[Football] Football Falcons' Rally Falls Short to McPherson

WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons' rally on Homecoming Saturday (Oct. 9) came up short in a 24-17 setback to the McPherson College Bulldogs at Adair-Austin Stadium.

The game was tight through most of the contest until the Bulldogs got a go-ahead 76 yard touchdown pass on third and 12 from Tristan Szabo to Joe Smyth to lead 17-10 with just 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

That margin stood until Braylen Moody found the end zone from one yard away with 4:45 left in the game to give McPherson a seemingly insurmountable two-possession lead.

But not only would the Falcons not go quietly, they made their share of noise as Joshua Morris (SO/Mt. Pleasant, Texas) scampered for 27 yards to the McPherson 38 yard line before departing with an injury.

Alex Duran (SO/Ventura, Calif.) then came into the game and hit Cade Nagy (SO/Broken Arrow, Okla.) for a 15 yard gain before connecting again with the Broken Arrow, Okla. native for a 23-yard scoring strike to make it a one-possession game with 1:33 left on the clock.

After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt, Nolan Ewing (FR/Spring Hill, Kan.) made one of his 3.5 tackles for loss on fourth and three to give the Falcons the ball back at their 38 with still 1:07 left.

The Falcons moved into Bulldog territory with a 19 yard pass from Duran to Waylan Chance and a pass interference penalty on fourth and 10 kept the drive alive.

But a sack on fourth and 12 thwarted the Falcons' comeback attempt as the Bulldogs came away with the win.

The Falcons struck the first blow in the late stages of the first quarter when Morris found Kevin Green (FR/Waxahachie, Texas) in the right corner of the end zone to take advantage of great field position set up by a sack from Kevin McKenzie (SR/Keota, Okla.) and Tucker Trevett (FR/Wichita, Kan.).

In the second quarter, it was the Bulldogs capitalizing on great field positon at the Falcon 20, but the Friends defense stood tall and forced a 25 yard field goal by Caden Bush that put McPherson on the board.

The Bulldogs then found the end zone for the first time on the day with another short field that resulted in a two-yard touchdown pass from Szabo to Melvin Reid on fourth and goal.

Friends pulled even on their first possession of the second half as a 41-yard field goal by Bobby Schmidt (JR/Sapulpa, Okla.) made the score 10-10.

The Falcons outgained the Bulldogs 237-214 in total offense and held a slight edge in time of possession (22:42-22:12).

Duran (55 yards) and Morris (53 yards) combined for 106 passing yards with one touchdown each.  Morris also rushed 14 times for 70 yards.

Laken Clowdus (FR/Barlesville, Okla.) led Friends with 72 yards on the ground and Nagy had a team-high 47 receiving yards.

Szabo threw a pair of touchdowns and was 15-of-25 for 161 yards.  Smyth had three receptions for 87 yards and one score for McPherson.

Jagger Blubaugh (SO/Wichita, Kan.) had one sack and a team-high nine tackles for the Falcons (0-5, 0-5 KCAC). Jacoby Smith (FR/Lakewood, Colo.) recorded seven stops and Ewing tallied six tackles, with 3.5 behind the line of scrimmage.

Cory Chairs led the Bulldogs (3-2, 3-2 KCAC) with nine stops and Jacob Goad had 1.5 sacks.

The Falcons will next be at Sterling College next Saturday afternoon (Oct. 16) at 1:30 pm in Sterling, Kan.