Football 8/27/2018 8:49:00 AM

Thursday Night Special For Truman Football Opener

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The 2018 Truman Football season will be under the lights at home on a Thursday night when the Bulldogs host Michigan Tech at 7 p.m. on August 30. It is a return of last year's opener in which the Huskies defended their home turf with a 38-14 win.

The Bulldogs finished the 2017 season on a high note with four straight wins and finished the campaign at 5-6. The Huskies struggled in their final seven games winning just once, a 17-10 victory over Davenport (Mich.) and ended the season at 4-7.

Last year, Truman opened the scoring in Houghton, Michigan on a Jaden Barr three-yard pass to Jake Ellis and Barr tied the game with a 75-yard run at the end of the first quarter 14-14. However, the Huskies scored the next 24 points and held the Bulldogs to a season-low 209 yards of total offense to pick up the win.

The Bulldogs return their primary weapons on both sides of the ball with offensive stars Barr and Jordan Salima and defensive stalwarts Sam Reeves, Bryan Edwards and D'Anthony Knight. Barr and Salima accounted for 90% of the offensive yards a year ago. Barr threw for 1,542 yards and rushed for another 598 while Salima rushed for 1,111 yards and caught another 277 out of the backfield.

Reeves was a national leader in both quarterback sacks and tackles for loss. He registered 11.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss on a defense that allowed just under 350 yards per game last year. Edwards is the top returning tackler with 73 last year and comes into his junior year with 130 overall. Knight was absent last season but will bring his three career interceptions and 17 pass breakups to the secondary.

Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt enters his ninth season as head coach and is 43-44 overall. Nesbitt is fifth on the Truman coaching victory list and joins Red Wade (16), H.L. McWilliams (11), Don Faurot (9) and John Ware (9) with at least nine years of service as head ball coach.

Truman was picked fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason coaches poll that was released last month. The University of Indianapolis was the nearly unanimous choice, as coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team, picking up seven of eight first place votes. Missouri S&T got UINDY's nod for the crown and McKendree matched the Miners with 37 total points to tie for second. The Bulldogs, Southwest Baptist, Quincy, William Jewell and Lincoln rounded out the survey.

This is the first of six home games on the schedule with Morningside (Iowa) paying a visit to Stokes next week for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Bulldogs were 2-3 last year at the stadium and 22-21 under the direction of head coach Gregg Nesbitt. Overall, Truman is 311-168-14 at home.

The Series…

This is only the second meeting between the two schools with that last one coming in the opener last year in Houghton, Michigan.
Michigan Tech scored the final 24 points of the game to win last year's game 38-14.
The Bulldogs scored first on a three-yard pass from Jaden Barr to Jake Ellis at the 5:27 mark of the first quarter.
John Williams scored his first of three touchdowns on a 45-yard run to tie the game and Graham Hubbell returned a punt block for a touchdown to put the Huskies up 14-7.
On the next play from scrimmage, Jaden Barr turned in the longest run of the season on a 75-yard scamper to tie the game at 14 near the end of the first quarter.
The Huskies would get a 25-yard field goal and a 68-yard run from Williams to lead by 10 at the half.
They would add touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters.
Williams finished with 176 yards rushing on 21 attempts and 8.4 yards per carry and Marvin Wright totaled 13 total tackles including one sack.
Barr finished with 116 yards rushing for Truman and was 12-of-17 passing for 79 yards.
Jordan Salima was held 37 yards rushing in what proved to be his low mark in both yards in a game and carries with 14.
Jordan Brown led the Truman defense with nine stops and Wyatt Fishel had six of his seven tackles unassisted.
The Bulldogs were just 1-of-14 on third downs for the night and finished with a season low 209 yards of total offense.

Behind Enemy Lines…

The Huskies were picked to finish eighth out of nine teams in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. They were 4-7 last season.
Steve Olson enters his second year as the head coach of Michigan Tech. He is in his eighth season overall with the program after serving as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Projected starting quarterback, sophomore Garrett Young, was 33-of-75 last season in a backup role. He threw for 415 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He replaces senior starter Jake Brown.
James Henderson is the projected starter at tailback and will also be replacing a graduating senior in John Williams. Henderson ran for 388 yards on 112 carries with two touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for 89 yards.
Senior receiver Jacob Wenzlick was a second team all-GLIAC selection last season after leading the Huskies with 41 catches for 444 yards and two scores. Wenzlick was the GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week following the Huskies victory over Truman in week one. Wenzlick had 124 return yards in the game including a 66-yard kick return. He had a 93-yard kick return for a touchdown later in the season.
Left tackle Jeremy Bell is one of three seniors projected to start on the offensive line. Bell was a second team all-GLIAC performer last year. The Huskies averaged 136 yards on the ground per game.
Junior linebacker Marvin Wright returns as Michigan Tech's top tackler from a year ago. Wright made 102 stops and was responsible for three of the defenses' four interceptions.
As a team, the Huskies averaged 17.9 points per game offensively with 273 yards per night in total offense. They allowed 27.5 points scored and gave up 192.9 yards on the ground with 362 yards total per game.

