Penn football set to face McKendree
William Penn University Athletics
The hype has been building for weeks as one of the biggest games in Penn football history will be played this Saturday just east of the Mississippi River.
#11 nationally-ranked Penn (7-0, 4-0 MWL) travels to Lebanon, Ill. to face the #16 McKendree Bearcats (5-2, 3-1 MWL) in Midwest League play. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. at Leemon Field as McKendree celebrates its 2010 Homecoming.
STATESMEN ON THE RADIO/TV: Every WPU football game can be heard live on KBOE 740 AM and also accessed on the World Wide Web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wpu.portal#
Mahaska Communication Group (MCG) will also provide television coverage for all home games on its cable network.
SERIES HISTORY: Penn is 1-8 all-time in its series with McKendree, with its lone win coming the last time it played in Lebanon in 2008 (17-14).
The Statesmen allowed the Bearcats to pull out to a 21-0 lead in last year’s game, and despite 14 unanswered points, they were unable to catch their foes.
Ryan Van Dalen rushed for 138 yards and a score, but Penn was outgained 424-361 and committed the only turnover of the game.
The team moved the ball well, but several drives stalled in Bearcat territory, including a Van Dalen-Skyler Crouch completion ending at the McKendree one-yard line as time expired in the first half.
2001 McKendree 27-7
2002 McKendree 10-0
2003 McKendree 42-23
2004 McKendree 30-23
2005 McKendree 12-6
2006 McKendree 42-7
2007 McKendree 37-0
2008 Penn 17-14
2009 McKendree 24-14
CHASING DOWN HISTORY: With a win Saturday, Penn will start the year 8-0 for the first time since 1975. That campaign stands out among all the rest as the Statesmen finished the regular season 10-0 and made their lone playoff appearance.
Dating back to last year, the Statesmen have won nine in a row. Penn has not accomplished that feat since winning ten straight in 1975.
ONLY UNDEFEATED LEFT IN MWL: At 7-0 (4-0 MWL), Penn is the lone program left undefeated in the Midwest League. McKendree, who is ranked #16, and St. Francis (Ill.), who received one vote, are the only teams with one loss in league play.
PENN RANKED IN NAIA & VSN POLLS: Following their defeat of St. Ambrose last week, the Statesmen moved up to #11 in the NAIA’s sixth regular season poll.
The Statesmen jumped two positions to hold the #10 spot in Victory Sports Network’s unofficial poll. McKendree is also ranked, sitting at #21.
DOING WHAT THEY DO WELL: Penn is ranked high statistically in the NAIA with a potent running attack and an equally strong run defense.
Penn tops the NAIA in total rushing yards (2,827) and rushing yards per game (403.9).
The Statesmen’s 320 total points (third) and 45.7 average (sixth) are strong amongst the division, while their tally of 478.1 total yards per game is seventh.
The defensive pass rush unit is also performing extremely well, notching 21 sacks (3.0 per game) with both numbers good for seventh overall.
Miscellaneously, the Statesmen are tops in the NAIA with just 0.1 sacks allowed per game and fifth in the country with a 66.7% fourth-down conversion rate (4-of-6).
Individually, Taylor Parsons (Fr., The Woodlands, Texas, College Park HS) and his 90 points (15 rushing TDs) put him second on the NAIA’s list. His 12.9 point average is fifth.
Jason Johnson (Fr., Geneseo, Ill., Geneseo HS) is also in the top ten, owning a 41.5 punting average (fifth).
WPU/MCK IN PRESEASON POLL: Penn was picked to finish fourth out of eight teams in the MSFA’s Midwest League, while McKendree was chosen to repeat as league champions with five first-place votes.
COACHES: Todd Hafner is in his seventh year as head football coach at Penn, entering the campaign with a 33-34 career record.
Hafner led his 2009 squad to a 7-5 record, including a 5-2 Midwest League mark. The team has now had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1975 and 1976.
The 2008 Midwest League Coach of the Year also guided Penn to the program’s first winning season in 29 years in 2005 when the team was 6-5. Over his six years, Hafner has produced 74 all-conference players and nine All-Americans.
Prior to his career at Penn, Hafner had coaching stops at Carl Junction HS, Southwest Baptist University, Emporia State University, and Pittsburg State University (student coach).
Hafner graduated from Pittsburg State in 1994 with a degree in mathematics.
Carl Poelker is in his 15th season as head football coach at McKendree, owning a 103-43 record entering this fall. He is 191-82-1 overall in 28 years of coaching at the college level.
Poelker has led McKendree to six Midwest League titles and eight playoff appearances. In their 12 years as a member of the MSFA, the Bearcats have the best winning percentage of any Midwest League team. Poelker came to McKendree from Millikin where he was the head coach for 14 years. He graduated from Millikin in 1968.
