WICHITA, Kan. – On Homecoming Saturday and an ongoing celebration of the 125^th anniversary of Friends University, the Football Falcons grinded through and pulled out a 36-13 victory over the Tabor College Bluejays tonight (Sept. 20) in front of a packed crowd at Adair-Austin Stadium.

The Falcons got off to a sluggish start, turning the ball over on their first two possessions, but the defense stood strong and made sure there was no harm done by forcing Tabor to punt on both opportunities.

The offense then went with their tried and true ground and pound approach as K'Vonte Baker (39 yards) and Laken Clowdus (30 yards) led the way on a 16-play, 82-yard drive that ate more than eight minutes off the clock and resulted in a two-yard Baker scoring plunge for the first score of the game early in the second quarter.

Late in the half, it was Zach Dressler's turn to anchor a drive with 33 yards on the ground that was capped with a Baker rushing score, this time from two yards out for a 13-0 Falcon lead.

Tabor managed to get on the board before halftime when a 55-yard rush by Jordan Bolden set up a 26-yard field goal by Nathan Heili to make it 13-3.

But the Falcons got the ball back with 40 seconds left and wasn't satisfied with just a 10-point lead and were aggressive with Baker connecting with Kevin Green for 16 yards that led to a successful 38-yard field goal by Cole Thompson to stretch the lead back to 13 points, 16-3 at the break.

The Bluejays then took advantage of another Falcon turnover in the third quarter and drove to the Falcon six-yard line before Ja'coby Smith and Demarieo Sims converged for a big stop on third and two that forced a 23-yard field goal by Heili to again trim the Falcon lead to 10 points at 16-6 with 4:57 left in the third.

Following a turnover on downs on fourth and goal from the Tabor three, the Falcon defense again turned away the Bluejays and set up the Falcon offensive unit in good field position after a 16-yard return by Trey Palmer.

This time the Falcon offensive capitalized in a major way as Baker found a wide open Kaden Rigsby for a 37-yard score that increased the Falcon lead to 22-6 at the 10:38 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Falcon defense forced another Bluejay punt and the offense then began to flex its muscle, embarking on a 10 play, 83-yard drive that featured 15 and 12-yard runs by Clowdus and was capped by Baker's fourth touchdown of the night, a 10-yard scamper that pushed the lead to 29-6 and effectively put the game away with 3:16 remaining.

After the Bluejays found the end zone for the first time on a 10-yard touchdown pass from William Green to Devin Jones, Claude Slaughter III returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to put a nice bow on the Homecoming festivities for the Falcons.

"Tabor has been a tough team this season and have played great defense," said Friends football head coach Terry Harrison. "Our guys did a good job of maintaining their composure in a game that didn't have a great rhythm. I felt like our defense played as well as they have all season!"

The Falcons outgained the Bluejays 449-219 in total offense, with Baker accounting for four touchdowns and 104 yards on the ground along with a career-high 96 yards through the air.

Clowdus enjoyed his best game of the 2023 campaign, rushing for a season-high 126 yards on 15 carries for a robust 8.4 yards per attempt. Dressler finished with 71 rushing yards for the Falcons.

Green threw for 54 yards and Bolden gained 129 yards on the ground, while Jones had 54 yards receiving to pace the Bluejays.

Smith led the Falcons (4-1) with eight tackles on the night and Kendrell Ross had 11 tackles, one sack and three tackles for loss for the Bluejays (0-5).