Feed Me…
The Bulldogs averaged 54 running plays per game in their last four to end the season with a season high 71 rushing attempts in the finale against McKendree. Jordan Salima had the most carries of any GLVC back with 253 last year and was second in the conference with 1,111 rushing yards. Salima had nine rushing touchdowns and averaged 4.4 yards per carry.

Double J times two more…
Jordan Salima and Jaden Barr accounted for 617 of the team's 744 offensive plays last year. In addition to his 1,111 rushing yards, Salima caught a team-high 34 passes for 277 yards and tossed a pair of touchdown passes.

Barr gained nearly 600 yards rushing (598) on 125 attempts and threw for 1,542 yards with 11 touchdown passes. In his carer, Barr averages nearly 200 yards of total offense per game.
Sophomore Jake Ellis caught 20 passes for five touchdowns in the first season as a Bulldog tight end and the other tight end, C.J. Brown was an honorable mention all-GLVC performer with eight catches for 107 yards.

Sackmaster…
Junior defensive end Sam Reeves is already among Truman's career leaders in quarterback sacks and tackles for loss. Reeves is fourth on the career sacks list with 22 and 10 back of the record held by Ernie Myerson and is fifth on the TFL list with 32, 10 behind Nic Abbate.

Reeves had 11.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss last year in picking up his second straight first-team all-GLVC honor. Reeves was a national qualifier for the Truman Wrestling team and was voted the "Inspirational Student-Athlete" by his peers last year.

Returning All-GLVC…
Defensive lineman Sam Reeves and kick return/running back Malique Robbins are returning first team all-Great Lakes Valley Conference performers. Reeves was ninth in Division II in quarterback sacks with 11.5 and 42^ndin tackles for loss with 16.

Backfield mates Jacob Morris and Jordan Salima were second team honorees last year while tight end C.J. Brown and linebacker Bryan Edwards were named honorable mention.

Brotherly Love…
The 2018 Bulldogs feature four sets of brothers on the team. Connor and Jack Borisenko, A.J. and Alec Devecchi, Brock and Cade Rohler and Bennett and Brayden Swope.

Bulldogs/Bearcats Selected For National Stage…
For the second straight year, Truman and Southwest Baptist will be featured as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase package. The teams were part of the package last year from Stokes Stadium as the Bearcats downed Truman 21-17. This year's game will take place in Bolivar on October 20 and be available on the ESPN 3 streaming app.

All Truman games this season are streamed free of charge on the GLVC Sports Network with a free audio stream available through KRES 104.7 FM on either IHEARTRADIO and TUNEIN radio apps.

Sportsmanship…
For the third straight year, the Bulldogs earned the GLVC Sportsmanship Award for Football. The award is voted upon by league coaches. Truman was one of the fewest penalized teams in Division II at sixth last year with just over four flags per game. They were third in Division II in penalty yards at 347 for the season or 31.5 per game.
In addition to the Sportsmanship Award, Truman placed 33 players on the Academic All-GLVC team. To earn the award, players needed to average a 3.30 GPA for the academic year.

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Players Mentioned

#92 Nic Abbate: DE; 6' 2"; Junior

#6 Jordan Brown: DB; 5' 7"; Senior

#61 Jack Borisenko: OL; 6' 3"; Freshman

#98 Cade Rohler: DT; 6' 2"; Freshman

#56 Brayden Swope: OT; 6' 4"; Freshman

#15 Jaden Barr: QB; 5' 11"; Junior

#48 Bryan Edwards: LB; 6' 0"; Junior

#83 Jake Ellis: TE; 6' 7"; Sophomore; National Letter of Intent

#7 Wyatt Fishel: DB; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#30 Jacob Morris: FB; 5' 8"; Sophomore; National Letter of Intent

#9 Sam Reeves: DL; 5' 8"; Junior

#5 Malique Robbins: RB; 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#92 Nic Abbate
: 6' 2"; Junior
: DE

#6 Jordan Brown
: 5' 7"; Senior
: DB

#61 Jack Borisenko
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: OL

#98 Cade Rohler
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: DT

#56 Brayden Swope
: 6' 4"; Freshman
: OT

#15 Jaden Barr
: 5' 11"; Junior
: QB

#48 Bryan Edwards
: 6' 0"; Junior
: LB

#83 Jake Ellis
: 6' 7"; Sophomore; National Letter of Intent
: TE

#7 Wyatt Fishel
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: DB

#30 Jacob Morris
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; National Letter of Intent
: FB

#9 Sam Reeves
: 5' 8"; Junior
: DL

#5 Malique Robbins
: 5' 8"; Senior
: RB