The Lowdown: Tabor College at Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium, Wichita, Kan.

Kickoff: Sept. 23, 6:00 pm

Live Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/

Live Stats: https://friendsathletics.com/sidearmstats/football/summary

Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons are now 3-1 on the season after being tripped up for the first time this season by a 35-28 score at Kansas Wesleyan University last Saturday night (Sept. 16) in Salina, Kan.  Facing a 35-21 deficit, three separate nine-yard runs by Zach Dressler set the Falcons in scoring position for a 39-yard scoring throw from K'Vonte Baker to Claude Slaughter III to make it a one-possession game with 2:25 still on the clock.

Friends then recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove down to the KWU 16-yard line before a fumble on first down thwarted the attempted rally.

The Falcons are the NAIA's top rushing team in total yards (1804), yards per game (451.0), yards per attempt (7.8) and touchdowns (24).

Leading the charge is quarterback K'Vonte Baker, who ranks second in the KCAC in both rushing yards per game (106.8) and touchdowns (eight). Elias Pino is fourth in the league in rushing yards per game (73.8) and tied for fourth with five touchdowns, with Jett Cheatham right behind with four rushing scores. The Falcons have also got solid contributions on the ground from Zach Dressler (254 yards) and Laken Clowdus (229 yards).

Defensively, the Falcons are led by Ja'coby Smith's 5.8 tackles per game, with Marco Torres and Nolan Ewing each registering 4.3 tackles. Torres is also tied for fifth in the KCAC with 2.5 sacks per outing.

Scouting the Bluejays: The Tabor College Bluejays have lost all four games this season, but gave No. 9-ranked Southwestern College all they could handle last Saturday before falling 20-10.

Tyson Dozhier has passed for 278 yards this season and Isiah Williams has a team-high 96 receiving yards along with touchdown on the season. Jordan Bolden has rushed for a team-best 224 yards on the ground for the Bluejays.

Brooks Gardner leads Tabor with 9.8 tackles per game, while Brandon King and Christian Tuiasosopo have each pulled in two interceptions.  

The Series: The Falcons are 8-11 vs. Tabor since 2004, last winning 17-7 in Hillsboro, Kan. in the 2020 season to snap the Bluejays' five-game winning streak in the series. Tabor has also won the past six games over the Falcons in Wichita and eight of the last 10 matchups overall.  The Falcons' last win over the Bluejays at home was during the 2011 season.   

Ticket Information: Tickets for the matchup today vs. Saint Mary are available at the link below.

https://www.friendsathletics.com/ticketing

Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux: We are proud to have Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux as a sponsor of our Football Falcons this season! Walk-On's is also now the host of weekly football coach's show and is the place to be for all Falcon post-game gatherings this season! If you're not at the game vs. Tabor, be sure tune in for a special Homecoming edition of the Walk-On's Halftime Report featuring Friends University President Dr. Amy Bragg Carey. Click HERE for more info on Walk-On's, including their menu and rewards program. 

Hometown Hero: A Wichita Heights HS product, K'Vonte Baker is still a Falcon and is giving the local fans a lot to cheer about in his first season on the field. Baker is a major facilitator of the Falcons' flexbone offense that is tops in the NAIA in total yards (1804), yards per game (451.0), yards per attempt (7.8) and touchdowns (24).  Individually, Baker ranks second in the KCAC in both rushing yards per game (106.8) and touchdowns (eight).

Historic Start: Prior to dropping their first game last week at Kansas Wesleyan, the Falcons had opened up the 2023 campaign with three victories for the first time since 2008.

Rush Hour: A true staple in head coach Terry Harrison's success as a head coach has been a vaunted rushing attack, and that rang as true as ever this year.  After leading the NAIA in rushing in Harrison's first season at the helm in 2022, the Falcons are back it again and are tops in the nation in total rushing yards (1804), rushing yards per game (451.0), rushing yards per attempt (7.8) and rushing touchdowns (24). Their highest output this season was 528 yards, their most yards on the ground in a single game since 2016.

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 3-1

KCAC: 0-0

Home: 2-0

Away: 1-1

The Falcons record when …

Scoring 0-6 points: 0-0

Scoring 7-13 points: 0-0

Scoring 14-20 points: 0-0

Scoring 21-27 points: 0-0

Scoring 28 points+: 3-1

Allowing 0-6 points: 0-0

Allowing 7-13 points: 0-0

Allowing 14-20 points: 3-0

Allowing 21-27 points: 0-0

Allowing 28 points+: 0-1

Scoring first: 3-0

Opponent scores first: 0-1

Leading at halftime: 3-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-1

Committing fewer turnovers: 1-0

Committing more turnovers: 1-1

Turnovers are even: 1-0

Leading in total offense: 3-1

Trailing in total offense: 0-0

Winning time of possession: 2-1

Losing time of possession: 1-0

The Coaches:

Terry Harrison is entering his second season as the Friends University head football coach.

Harrison appeared to be the perfect choice to lead the Falcon program, and did nothing to change that perception in his debut season. 

Last season, Harrison oversaw the top rushing offense in the NAIA in both total yards (3026) and yards per game (275.1).

Harrison arrived on campus after transforming fellow KCAC member Bethel College into a conference and national power.

After taking over a Bethel program in 2018 that was 1-9 and at the bottom of the league the previous season, Harrison's impact was felt immediately as he installed the flexbone offense and guided the team to finish third in the NAIA in rushing offense (274.4) per game.

The following season, Harrison would begin to affect the wins column by leading the Threshers to a second-place showing in the KCAC with an 8-3 overall record.  Bethel continued to climb the leaderboard nationally, finishing tops in the NAIA in total rushing offense (4,084) and rushing offense per game (371.3) while ranking third in passing efficiency (180.3).

The best was yet to come as the next season, Harrison and the Threshers captured a Co-KCAC regular season championship and an NAIA national playoff berth to wind up No. 13 in the final NAIA FirstDown PlayBook Top 25 poll. The conference championship was the Threshers' first since 2007 and the national playoff appearance represented the first since the 2006 campaign and only the third in school history.

Once again, Harrison's squad set the standard nationally in rushing, leading the country in both total rushing offense (3828) and rushing offense per game (348.0) for the second consecutive season.

Harrison had the Threshers rolling again this year with a 9-2 overall record and a 9-1 league mark that netted the squad their second consecutive co-KCAC regular season title along with a final NAIA national ranking of 17th.

Harrison is embarking on his second go-round as a head coach of the Falcons in Wichita, as he spent five seasons as the head coach of the Wichita Heights High School Falcons.  At Heights, Harrison guided the team to four Kansas 5A regional titles, a district championship and a Greater-Area Wichita-League title along with a 38-16 overall record.  In 2016, Harrison was named the City-League Coach of the Year.

He has also received the opportunity to speak at multiple coaching clinics, with the most recent engagement being the Tulsa Glazier Mega Clinic in 2016.

Harrison was a three-year captain at Sterling College and graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Sciences in Physical Education and Health.  He then earned his Masters of Science in School Leadership from Baker University in 2011.

Mike Gardner is in his 14th season as head coach of the Tabor College Bluejays, his second stint leading the program after leading the team to consecutive KCAC championships during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.  A four-time KCAC Coach of the Year, Gardner returned to Hillsboro, Kan. and led Tabor to three straight KCAC regular-season championships from 2015-17, including a co-championship with Sterling College in the 2017 season. In 2019, Gardner was inducted into the Tabor College Athletic Hall of Fame and ranks eighth among active NAIA coaches in career wins.