The Lowdown: No. 20 McPherson College at No. 5 Friends University

(Urban Edge Network Featured Game)

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium       

Kickoff: Oct. 18 @ 1:00 PM

Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/2843

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

Flying with the Falcons: Coming off a bye, the now No. 5-ranked Friends University Falcons are a perfect 6-0 this season heading into the KCAC Bissell Division opener following a methodical 28-7 victory over Ottawa University. Read the top takeaways on the Falcons' win at Ottawa HERE!

K'Vonte Baker is tops in the KCAC Bissell Division and tied for first in the NAIA with 13 rushing touchdowns while ranking third on the Falcons in total rushing yards (470). Nick Corova is tops on the team with 512 yards on the ground, followed closely by E'derian Sykes with 499 rushing yards. Cordova has also scored six rushing touchdowns and Michael Lopez is second on the team with seven rushing scores.

Taeylon Garland leads the Falcon defense with 4.5 sacks and Tyson Wallace is first on the unit in both tackles (28) and tackles for loss (6.5). Andrew Arnold and Tyler Lane each have 3.5 sacks on the season.

Truitt Bosher has made five of his six field goal attempts this season and has drilled 44 of 45 extra-point attempts.

Scouting the Bulldogs: The McPherson College Bulldogs are also 6-0 on the season and are coming off a 37-13 win at Bethany College.

The McPherson offense is fueled by running back Jalil Brown, who ranks second in the KCAC Bissell Division and tied for fifth nationally with nine rushing touchdowns. Brown is also first in the division in rushing yards (655) and rushing yards per game (109.2). Quarterback Ryan Markarian is also second in the Bissell Division this season in passing yards (1540) and touchdown passes (16). Kaden Millinder is first on the team in receiving yards (300) and Jamai Rutherford has caught a team-leading five touchdowns.

Jonavan Asuncion leads the Bulldog defense with 43 tackles and Kenneth Ray has a team-high three sacks.

The Series: The Falcons won a thrilling 36-35 contest last year at McPherson to take an 11-10 lead in the series since 2004. Friends also won 66-17 over the Bulldogs in 2023 at Equity Bank Park (formerly Riverfront Stadium) to snap a five-game losing skid in the series. The Falcons now have a 6-5 mark in Wichita in the meetings on record since 2004. Read the full game recap of the past two meetings vs. the Bulldogs below!

2024 Recap

2023 Recap

Tickets: Purchase Football season tickets or single-game tickets HERE!

Farha Roofing: We are proud to have Farha Roofing as a sponsor of Friends University Athletics this season!  Click HERE for more info on the services Farha can offer!

Give em' Five! The Falcons made their first appearance in the top five of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll on Oct. 6 for as long as the NAIA rankings archives go back (2011). Friends remained fifth in this most recent poll, click HERE for the full rankings!

Two-way dominance: The Falcons are pacing the entire NAIA in points per game (61.8) and are now third points allowed per game (7.2), further solidifying their status as the premier complimentary team in the country. Friends is also pacing the nation in both rushing yards per game (488.0), yards allowed per game (155.3), rushing yards allowed per game (19.5) and sacks (26).

What's the Rush?: The NAIA Top 25 matchup between the Falcons and Bulldogs will feature two of the top rushers in the country in K'Vonte Baker and Jalil Brown. Baker is tied for first in the nation with 13 rushing touchdowns and has 470 rushing yards, while Brown is tied for fifth in the nation with nine rushing scores and leads McPherson with 655 yards on the ground. Their success this season comes as no surprise, as Baker and Brown were each named the KCAC Kessinger Division Co-Offensive Players of the Year in 2024.

Rushing to History: The Falcons accumulated a NAIA single-season record 5,351 rushing yards last season under head coach Terry Harrison's pristine flexbone offensive system. Friends is well ahead of the pack again this season with 488.0 rushing yards per game, over 200 yards per game ahead of second place Taylor (Ind.).

Rush Hour: The Falcons have led the NAIA in rushing in all three years of head coach Terry's Harrison's tenure. This rushing success particularly correlates with Harrison, as he's now coached the last six NAIA team leaders in rushing (his last three years at Bethel and all three seasons at Friends.

Hometown Hero: A Wichita Heights HS product, K'Vonte Baker was named KCAC Player of the Year during his first season with the Falcons in 2023 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). Last year, Baker ran for a team-leading 1225 yards on the ground, bolstered by a career-high 214 rushing yards in a 56-10 victory at Avila University (Sept. 14). Baker was named the KCAC Kessinger Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year for the 2024 campaign and was named the Offensive Player of the Game after leading the Falcons with 179 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown in a 47-35 victory over OUAZ for Friends' first-ever NAIA playoff win. He has picked right back up this season and is tied for first in the NAIA with 13 rushing touchdowns along with 470 yards on the ground.  

Click HERE to read Baker describe the thrilling experience of playing in his hometown of Wichita!

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 6-0

KCAC Bissell Division: 0-0

Home: 3-0

Away: 3-0

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 28-34 points: 1-0

Scoring 35+ points: 5-0

Allowing 0-6 points: 2-0

Allowing 7-13 points: 2-0

Allowing 14-20 points: 2-0

Allowing 21-27 points: 0-0

Allowing 28-34 points: 0-0

Allowing 35+ points: 0-0

Scoring first: 4-0

Opponent scores first: 2-0

Leading at halftime: 6-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 3-0

Committing more turnovers: 3-0

Turnovers are even: 0-0

Leading in total offense: 6-0

Trailing in total offense: 0-0

Winning time of possession: 4-0

Losing time of possession: 2-0

The Coaches:

Terry Harrison enters his fourth season as the Friends University head football coach and has transformed the Falcons into a legitimate national contender.

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

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

Last season, the Falcons' progression reached its apex with the program's first conference title since 2008 and first NAIA FCS Playoff victory in school history. Harrison earned KCAC Kessinger Division and Victory Sports Network (VSN) NAIA Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Falcons to an 11-2 record for the team's most wins in the modern era. 

Under Harrison, K'Vonte Baker was named the KCAC Kessinger Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year and offensive lineman Kyree Watkins was selected as a first-team AFCA NAIA Coaches' All-American. Overall, the Falcons averaged 411.6 rushing yards per game, nearly 100 yards ahead of the next closest team (Taylor, 311.7) while also rushing for a nation-leading 58 touchdowns last season.

In 2023, 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.

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.

Jeremiah Fiscus is in his seventh season as head coach of the McPherson College Bulldogs.  Fiscus also played for the Bulldogs from 2006-07 and his previous coaching stops include Northwestern State University, Texas Christian University, Henderson State University and Bluestem High School.

Last season, Fiscus led the Bulldogs to an 8-3 record and a tie for third in the KCAC Kessinger Division along with the program's first win over a ranked opponent since the 2010 season (Evangel).

Up Next: It'll be another KCAC Bissell Division showdown for the Falcons at No. 16-ranked Southwestern College next Saturday (Oct. 25) at 1 pm in Winfield, Kan.