The Lowdown: Tabor College at No. 7 Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium            

Kickoff: Sept. 19 @ 6:00 PM

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

Live Stats: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2026-27/conf/KCAC_-_Kessinger/boxscores/20260919_1kse.xml

Tickets: https://tickets.friendsathletics.com/

Flying with the Falcons: The No. 7-ranked Friends University Falcons moved to 3-0 on the season after an 83-24 rout of the Bethel College Threshers last Saturday (Sept. 12) in North Newton, Kan. The Falcons exploded for 41 points in the first quarter and never looked back in the win. The first quarter scoring avalanche was executed from all angles and featured two rushing touchdowns, two passing scores and a pair of defensive touchdowns.  Friends produced in multiple phases, rushing for 341 yards and three touchdowns while completing 7 of 10 passes for 271 yards and six touchdowns, the most single game passing yards and touchdowns of the Terry Harrison era. Read the full game recap of the Falcons' victory at Bethel HERE!

Elon Conley (215 yards), Joey Millspaugh (197 yards), Nick Cordova (160 yards), Evan Cantu (142 yards), E'derian Sykes (127 yards) Michael Lopez (124 yards) and Walker Overman (114 yards) lead an extremely balanced Falcon rushing attack this season. Following Saturday's biggest passing day of Harrison's tenure, DJ Dingle has thrown for 220 yards and four touchdowns and Overman now has 122 passing yards and three scores on the season. DJ Pearson leads the team with three receptions for 89 yards.

Tyson Wallace has a team-high 24 tackles for the Falcons along with two sacks. Cale Milleson now has a team-leading 2.5 sacks on the season, while Jake Lucky leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss. Mikah Rocco's two interceptions are also tops on the team this year.

Through three games, the Falcons are tops in the NAIA in points per game (76.3) and rushing (435.3 yards per game). Defensively, the Falcons are pacing the NAIA in defensive touchdowns (four), tackles for loss (37) and fumble recoveries (seven) this season.

Scouting the Bluejays: The Tabor College Bluejays are 1-2 on the season after battling No. 18-ranked McPherson College last Saturday but coming up short 21-13.

Jerome Stewart has passed for 282 yards this season, with Grady Gebhardt (132 yards) and Keyan Miller (114 yards) combining to lead the charge on the ground for Tabor. Tyson Dozhier leads the team in receiving yards (135) and Weston Rock has caught a team-leading nine receptions.

Zach Sandoval has recorded a team-high 22 tackles for the Bluejays, while Darriene Gibbs is pacing the defense in tackles for loss (6.5) and sacks (two). Brandon King and Kelton Williams each have two interceptions this season, with King being named the KCAC Defensive Player of the Week this past Monday after both of his interceptions came in last Saturday's loss to McPherson, including a 97-yard pick six.

The Series: The Falcons won 59-15 at the Bluejays last season and have now won three straight meetings in the series. Friends is an even 11-11 against Tabor overall since 2004, with a 5-6 home mark during that stretch.

Dondlinger Construction: We are proud to have Dondlinger Construction as a top sponsor of Friends University Athletics this season!  Click HERE to visit their official website and learn more on the services Dondlinger can offer!

Featured Falcon: Click HERE for a brand-new feature story on Falcon defensive back and Derby native Brock Zerger!

Special Teams, Special Players: Michael Lopez was named the KCAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday after taking a return to the house for the second straight week, this time a 90-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff of the second half last Saturday at Bethel. Read the full release HERE!

Highest scoring team in all the land: The Falcons are currently averaging an NAIA-leading 76.3 points per game this season, including a school modern-era single-game record 85 points in the season opening win at Bethany. In fact, the 76.3 points per game scored by the Falcons is the highest in all of college football among teams that's played at least two games.  

One Step (or two) at a time: The Falcons climbed two spots to No. 7 in the latest Stadionic NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 poll, the national office released earlier this week. Click HERE for the complete poll!

Student-athlete success: The NAIA released their 2025-26 Scholar Team awards on Tuesday (Sept. 15) as part of its annual NAIA National Awards Day. Every Falcon sport that was eligible earned the award, with the criteria being a minimum 3.0 team grade-point average. (Men's and Women's Powerlifting are not recognized as NAIA sports). Read the full release HERE!

Rushing to More History: The Falcons accumulated a NAIA single-season record 5,351 rushing yards in 2024 under head coach Terry Harrison's pristine flexbone offensive system only to break their own mark last season with 5,979 rushing yards.

Rush Hour: The Falcons have led the NAIA in rushing in all four years of head coach Terry's Harrison's tenure. This rushing success particularly correlates with Harrison, as he's now coached the last seven NAIA team leaders in rushing (his last three years at Bethel and all four seasons at Friends). The Falcons are off and running again this season with an NAIA-leading 435.3 yards per game on the ground.

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 3-0

KCAC Bissell Division: 0-0

Home: 1-0

Away: 2-0

The Falcons record when …

Scoring 0-9 points: 0-0

Scoring 10-19 points: 0-0

Scoring 20-29 points: 0-0

Scoring 30-39 points: 0-0

Scoring 40-49 points: 0-0

Scoring 50 + points: 3-0

Allowing 0-9 points: 0-0

Allowing 10-19 points: 2-0

Allowing 20-29 points: 1-0

Allowing 30-39 points: 0-0

Allowing 40-49 points: 0-0

Allowing 50+ points: 0-0

Scoring first: 2-0

Opponent scores first: 1-0

Leading at halftime: 3-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 3-0

Committing more turnovers: 0-0

Turnovers are even: 0-0

Leading in total offense: 3-0

Trailing in total offense: 0-0

Winning time of possession: 2-0

Losing time of possession: 1-0

The Coaches:

Terry Harrison enters his fifth season as the Friends University head football coach and has transformed the Falcons into a legitimate national contender and a consistent conference title threat.

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

He has now earned consecutive KCAC Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Falcons to back-to-back conference titles and a program-record 12 wins in 2025.

This past season saw the Falcons lead all four-year college football in points per game (54.2 ppg) and advance to the NAIA FCS quarterfinal round for the first time in program history.

In his four seasons thus far, Harrison has overseen the NAIA's top rushing offense in total yards and yards per game. The Falcons also broke their own NAIA single-season rushing record with 5,979 rushing yards last season.

Individual players continued to thrive under Harrison's tutelage, with quarterback K'Vonte Baker winning his third KCAC Player of the Year award last year and Kyree Watkins being named the KCAC Offensive Lineman of the Year. 

In 2024, 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, Baker was named the KCAC Kessinger Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year and offensive lineman 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.

The 2023 season saw Harrison guide the Falcons to their first winning record since 2014 (9-2) and coach 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.

Mike Gardner is in his 17th 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.  Last season, Gardner guided the Bluejays to a 5-6 record and a 3-2 mark in the KCAC Kessinger Division.

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 fifth among active NAIA coaches in career wins.

Up Next: The Falcons will go on the road for a challenge at No. 17-ranked Evangel University. Kickoff next Saturday (Sept. 26) in Springfield, Mo. is set for 6 pm.