The Abilene Cowboys season came to an end Friday night, in the opening round of the playoffs, at McPherson in a 63-7 loss to the Bullpups.  It was the fifth straight loss in the series for Abilene and the second their second loss to the Bullpups this year.  The Cowboys fell to McPherson on September 27, 48-3 in just two quarters in a game called early because of lightning.  With the loss Friday night, Abilene recorded their first winless season since 1967.  That year the Cowboys went 0-8-1 with a tie to rival Chapman.

McPherson was dominant from the start as they raced out to a 49-0 halftime lead.  There was a running clock in the second half.  McPherson scored their first touchdown courtesy of a punt block from future Kansas State Wildcat, Cody Stufflebean.  The 6’5” 238 Senior, blocked his second Abilene punt this season and Brycen Labertew scooped and scored from 10 yards out to give the Bullpups the early 7-0 advantage with 9:45 to play in the first quarter.

McPherson would then score touchdowns on six straight possessions to close the first half.  Jakob Feil would start the offensive onslaught with a 4 yard run with 5:40 to play in the opening quarter to increase the lead to 14-0.  Quarterback, Kaleb Hoppes would add the next score on a 1 yard run with 4:49 to play in the first quarter to extend the lead to 21-0.  Finally Aiden Hoover would take it in from 27 yards out to increase the lead to 28-0 with 1:52 left in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter it was more of the same as Matt Ramey scored on a 43 yard run with 9:26 to play in the half to increase the lead to 35-0.  Jonah Clarke would then get into the act for the Bullpups with a 3 yard run to make the score 42-0 with 2:56 left in the second quarter.  Finally, Feil added his second touchdown, on a 14 yard run with 1:01 to play in the half to make the score 49-0 at halftime.

The second half turned into a junior varsity game as McPherson’s Anthony Brooks would scored two touchdowns in the 4th quarter.  His first came on a 13 yard run with 10:29 to play in the game, that increased the lead to 56-0.  He finished up the scoring for the Bullpups on a 23 yard run with 5:30 to play to make the score 63-0.  Abilene finally got on the board with 49 seconds left on a Jackson Randles 68 yard touchdown pass to Kaleb Becker.

Abilene was limited to 108 yards unofficially in the game and had -2 rushing yards.  McPherson finished with 312 yards and had their numbers held down because they used the short field all night long.  McPherson started 7 of their 10 drives in Abilene territory.

McPherson remained undefeated with the victory, and the top-seeded Bullpups will now get a rematch with Goddard.  The Lions ended the Bullpups season last year 15-14 in the semifinals, in a game that was played in McPherson.  Goddard, the #8 seed in the west, defeated Rose Hill 32-14 on Thursday night.