The Lowdown: Bethel College at No. 23 Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium    

Kickoff: Nov. 2, 1:00 pm

Live Stream: https://kcacnetwork.com/

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

Flying with the Falcons: Just one week after winning in dramatic, walk-off fashion at then No. 21-ranked Southwestern College, the No. 23-ranked Friends University Falcons fell in the same manner to the now No. 16-ranked Evangel University Valor last Saturday (Oct. 26). With the game tied at 21-21, the Valor got an interception and drove to kick the game-winning 20-yard field goal for the win. The loss is the first of the season for the Falcons, who are now 7-1 overall and 1-1 in KCAC Kessinger Division play.

Elias Pino leads a powerful rushing unit and is third in the KCAC with 98.1 rushing yards per game along with nine scores. K'Vonte Baker is second on the team with 75.6 yards on the ground and is tied for first in the league with 10 touchdowns on the season.

Defensively, Leshaon Davis (4.0) leads the Falcons in sacks, with Barrett Roads (3.5) and Marco Torres (3.0) ranking right behind. Torres also ranks first on the team with 9.5 tackles for loss, while Nolan Ewing (38), Cooper Skrobecki (27), Brock Zerger (26), Marquis Willoughby (24) and Torres (23) are the leading tacklers overall this season for Friends.

The winner of three KCAC Special Teams Player of the Week awards this season, Cole Thompson has hit 7-of-9 field goals and 38-of-40 extra-point attempts for the Falcons.

Scouting the Threshers: The Bethel College Threshers are 4-4 overall but have dropped both KCAC Kessinger Division games at McPherson College and at home vs. (RV) Southwestern College.

DJ Ciers has thrown for 1087 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions along with 390 yards on the ground. Torriano Richardson is the Threshers leading rusher at 89 yards per game and Josiah Buller has a team-high 377 receiving yards on the season.

Tate Seabolt leads the Threshers with 70 tackles and Colton McCarty has a team-high 4.5 sacks. Noah Miller has also recorded a team-leading 11.5 tackles for loss for Bethel.

The Series: The Falcons routed the Threshers 43-0 on the road last season to snap a four-game losing streak in the series. Friends racked up 292 rushing yards in a matchup of the Falcons' NAIA-leading rushing offense and the Threshers' top five NAIA run defense.  Friends is 13-6 vs. Bethel overall since 2005 and is 6-3 in Wichita during that span.

Tickets: If you haven't done so already, purchase tickets to the Falcons' last home game of 2024 HERE!

Military Appreciation Day: We are pleased to celebrate our military today! Veterans attending today's game receive $5 discounted tickets, a free hot dog and will be recognized during halftime. We are grateful for your service!

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. Fantasy Football guru and Director of Casado & Recreation Programs Allen Eberwein will join the "Voice of the Falcons" Pat Strathman for the Sheels Halftime Report Saturday!

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 405.6 rushing yards per game this season, nearly 100 yards ahead of second-place Taylor (313.9).  Elias Pino (687 yards), K'Vonte Baker (605 yards), Nick Cordova (446 yards), Treylan Gross (325 yards), Jett Cheatham (248 yards), Kerrion Hadnot (187 yards), Kaden Rigsby (178 yards), Jud Cheatham (175 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 75.6 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: 7-1

KCAC Kessinger Division: 1-1

Home: 3-1

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: 1-1

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: 1-1

Allowing 28 points+: 1-0

Scoring first: 5-1

Opponent scores first: 2-0

Leading at halftime: 7-1

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 4-0

Committing more turnovers: 2-1

Turnovers are even: 1-0

Leading in total offense: 6-0

Trailing in total offense: 1-1

Winning time of possession: 4-1

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.

Daylon Markham is the interim head coach of the Bethel College Threshers and had previously served on the staff as defensive coordinator. Markham played collegiately at Harding University and was named a Don Hansen NCAA D-II All-American in 2016 while also helping the program win a conference championship that year.

Up Next: The Falcons will hit the road for the final two contests of the 2024 regular season, starting with a 1 pm kickoff at McPherson College next Saturday (Nov. 9).