Football 10/19/2016 8:09:00 AM

NOTES: Bulldogs Return Home For Homecoming Against William Jewell

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Bulldogs will host the William Jewell Cardinals in the 74^th celebration of Homecoming on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Stokes Stadium.

The Bulldog Football team needs to look no further than the last time William Jewell was the Homecoming opponent for any motivation. In 2014, the Cardinals shocked the Stokes Stadium crowed with 21 unanswered second half points to down the Bulldogs 21-17.

Last year, Truman exacted some revenge when freshman Andy Satulla scored four rushing touchdowns in a 40-28 win for the Bulldogs in Liberty. Satulla gained 125 yards on the ground while Joey Schenck caught 13 passes for 157 yards and a score.

Truman will need to rinse the taste out of their mouth after a horrendous start at #2 Grand Valley State on Saturday. The Lakers picked off two passes and blocked a punt for a touchdown to go up 21-0 in the first six minutes of the first quarter. Grand Valley they would cruise to a 41-3 win over the Bulldogs in a match-up of the GLIAC and GLVC leaders.

The Bulldogs sit atop the GLVC at the halfway point of the league schedule. They have a one game lead over Southwest Baptist and Missouri S&T with victories over both schools in hand. Quincy (3-2), Saint Joseph's (3-2) and McKendree (2-2) are next in the standings and will finish up the Bulldog schedule down the stretch.

The offense has been anchored by freshman running back Jordan Salima, redshirt freshman quarterback Jaden Barr and senior receiver Joey Schenck. Salima is averaging 66 rushing yards per game on 129 attempts, Barr has completed 61% of his passes for 1,138 yards and ran for another 155. He has hit Schenck 28 times for 287 yards and five touchdowns. Freshman receiver Drew Slager has the most receiving yards with 437 on 25 catches.

The defense has held opponents to 18.3 points per game and 372 yards of total offense through the first seven games. Senior Austin Zoda leads the team with 50 tackles while defensive ends Isaiah Hinton (junior) and Sam Reeves (redshirt freshman) have combine for 10.5 sacks.

Jewell is searching for their first win of the season here in week eight. The Cardinals lost 51-28 at home to Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon. The game featured over 1,000 yards combine of total offense with the Bearcats gaining 537 yards and the Cardinals 550 yards. Most of Jewell's offense came through the air with two quarterbacks throwing for 477 yards. Anthony Mullis caught 10 passes for 159 yards and Bulla Graft caught another eight for 130.

UP NEXT:
The Bulldogs will play their final home regular season game of the year when they host rival Quincy at 6 p.m. at Stokes Stadium. The Hawks are 3-2 in the league and will play a non-conference game against Davenport (Mich.) on Saturday.

YOUNG PUPS:
The Bulldogs have had eight true freshmen make their debuts this season. They are running back Jordan Salima, receivers Drew Slager and Cam Nisbet, full back Hayden Holt, offensive lineman James Mitchell, defensive lineman Jake Floyd and defensive backs Lawrence Woods and Jordan Siegel.

The top four leaders in total offense, Barr, Salima Andy Satulla and Malique Robbins and five of the seven all-purpose yardage leaders are in either their first or second year playing.

Of the 63 players that have taken the field this season 60% or 38 are listed as true freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores.

BLOCK PARTY:
The Bulldogs are second in Division II with four blocked punts this season. Central State (Ohio) leads the nation with five. They have blocked a punt in each of the last three games.

Two belong to redshirt freshman Taylor Manes (against Grand Valley St and Southwest Baptist) and one each by junior Jordan Brown (Midwestern St.) and sophomore Jake Hays (Indianapolis).

COUNTDOWN TO 1,000:
The final game of the 2016 season at McKendree will be the 1,000^th game in Truman Football history. The Bulldogs began playing football in 1900 and have won 561 games, second most of any NCAA school in the state of Missouri and 10^th among all Division II schools in wins. Truman's overall record is 561-401-34 (.580).

MILESTONE WATCHES:
Senior defensive back Austin Zoda is 13^th in career tackles (291) having past Jesse Cooper, Tameem Yehyawi, Garry Geisz, Tony Ippolito and Pete Grathwohl with 10 in the win over Southwest Baptist. To get to the top 10, he will need 304 tackles. Zoda averages 7.4 tackles per game.

Senior Joey Schenck has 118 pass receptions and is one away from cracking the Truman Top 10. For his career, he has 118 catches for 1,140 yards and 11 touchdowns. Alfonso Pugh is 10^th with 119 catches from 1999-2002.

TARGETING:
Schenck has been targeted 44 times by Bulldog quarterbacks making 28 catches for 287 yards. Drew Slager has been thrown to 35 times; making 25 catches for 437 yards and a touchdown.

