The Lowdown: No. 21 Friends University at Tabor College

Location: Hillsboro, Kan.   

Kickoff: Sept. 28, 1:00 pm

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

Live Stats: https://shorturl.at/arqtZ

Flying with the Falcons: It took the full 48 minutes, but the No. 21-ranked Friends University Falcons finally topped the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes for the first time in a decade when Cole Thompson's 40-yard walk-off field goal gave the Falcons a 28-26 victory. Friends started the game-winning drive in the shadow of its goal line, but a pair of big runs by Jett Cheatham, including a clutch 10-yard burst on 3^rd and 10 had the Falcons on the move. A pass interference on third and seven then put the Falcons in position for Thompson's game-winning kick.  The win wasn't pretty, as the Falcons fumbled the ball eight times and lost four, but Friends found a way to come away with the win and improve to 4-0 for the first time since beginning the season 10-0 in 2008.

The Falcons have two of the top four rushers in the KCAC, with Elias Pino ranking second in rushing yards per game (125.3) and is tied for the league lead with six rushing touchdowns. K'Vonte Baker is fourth in the conference in rushing (104.3) and tied for fourth with five touchdowns on the ground.

Defensively, Leshaon Davis is second in the KCAC in sacks (3.5) and Barrett Roads is tied for third (3.0). Nolan Ewing is tops on the Falcons with 16 tackles, with Marco Torres (5.5 tackles for loss) and Andrew Arnold (4.5 tackles for loss) serving as major disruptors for Friends.

Including Saturday's game-winning kick, Thompson has hit 4-of-5 field goals and 20-of-22 extra-point attempts this season for Friends.

Scouting the Bluejays: The Tabor College Bluejays bested McPherson College 20-10 to start the season, but have since lost three straight games, most recently 42-0 to now No. 24-ranked Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan.

Sean Hunter has rushed the ball 45 times for 155 yards and Devin Jones has scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Deonte Hill leads the Bluejays with 16 receptions and 176 receiving yards, while Willie Green has passed for 463 yards with one touchdown and seven interceptions.

Dusty Daigle has a team-high 28 tackles and Chris Vixama leads Tabor with 3.5 tackles for loss on the season.

The Series: Friends is 9-11 vs. Tabor since 2004 but won last season's matchup 36-13 at home. The Falcons are 4-5 in Hillsboro, Kan. during that span and have dropped seven of the last 10 matchups to the Bluejays overall.

SCHEELS: We are proud to have Scheels as a sponsor of Friends University Athletics this season!  Click HERE for more info on the Scheels in Wichita.

Conference and National Impact: After hitting the walk-off field goal to give the Falcons their first win over Kansas Wesleyan University in a decade, Cole Thompson was named both the KCAC and Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday (Sept. 23).

Sack Masters: The Falcons are pacing the NAIA this season with 17 sacks, led by Leshaon Davis (3.5 sacks) and Barrett Roads (3.0 sacks). Overall, nine Falcons have at least one sack through four 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 479.5 rushing yards per game this season, nearly 200 yards ahead of second-place Taylor (311.3).  Elias Pino (501 yards), K'Vonte Baker (417 yards), Nick Cordova (224 yards), Jett Cheatham (133 yards), Laken Clowdus (131 yards), Jud Cheatham (123 yards) and Treylan Gross (120 yards) have given the Falcons a 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 104.3 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: 4-0

KCAC Kessinger Division: 0-0

Home: 2-0

Away: 2-0

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: 0-0

Scoring 28 points+: 4-0

Allowing 0-6 points: 1-0

Allowing 7-13 points: 2-0

Allowing 14-20 points: 0-0

Allowing 21-27 points: 1-0

Allowing 28 points+: 0-0

Scoring first: 2-0

Opponent scores first: 2-0

Leading at halftime: 4-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 2-0

Committing more turnovers: 1-0

Turnovers are even: 1-0

Leading in total offense: 4-0

Trailing in total offense: 0-0

Winning time of possession: 3-0

Losing time of possession: 1-0

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.

Mike Gardner is in his 15th 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.     

Up Next: The Falcons will host Sterling College for Homecoming on Oct. 5 for a 1 pm kickoff at Adair-Austin Stadium.