McPHERSON – Kansas Wesleyan Football dropped its final non-division contest of the season on Saturday as the Coyotes fell to McPherson College 42-13 at McPherson Stadium.
The loss drops the Coyotes to 2-4 on the season heading into the conference-wide bye week next week that couldn’t come at a better time for the injury-laden Coyotes.
A pair of KWU turnovers led to 14 McPherson points, as Luke Armstrong’s fumble on the second play of the third quarter led to a short field and touchdown for the Bulldogs and a strip sack in the fourth would lead to Bulldog points on the next play.
Things started out well for the Coyotes on their first drive after forcing McPherson into a 3-and-out to open the game. The Coyotes then turned around and covered 46 yards on six plays capped by Zarek Fewell’s 29-yard run with 10:48 to go and Talon Cope’s kick made it 7-0.
McPherson answered right back, driving 52 yards on seven plays after a long return gave the Bulldogs good field position to start the drive. Jalil Brown scored from nine yards out with 8:06 left in the quarter to tie things up at 7-all.
Wesleyan drove to the McPherson 6 on its next drive but stalled there settling for a 23-yard Cope field goal with 4:16 left in the first.
The Coyotes led 10-7 after a quarter.
McPherson took the lead in the second, scoring twice, the first on a 6-yard pass from Tristan Szabo to Dillion Coleman with 9:52 in the quarter and the second on a 42-yard run by Szabo with 5:11 left.
The Bulldogs extended the lead in the third, scoring two plays after Armstrong’s fumble on the second play of the second half to extend the lead to 28-10.
Wesleyan drove to the McPherson 12 on the next drive, but again stalled there settling for a 29-yard Cope field goal with 8:24 left in the third making it 28-13.
The Bulldogs added another score in the quarter, and capped things with a fourth quarter touchdown after a KWU fumble.
KWU had 253 yards of total offense in the game, 151 passing as Richard Lara was 17 of 30. Fewell led the Coyotes with 70 yards on nine carries. Earl Gray had four catches for 62 yards.
Szabo was 12 of 22 for McPherson for 95 yards, and threw three touchdowns. Brown had 19 carries for 142 yards and a pair of scores. Brown also added three receptions for 34 yards, while Coleman had three for 24 yards and two touchdowns.
Myles Elam had another huge day on defense with 18 tackles, while Daren Hawkins added 11.
The Coyotes are now off until October 19, which is Homecoming for the Coyotes. KWU hosts Avila in a 1 p.m. kick that afternoon at Gene Bissell Field at JRI Hospitality Stadium at the Graves Family Sports Complex.
