The Lowdown: No. 12 Friends University at Avila University

Location: Kansas City, Mo.      

Kickoff: Sept. 6 @ 1:00 PM

Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/

Live Stats: https://avilaathletics.com/sports/fball/2025-26/boxscores/20250906_ycgt.xml

Flying with the Falcons: The No. 12-ranked Friends University Falcons soared in their 2025 season opener with the most points of the modern era in a thorough 73-14 victory over Bethany College Saturday night (Aug. 30) at Adair-Austin Stadium. The Falcons also gained a modern-era record 695 yards to break the previous mark of 672, also achieved against Bethany in the 2023 regular season finale. Read more top takeaways of the Falcons' big season-opening win HERE!

Quarterback K'Vonte Baker rushed for a career-high tying four touchdown passes and threw for another while gaining 129 yards on the ground, highlighted by an 85-yard scoring burst on third and six early in the third quarter. Nick Cordova also rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown, while Jace Martin (two touchdowns), Evan Cantu (one touchdown) and DJ Pearson (one receiving touchdown) all made terrific early impressions in their first career game.

Another newcomer that made a significant impact was kicker Truitt Bosher, who had looked great in practice and carried that over to the field by making all 10 of his extra-point tries and hitting his lone field-goal attempt from 39 yards.

Defensively, Andrew Arnold shined with an interception and a strip sack on the Swedes' first two possessions that got the Falcons off to a hot start. Tyson Wallace led the Falcons with six tackles, with Arnold and Makhi Byrd each making four stops.

Scouting the Eagles: The Avila University Eagles lost 52-7 at McPherson College last Saturday in their 2025 season opener. The Eagles scored to make it 7-7 with 9:51 left in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs reeled off 45 straight points from that point.

Duce Taylor passed for 172 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for the Eagles. Seth Myers caught the touchdown from Taylor, a 60-yard score and finished with 109 receiving yards.

Shamar Scruggs tallied a game-high 16 tackles for the Avila defense.

The Series: The Falcons won 56-10 at Avila last season and have won two straight in the series after dropping the first five meetings on record.  

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!

First Time for Everything: Last season was a historic one for the Falcons, as the program went 11-2 for its most victories in the modern era and secured its first KCAC conference title since the 2008 season. But the Falcons weren't done and defeated OUAZ for their first NAIA FCS Playoff victory in school history.

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 seems poised to threaten that mark this season after rushing for 595 yards in its season-opening victory over Bethany.

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 in his first season with the Falcons after leading the NAIA in rushing scores (25) and ranking third in rushing yards per game (115.3) during the 2023 season. 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 picked right up this season with a career-high tying four rushing touchdowns in the Falcons' 73-14 victory over Bethany last Saturday (Aug. 30).

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 1-0

KCAC Bissell Division: 0-0

Home: 1-0

Away: 0-0

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: 0-0

Scoring 35+ points: 1-0

Allowing 0-6 points: 0-0

Allowing 7-13 points: 0-0

Allowing 14-20 points: 1-0

Allowing 21-27 points: 0-0

Allowing 28-34 points: 0-0

Allowing 35+ points: 0-0

Scoring first: 1-0

Opponent scores first: 0-0

Leading at halftime: 1-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 1-0

Committing more turnovers: 0-0

Turnovers are even: 0-0

Leading in total offense: 1-0

Trailing in total offense: 0-0

Winning time of possession: 1-0

Losing time of possession: 0-1

The Coaches:

Terry Harrison enters his fourth 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 going into 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.

Derrick Alexander is in his third season as head coach of the Avila University football program.

Before taking over as head coach at Avila, Alexander served one season as the wide receivers coach at D-II Wayne State University and two seasons at Morgan State University as the wide receivers and pass game coordinator.

Alexander was familiar with Avila before being named head coach, as he was the Eagles' wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator from

2016-18 after beginning his coaching career as the wide receivers coach at D-III Wilmington in 2015.

A first-round NFL Draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 1994, Alexander played for the Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and

Minnesota Vikings during his nine-year professional career. He also played at the University of Michigan, where he helped the Wolverines win the

1993 Rose Bowl while recording 27 career touchdowns during career in Ann Arbor.

Up Next: The Falcons will return home and host Bethel College Saturday evening (Sept. 13) for a 6 pm kickoff at Adair-Austin Stadium.