A total of 15 receivers and backs have had passes their direction this season with 13 making receptions.

MONEY PLAYS:
Drew Slager leads Truman with 19 "Money" receptions. Those are plays that result in either a first down or touchdown. So 19 of Slager's 25 catches have resulted in first downs or touchdowns this year with 12 coming on third downs.

Jordan Salima has 22 rushes that have resulted in first down or touchdowns.

GLVC GAMES:
Truman is 18-9 since joining the GLVC in 2013 and has outscored opponents by 219 points. The Bulldogs have held opponents to 99.1 yards rushing per game and have had nearly 30 sacks more than opposing defenses.

In the first half of league games, Truman has outscored GLVC foes by 259 points (421-162) and has only allowed 40 first quarter points in the 27 league games (1.4 points per quarter).

THIRD DOWNS:
This season, Truman has converted on third downs 42% of the time, up from 35% last season. In the first quarter of games, the success rate is 51% (18-of-35) while opponents in the first quarter is at 21% (5-of-23).

The offense has had 20 "three and outs" through the first seven weeks, last year through the same seven week span, the Bulldogs had already had 30 three and outs.

OTHER NUMBERS:

The Bulldogs are ranked first in the GLVC in the following stat catagories: 4^th Down conversions (63%), Blocked Kicks (4), Blocked Punts (4), Completion Percentage (59.7%), Fumbles Lost (2), Kick Return Defense (16.5), Passes Had Intercepted (4), Red Zone Defense (59%), Rushing Defense (111.3), Scoring Defense (18.3) and Turnovers Lost (6).

The Bulldog defense has allowed only five individual opponents in conference to rush over 100 yards since joining the GLVC in 2013 (a span of 34 games). Last year, Bubba Jenkins of Southwest Baptist has the most by an opposing back with 125 yards.

Grand Valley St. Post Scripts:

The Lakers outgained the Bulldogs 522 to 127…they averaged 7.6 yards per play to Truman's 2.2.
GVSU scored points on their first six possessions of the game.
Brock Rohler had nine punts (the one blocked is counted as a Team Punt) and averaged 40.8 yards per with a long of 56 with three inside the 20.
Eric Yakle had his first career fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
The announced attendance of 13,635 was the largest Division II crowd Truman has played in front of and the largest since a 1996 game at Missouri State (15,097).
Grand Valley evens up the all-time series with two wins apiece. The teams will meet in Kirkville next year.

PLAYER NOTES:
Running Backs:
Freshman Jordan Salima leads team with 466 yards on 129 rushing attempts. He has four rushing touchdowns and one TD receiving…he had one, 100-yard rushing game (125 vs. Lincoln) and is averaging 16.1 carries per game…he has 11 kick returns for 335 yards (30.5/return) with a long of 76…was the GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week following the September 17^th game against Missouri S&T and the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week following the September 24^th game against Lincoln…currently ranked 56^th in Division II in All-Purpose Yards/game (131.8) and ninth in Kick Returns (30.5).

Sophomore Andy Satulla has 149 yards on 38 attempts (3.9/carry) with two touchdowns…has three catches for 28 yards…longest rush of the season was 25 against Lincoln and most yards on the day was 54 also against the Blue Tigers…had a career best 172 yards last season against St. Francis and scored four touchdowns against William Jewell to earn GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Sophomore Malique Robbins has 35 carries for 116 yards and a long run of 11 against Malone in week two…has five receptions for 40 yards…has nine kick returns for an 18.9 yards per return average and a long of 40…single game high is 17 rushes for 77 yards against Lincoln.

Quarterbacks:
Redshirt freshman Jaden Barr has started the last six games (5-1 record) and has completed 104 of 170 passes (61%)…in the first quarter of games, Barr has completed 37-of-55 passes (67%)…he has 81 rushing attempts for 155 yards and a long of 24…single game highs, passing 245 yards twice (vs. Malone and vs. Southwest Baptist) rushing 78 (vs. Indianapolis)…longest pass is 60 yards against Missouri S&T.

Sophomore Randy Schroeder has started seven games including the season opener against Midwestern State…his career high is 274 yards in a single game last year against Southwest Baptist on 23 completions and longest pass was 61 yards also against SBU.

Receivers:
Senior Joey Schenck has been targeted 44 times with 28 receptions for 287 yards and five TDs…longest reception this year is 27 yards against Malone…season high is 101 yards on nine catches against Southwest Baptist…will enter Truman's Top 10 in career receptions (118) with one more and has 1,140 yards and 11 career touchdown receptions…has three career 100+ yard receiving games with a high of 157 against William Jewell in 2015.

Freshman Drew Slager has 25 catches for a team-leading 437 yards…is averaging 17.5 yards per catch and has 19 receptions for either a first down or touchdown…has 12 receptions on third down and a total of 14 catches on 18 targets on third or fourth down…have four catches over 40 yards including a long of 60 against Missouri S&T…season high is 90 yards against SBU and most catches is six against Malone.

A total of 13 receivers have been targeted this year. Among the other notables are Jordan Salima with 18 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown, junior Kyle Spratt with 10 receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns, junior Jordan Jorgenson with nine catches for 80 yards and a touchdown, freshman Cam Nisbet with three receptions for 40 yards and a long of 26 and three others by Andy Satulla and sophomore C.J. Brown.

The Bulldogs have 11 receiving touchdowns this year, up from seven a year ago.

Offensive Line:
Three seniors are among the five starters on the offensive line including returning all-conference honoree in center Brad Wellman. He is joined by left tackle Colby Dohrman and right guard Kyle VanNess. Wellman has started the last 38 games at center.

Sophomore Nick Verbeck (Left Guard) and junior Matt Kaysinger (Right Tackle) fill out the starting line up on the line.

The line has allowed 16 quarterback sacks for 98 yards and 57 tackles for loss for 194 yards. The Bulldogs are fourth in the GLVC in sacks allowed with 2.2 per game.

Defensive Line:
Redshirt freshman Sam Reeves leads Truman with nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Reeves has 34 total tackles with a single-game high of eight against Southwest Baptist…He was one win away from qualifying for the Division II National Wrestling tournament at 197 pounds.

Junior Isaiah Hinton has five sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss…he had two sacks in Truman's win over SBU for 10 yards lost, including a fumble recovery…has single-game highs of six stops in three games this year.

Senior Kyle Leckrone has made 15 stops starting at tackle…he has one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Junior Brett Judkins has 18 tackles including five for loss and two sacks in seven games…he had a key sack on third down against the University of Indianapolis late in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Jon Scheeler has 27 total tackles with 6.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks…has had a sack in five of the seven games this season…has been credited with three quarterback hurries.

Senior Austin Zoda is the team leader in tackles with 50 this year and is closing in on to the Truman Top 10 in that category. Zoda has 291 career stops and will crack the list when he reaches 304…his single game high this season is 10 vs. Southwest Baptist and his career high is 15 against Grand Valley St. as a freshman…he has 11 career games of 10 or more tackles.

Junior Ben Wellman is second on the team with 46 tackles…he had his second 10+ tackle game in season opener against Midwestern St. (10)…Wellman has two QB hurries and 2.5 tackles for loss.

Junior Jordan Brown started as a true freshman and has played in 29 career games…he has the most active tackles for loss for his career with 17.5…he has three interceptions with two being returned for scores…had three TFLs against Malone in week 2 and a season-high 11 stops in week 1 against Midwestern State.

Junior Ben Chaney has four career interceptions and the longest scoring play for the Bulldogs this season…Chaney's 97-yd INT return against Missouri S&T was the second longest return in school history…has four career INTs.

Junior D'Anthony Knight is tops on the team with 11 pass breakups…he has also been credited with a fumble force and recovery and picked off a pass against Indianapolis with an 18-yard return.

Redshirt Freshman Taylor Manes is eighth in Division II and leads the GLVC with two blocked punts this season…he is the 16^th player in Truman history to block multiple kicks in a season with the last being Richie Schumacher in 2012…Marc Carson has the record of 3 in 1988.

Sophomore punter Brock Rohler is averaging 40.2 yards per punt (39 attempts) with a long of 61 at Missouri S&T…was the GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week following Truman's win over Lincoln in which he put all five of his punts inside the 20 yard line and 3 inside the 10…Rohler has 11 punts inside the 10 yardline this year…averages 56.3 yards per kickoff with four touchbacks.

Junior place kicker Nick Dolezal has converted on 5-of-9 field goal attempts with a long of 33 this year…he has made 19-of-20 point after attempts…for his career, he had made 16 of 23 FGs with a long of 43 and 46-of-52 PATs…his 16 FGs is ninth on Truman's career list and his 46 PATs is one away from cracking the top 10.

Junior Jordan Jorgenson has returned 20 punts for 240 yards (12.0/return) with a long of 48 (against Malone)…Jorgenson also has two returns for 36 yards (against Lincoln and Southwest Baptist) and another for 18 yards (Missouri S&T)…his 240 punt return yards is already fourth in Truman single-season history…the Bulldog record is 310 by Alfonso Pugh in 2002.

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