THE STATESMEN LAST WEEK: Penn avoided a major pitfall on its schedule by holding off St. Ambrose 41-35.
The two programs combined for 936 yards (SAU won the battle 472-464) with the Statesmen rushing for 330 yards.
After allowing an opening-drive score, Penn responded with three straight scores and never trailed again (tied once).
Parsons had a monster of a game, rushing for 152 yards (3 TDs) and passing for 134 yards (2 TDs) en route to being named MWL Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
After losing 11 in a row in the series prior to last year, the Statesmen have now knocked off the Fighting Bees in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1933 and 1934.
MCKENDREE LAST WEEK: The Bearcats dominated Waldorf to the tune of a 58-3 win.
Six different players scored in the win as McKendree tallied 470 total yards of offense, including 328 on the ground.
Marlone Chenault paced the team with 98 rushing yards, while the defense limited the Warriors to 148 yards.
STATESMEN TOP PLAYERS: Parsons leads the Penn offense with 680 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns (129 carries), while Shawn Davis (Fr., Hamersville, Ohio, Western Brown HS) has 92 runs for 667 ground yards and nine scores.
Five other players are also over the century mark in rushing.
With such a potent running attack, the passing game has taken a back seat with Parsons completing 27-of-52 passes for 520 yards and four TDs.
Bernard Luster (Sr., Corinth, Miss., Northeast Mississippi CC) has a team-high 15 receptions for 259 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Sean Colemon (Jr., Burlington, Burlington HS) heads Penn with 33 stops. The trio of Javaras Thomas (Sr., Miami, Fla., Miami Beach HS), Jacob Batterson (Fr., Eddyville, Eddyville-Blakesburg HS), and Rushawn Stewart (Jr., Houston, Texas, Eisenhower HS) all have two interceptions each, while Reggie Franco (Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah, Skyline HS) has 4.5 sacks. Damon Harrison (Jr., Lake Charles, La., Lake Charles Boston HS) leads all players with seven tackles for loss.
Marcus Kerrigan (Fr., Cary, Ill., Cary-Grove HS) headlines the kicking effort as he is 26-for-31 in extra points and 3-for-4 in field goals. Penn is utilizing two punters, Kerrigan and Johnson, both of whom are averaging around 40 yards per punt. Johnson has punted 14 times for a 41.5 yard average, while Kerrigan has kicked nine times for a clip of 39.1 yards.
Andrew Harris (Sr., Horn Lake, Miss., Northwest Mississippi CC) tops the kickoff return group with a 19.8 yard average on 11 attempts, while DeMarco Sanders (Jr., Horn Lake, Miss., Horn Lake HS) owns a 12.6 yard mark on five punt returns. Sanders actually has the best kick return average (23.0) but on just seven attempts.
MCKENDREE TOP PLAYERS: The Bearcats are strong on the ground as well with Jimmy Berezik topping the squad with 485 yards and four scores on 78 carries. Joe Beimfohr, with 60 runs for 380 yards and six TDs, has been a force as well.
Austin Fisher leads the air attack by completing 50-of-101 passes for 697 yards and seven scores.
His top target is Myron Hicks (15 rec., 284 yards, one TD), while 2009 MWL Co-Player of the Year Byron Gettis has added 12 catches for 104 yards and a score.
Jason Rejfek heads the defensive side of the ball with 52 tackles and 8.5 stops for loss. Tim Weidenbacher has five sacks, while Ryan Smith and J.T. Smith both have two interceptions.
Jordan Fark has done well in the kicking game, going 22-25 in extra points and six-of-ten in field goals. Two individuals have shared punting responsibilities with Alex McMahon’s 11 attempts going for an average of 45.1 yards, while Bret Dougherty’s 16 punts have averaged 37.4 yards.
Berezik has taken 11 kickoffs back for an average of 27.3 yards, while Robby Mosher has 11 punt returns for an average of 10.3 yards.
COACH HAFNER SAYS:
On St. Ambrose Game: “It was a great win for our program. We feel that there are three big rivalry games we play each year and St. Ambrose is one of them. To be at the top, we have to win these games. We are extremely excited for this win.”
On McKendree: “McKendree is a very physical team. They have changed a little on offense over the past couple years and spread the ball a bit more, but their bread and butter continues to be the power run game and we have to prepare well for that to stop it. We will try to make them one-dimensional and if we can score early, maybe we can get them out of their game. Their style certainly plays into our strengths a bit, but they are very good at what they do and we will have to play at a higher level than we have ever played before.”
