAC Coaches poll, comes into action on Saturday boosting an offense that is averaging 28.5 points and 399 yards per game. In their game last win at Kentucky Wesleyan, the Storm gained 331 yards of offense as they have passed for 258 yards and have run for an additional 73 yards.
 
The Storm offense is led by senior quarterback Gerald Gardner, who is 51-for-74 passing for 601 yards and has thrown three touchdowns and one interception. Along with Gardner, senior receiver Nate Dantley leads the receiving corps as he has caught 17 passes for 207 yards and is averaging 12.2 yards per reception and 103.5 yards per game. In addition to Dantley, sophomore Marcus Brown has caught six passes for 102 yards and has had one touchdown reception and junior Jovohn Tucker has caught nine passes for 82 yards and has had one touchdown reception. The Storm's running game is paced by senior running back Raphael Jones, Jr., who has gained 205 yards rushing on 48 carries and has scored five touchdowns and is averaging 4.1 yards per carry and 99.5 yard per game.
 
Perhaps the strength of the Storm is its defense as they are allowing 28 points and 475 yards per game on the season. The Storm have recorded 14 tackles for loss, five sacks, picked off three passes and have forced two fumbles and has blocked a kick. Lake Erie's defense has been strong on third down plays as their foes are converting just 46 percent (13-for-28) of their third down attempts and 46 percent (2-for-5) of their fourth down conversions.
 
Leading the way for Lake Erie's defense is junior defensive back Cameron Grodhaus as he has recorded 11 tackles, including nine solo stops and has picked off a pass and has had two pass break-ups. In addition to Grodhaus, senior linebacker Jayme Vicente-Colon has had 16 tackles, including nine solo stops and has had 2.5 tackles for a loss and senior defensive lineman Michael Cox has had eight total tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a team-best 1.5 sacks.

On special teams, junior kicker/punter Justin Smith is 1-for-2 on field goals and 6-for-7 on extra-point attempts and has scored nine points and is averaging 33.2 yards per punt and has put three punts inside 20 yards. The return game has been led by freshman running back Robbie Sanders, who is averaging 18.0 yards per return.
 
Lake Erie is coached by first-year head coach D.J. Boldin, who served as Lake Erie's receivers coach in 2021. Boldin, who is a graduate of Wake Forest, is the younger brother of former NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin.