The Lowdown: No. 20 Evangel University at No. 19 Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium    

Kickoff: Oct. 26, 1:00 pm

Live Stream: https://kcacnetwork.com/

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

Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons moved up three spots to No. 20 following a dramatic victory over then No. 21-ranked Southwestern College Moundbuilders last Saturday (Oct. 19) in Winfield, Kan. to remain undefeated at 7-0.  The Falcons won on a play that will be talked about for years and was featured on ESPN's College Football Final, NAIA Top Plays and multiple other media outlets. Camari Geddis scooped up Wetu Kalomo's block of Southwestern's potential game-winning 29-yard field goal attempt and was off to the races for 77 yards to give the Falcons the thrilling 37-31 walk-off victory.

Elias Pino leads a powerful rushing unit and is second in the KCAC with 103.2 rushing yards per game. K'Vonte Baker is second on the team with 74.6 yards on the ground while leading the league with 10 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Defensively, Leshaon Davis (4.0) is fourth in the KCAC in sacks per game, with Barrett Roads (3.5) and Marco Torres (3.0) ranking right behind. Torres also ranks first on the team and second in the KCAC with 9.5 tackles for loss, while Nolan Ewing (28), Brock Zerger (22), Cooper Skrobecki (22), Andrew Arnold (21) and Marquis Willoughby (21) are the leading tacklers overall this season for the Falcons.

The winner of three KCAC Special Teams Player of the Week awards this season, Cole Thompson has hit 7-of-8 field goals and 34-of-36 extra-point attempts for the Falcons.

Scouting the Valor: The No. 20-ranked Evangel University Valor are also unbeaten at 6-0 on the season following a 68-17 thrashing of Bethany College last Saturday.

Evangel sports the KCAC's leading rusher in Eric Williams, who averages 113.5 yards on the ground this season.

Reid Potts has thrown for 1082 yards and 11 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions, with Broc Lyle serving as his favorite target with 373 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

Bradley Myers anchors the Valor defense with a KCAC-leading 10.7 tackles per game along with 7.5 tackles for loss. Zach Myers has also recorded seven stops behind the line of scrimmage this season for Evangel.

The Series: Evangel has won both meetings on record over Friends, including last season's 20-11 win in Springfield, Mo. During the Valor's first season as a KCAC member.  The only other meeting was a 27-14 Evangel win in 2012. This will be the Valor's first-ever trip to Wichita.

Tickets: If you have done so already, purchase tickets to this titanic clash HERE!

SCHEELS: We are proud to have Scheels as a sponsor of Friends University Athletics this season!  Click HERE for more info on the Scheels store in Wichita. Assistant AD of Athletic Performance Joe Belden will join the "Voice of the Falcons" Pat Strathman for the Sheels Halftime Report Saturday!

Clash of the Titans: An undefeated clash between the No. 19-ranked Friends University Falcons and No. 20-ranked Evangel University Valor figures to have major implications on the KCAC Kessinger Division championship. It did last year as well, with Evangel winning 20-11 to hand the Falcons their only divisional setback on the way to an undefeated regular season and winning the inaugural KCAC Kessinger Division.

What's the Rush? The matchup between the Falcons and Valor will feature three of the top rushers in the KCAC. The Valor's Eric Williams tops the league with 113.5 rushing yards per game, followed by the Falcons' Elias Pino at 103.2 yards. Williams has scored nine touchdowns and Pino has found the end zone eight times, but the Falcons' K'Vonte Baker leads everyone in the KCAC with 10 rushing scores.

Movin on Up! The Friends University Falcons climbed four spots to No. 19 in the latest NAIA GoRout Top 25 rating following Saturday's thrilling walk-off victory at then No. 21-ranked Southwestern College. 19th is the highest the Falcons have been ranked nationally since coming in 18th during the 2014 season.

Four Special Weeks: After completing the most dramatic play of the week (and perhaps in school history), Camari Geddis was named the KCAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday (Oct. 21).  That's the fourth straight week the Falcons have earned the league's top weekly special teams award, with kicker/punter Cole Thompson receiving the honor the previous three weeks.

Sack Masters: The Falcons are tied for seventh in the NAIA with 23 sacks, led by Leshaon Davis (4.0 sacks), Barrett Roads (3.5 sacks) and Marco Torres (3.0 sacks). Overall, 12 Falcons have at least one sack through seven games. 

Rush Hour: The Friends University Falcons have led the NAIA in rushing in both years of head coach Terry Harrison's tenure and appear poised to do it for a third straight season. The Falcons are first in the nation with 417.6 rushing yards per game this season, over 100 yards ahead of second-place Taylor (313.1).  Elias Pino (619 yards), K'Vonte Baker (522 yards), Nick Cordova (380 yards), Treylan Gross (299 yards), Jett Cheatham (223 yards), Kerrion Hadnot (187 yards), Jud Cheatham (170 yards), Laken Clowdus (131 yards) and Michael Lopez (108 yards) have given the Falcons an unbelievably deep and well-rounded rushing unit this season. This rushing success particularly correlates to Harrison, as he's now coached the last five NAIA team leaders in rushing (his last three years at Bethel and both seasons at Friends).

Hometown Hero: A Wichita Heights HS product, K'Vonte Baker was named KCAC Player of the Year last season after leading the NAIA in rushing scores (25) and ranking third in rushing yards per game (115.3). His 1268 total rushing yards were the most by a Falcon since 2016 (Jesse Rogers). This season, Baker is averaging 74.6 yards on the ground, bolstered by a career-high 214 rushing yards in a 56-10 victory at Avila University (Sept. 14).

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 7-0

KCAC Kessinger Division: 1-0

Home: 3-0

Away: 4-0

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: 1-0

Scoring 28 points+: 6-0

Allowing 0-6 points: 2-0

Allowing 7-13 points: 2-0

Allowing 14-20 points: 1-0

Allowing 21-27 points: 1-0

Allowing 28 points+: 1-0

Scoring first: 5-0

Opponent scores first: 2-0

Leading at halftime: 7-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 4-0

Committing more turnovers: 2-0

Turnovers are even: 1-0

Leading in total offense: 6-0

Trailing in total offense: 1-0

Winning time of possession: 4-0

Losing time of possession: 3-0

The Coaches:

Terry Harrison is in his third season as the Friends University head football coach.

Harrison appeared to be the perfect choice to lead the Falcon program and has done nothing to change that perception now into his third season at the helm.

In his two seasons thus far, Harrison has overseen the NAIA's top rushing offense in total yards and yards per game.

Last season, Harrison guided the Falcons to their first winning record since 2014 (9-2) and coached 20 All-KCAC players, including KCAC Player of the Year K'Vonte Baker along with NAIA All-American and Rimington Award winner Keegan Martin.

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.

Chuck Hepola is in his 10th season as head coach of the Evangel University Valor after returning to his alma mater in 2015. In their first season in the KCAC last year, Hepola guided the Valor to an undefeated regular season and the inaugural Kessinger Division championship

Hepola brought Evangel to national prominence early in his tenure and earned the Heart South Division Coach of the Year in 2018.

He also guided the Valor to Top 10 NAIA rankings during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Hepola's coaching career includes assistant coaching stops at the University of Tulsa and East Central University while also serving as the Director of Football Operations at Louisiana-Monroe and an associate head coach position at Nicholls State University, an NCAA FCS school in the Southland Conference.

Up Next: The Falcons will host Bethel College in their final regular season home game next Saturday (Nov. 2) at 1 pm.