The Lowdown: No. 13 William Penn University at No. 4 Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium          

Kickoff: Nov. 29 @ 1:00 PM

Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/7622

Live Stats: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2025-26/boxscores/20251129_vgjv.xml

Tickets: https://tickets.friendsathletics.com/event/friends-football-second-round-playoff-game-0sztnk

Flying with the Falcons: The fourth-ranked and 11-0 Falcons completed their first undefeated regular season since 2008 and have won consecutive KCAC championships after posting a perfect 5-0 record in the Bissell Division. Friends is making its second straight appearance in the NAIA Football Championship Series (FCS) after posting its first-ever FCS playoff win last year (47-35 over OUAZ).

K'Vonte Baker is tops in the KCAC Bissell Division and second in the NAIA with 26 rushing touchdowns while also leading the Falcons in total rushing yards (1013). Nick Cordova is second on the team in rushing (815) followed by E'derian Sykes (809). Michael Lopez has rushed for 644 yards and is second to Baker with 10 rushing scores on the season.

Jairo Castillo leads the Falcons and is tied for second in the Bissell Division with six sacks, followed closely by Taeylon Garland with 5.5 sacks. Castillo is also first on the team in tackles for loss (11.0), with Tyler Lane right behind with 10.5 tackles behind the line. Tyson Wallace (47 tackles) and Andrew Arnold (36 tackles) are the leading tacklers this season for Friends, while Joshua Flash has a team-high four interceptions and Kasey Lehman has three picks.   

Truitt Bosher has made eight of his nine field goal attempts this season and has drilled 85 of 86 extra-point attempts.

Scouting the Statesmen: The No. 13-seeded William Penn University Statesmen are 11-1 overall following a 38-9 win over No. 20 Texas Wesleyan University to advance to this second-round game.  The Statesmen's only loss of the season was 41-9 to top-ranked and defending NAIA National Champion Grand View University.

The Statesmen's offense is anchored by Destynd Loring, who now leads the NAIA in both rushing touchdowns (29) and rushing yards (1774) following a four-touchdown and 192 rushing yard performance against TWU. Sterling Ramsey II has passed for 2385 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, with Amir Everett leading the receivers with 1023 yards and nine touchdowns.

Lloydarius Garner leads the Statesmen defense in sacks (3.0) and tackles for loss (9.0), while Jeremiah Dennard has six interceptions followed by Marquis Harry with five picks. Omari Campbell is tops on the William Penn defense with 63 stops.

The Series: The Falcons and Statesmen haven't met in the modern era, but Friends has won all three meetings overall. The last matchup between the two schools occurred in 1954.

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!

Kansas Army National Guard: We are thrilled to have the Kansas Army National Guard on board with us this year as an official sponsor! Click HERE to visit their website. 

Rush Hour: The top two rushers in the NAIA in finding the end zone will be on full display when the Falcons meet the Statesmen.  The Falcons' K'Vonte Baker ranks second in the NAIA with 26 rushing touchdowns, trailing only William Penn's Destynd Loring's 29 rushing scores following Loring's four touchdown game Saturday (Nov. 22) vs. Texas Wesleyan.

Familiar Foe: Matt Byers, William Penn's co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach, was previously at Friends University and served as the Falcons' interim head coach for the final six games of the 2021 season prior to current head coach Terry Harrison's arrival for the 2022 season.

Familiar Foe II: Even though Friends and William Penn haven't met since 1954, Friends head coach Terry Harrison and William Penn head coach Marc Benavidez have quite a bit of recent history at different schools. The two coaches squared off four times while Harrison was at Bethel and Benavidez patrolled the sidelines at Avila, with Harrison winning three of those outings. The two last crossed paths in 2022 in Harrison's first year at Friends and Benavidez's final season at Avila, with Benavidez getting the best of that matchup. Overall, Harrison has a 3-2 record head-to-head vs. Benavidez.

New Heights for the Heights Product: K'Vonte Baker rushed for four touchdowns in the Falcons' 69-3 victory at Saint Mary in the regular season finale (Nov. 15) to break his own modern-era single-season record with 26 rushing scores. Baker also reached 3,506 career rushing yards at Saint Mary to eclipse Jesse Rogers' modern era rushing record set back in 2016. 

Well-deserved Conference Recognition: K'Vonte Baker, Kyree Watkins, Terry Harrison and Eric Kelly each reserved top awards in the 2025 All-KCAC selections. Baker is the KCAC Player of the Year and Watkins is the KCAC Offensive Lineman of the Year, while Harrison is the Coach of the Year and Kelly earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors. Harrison was also the Bissell Division Coach of the Year and Kelly finished in a three-way tie for Bissell Assistant Coach of the Year. This is the third Player of the Year nod for Baker, as he was also named the 2023 KCAC Player of the Year in 2023 and was selected as the Co-Offensive Player of the Year last season. This is also the second consecutive Coach of the Year honors for Harrison and Kelly. Read the full All-KCAC release HERE!

Previous History: The Falcons are making their second consecutive appearance in the NAIA Football Championship Series (FCS) and won their first-ever FCS playoff game last year with a 47-35 victory over OUAZ.

Common Opposition: The Falcons and Statesmen's last losses have both came against the top-seeded and defending NAIA National Champion Grand View University Vikings.  The Falcons led 17-7 at halftime in the NAIA Second Round last year before Grand View rallied with 14 unanswered in the second half on the way to the national championship, while William Penn fell 41-9 to the Vikings on Oct. 4 for their only setback of the season.

Half as good: The Falcons are 11-0 on the season and have led going into halftime in all 11 games this season.

Two-way dominance: The Falcons are pacing the entire NAIA in both points scored per game (57.5 ppg) and points allowed (10.8 ppg), further solidifying their status as the premier complimentary team in the country. Friends is also leading the nation in both rushing yards per game (481.9) and rushing yards allowed (58.3) per game.

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 and are currently just 51 yards shy of breaking their own NAIA single-season mark set last season.

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 then 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 second in the NAIA with a single-season modern-era record 26 rushing touchdowns along with a team-leading 1013 yards on the ground in earning his third career KCAC Player of the Year award.  Baker also now has a modern-era record 3506 rushing yards for his career.

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

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 11-0

KCAC Bissell Division: 5-0

Home: 6-0

Away: 5-0

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: 10-0

Allowing 0-6 points: 4-0

Allowing 7-13 points: 3-0

Allowing 14-20 points: 2-0

Allowing 21-27 points: 0-0

Allowing 28-34 points: 2-0

Allowing 35+ points: 0-0

Scoring first: 8-0

Opponent scores first: 3-0

Leading at halftime: 11-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 5-0

Committing more turnovers: 3-0

Turnovers are even: 3-0

Leading in total offense: 10-0

Trailing in total offense: 1-0

Winning time of possession: 6-0

Losing time of possession: 5-0

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 with a No. 4 seed this season and the program's second consecutive appearance in the NAIA FCS.

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.

Marc Benavidez is in his third season as head coach of the William Penn University Statesmen, with this season representing a breakout year for Benavidez and the program.

Benavidez is familiar with Friends and the KCAC, having been the head coach at Avila University for five seasons (2018-22). He was named the KCAC Coach of the Year after leading Avila to a 10-2 record, a share of the conference regular season title and the program's first-ever appearance in the NAIA FCS.

He also played collegiately at Avila and was a four-year letterwinner for the Eagles.

Up Next: With a win over William Penn, the Falcons would host a NAIA FCS Quarterfinal matchup next Saturday (Dec. 6) at Adair-Austin Stadium.  Opponent and game time would likely be determined Saturday (Nov. 29) evening following the conclusion of the second-round games.