Football 9/5/2018 8:11:00 AM

Bulldogs Take Aim At Powerhouse Morningside Saturday

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Reboot. Restart. Reset. Do Over. The Truman Bulldogs look to turn the page on a disappointing opener when they host a powerhouse of the NAIA in Morningside College out of Sioux City, Iowa on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs will be looking to rebound after a 20-10 home loss to Michigan Tech last Thursday night. The Huskies controlled the ball for 37 minutes of the game using nearly a 50% success rate on third down (8-of-17) to do so. They got a big 67-yard touchdown on a wide receiver pass to zap the momentum from the Bulldogs after Truman's Jordan Siegel notched his second pick six of his career two plays earlier.

The Bulldog offense could not get on track with 257 yards of total offense. It was the lowest output since last year's opener against the Huskies when Michigan Tech held Truman to only 209 yards of offense. Quarterback Jaden Barr completed 17-of-29 for 128 yards and ran for another 64 yards on 11 rushes but tossed a pair of interceptions, one in the endzone during the opener.

Dante Ruffin made four catches for 38 yards and Jacob Morris added three catches for 37 with 25 yards coming on Truman's first play from scrimmage. Jordan Salima carried the ball seven times for 38 yards with a long of 28.

Travis Myerson and Siegel picked off two passes and A.J. Devecchi recorded the lone quarterback sack. Bryan Edwards, Lawrence Woods and Eric Yakle led Truman with nine tackles apiece.
Morningside brings one of the most prolific offenses in the nation regardless of NCAA or NAIA affiliation. Head Coach Steve Ryan is 155-40 over his 16 year career and the Mustangs have reeled off 18 straight regular season wins coming into Saturday's game. Senior quarterback Trent Solsma has thrown over 8,971 career yards and 98 touchdowns. He would rank just behind Missouri's Drew Lock for eighth place on the NCAA active quarterback career passing yard list.

The Mustangs were 13-1 last year with their only loss coming in the NAIA semifinals to defending and eventual two-time champion Saint Francis (Ind.) 43-36.

Last year, these two teams met for only the second time in their history and first since the 1992 campaign. The Bulldogs held Morningside to a season-low 346 yards of total offense, a good 150 yards shy of their next lowest yard total that came in the national semifinals. Morning side used a big second quarter to go up 28-10 and held on for a 35-30 win.

The Mustangs got on the board first on a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown on Truman's first drive of the game. Truman was down 14-10 after Jordan Jorgenson reeled in a 31-yard pass from Jordan Salima but Morningside then went on a 10-play, 88-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard TD pass from Solsma to Chad Berg. Connor Niles then broke the back of the Bulldogs with an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown just before half.

The Bulldogs got a pair of fourth quarter TDs to get to within five but the Mustangs were able to convert on a pair of third downs in the waning minutes to milk the clock for the victory.
Salima ran for 110 yards and a score for Truman with Jaden Barr completing 16-of-31 passes for 239 yards. Jorgenson was the top target with 12 catches for 199 yards and two TDs. Jenkins ran for 101 yards for Morningside while Solsma was nearly perfect going 17-of-17 for 204 yards and three TDs.

Following Saturday's game, Truman will head out on the road for a pair of games. The Bulldogs return to the state of Michigan for a matchup against Saginaw Valley State next Saturday. The Cardinals are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. Kickoff is scheduled for noon central time.

Behind Enemy Lines…

Morningside has posted a 46-7 record since 2015 with only three losses coming during the regular season.
They have won 18 straight regular season games with the last loss coming on September 24, 2016 against Wisconsin-Whitewater. In fact, both last two regular season losses have come at the hands of UWW.
Last season, the Mustangs were eliminated in the NAIA semifinals by eventual champion, Saint Francis (Ind.) 43-36. Saint Francis also knocked the Mustangs out in 2016 42-35 en route to the title.
Quarterback Trent Solsma has thrown for an eye popping 8,971 yards in his career. That would rank within the top 10 of all active NCAA Division QBs falling 13 yards shy of Missouri's Drew Lock (8,984 yards) on the NCAA list.
Solsma's 98 career touchdown passes would be tied for second among all active NCAA quarterbacks trailing Grand Valley State's Bart Williams (107).
Running back Amijae Ponder was second on the team in rushing last year with 598 yards and seven touchdowns. He is replacing Bubba Jenkins in the starting role as the former GLVC/Southwest Baptist transfer accumulated 2,173 yards last year and 28 touchdowns.
The Mustangs averaged 575 yards of total offense per game last season with a balanced 42 rushing touchdowns and 56 passing scores. They converted on third down nearly 60% of the time and averaged 51.1 points per game.
On the defensive end, Morningside held opponents to 17 points per game a year ago and 350 yards of total defense. The Bulldogs and Saint Francis were the only two teams that scored 30 or more points in a game against Morningside last year.
Former Mustang Caden McDonald led the team in tackles with 102 last year with 14 for loss and five interceptions. Joel Katzer is the returning leading defender for Morningside with 78 total stops last year and a pair of INTs.
As a defense, Morningside had 42 quarterback sacks and 105 tackles for loss while the offense allowed only 11 sacks and 50 TFLs a year ago.

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 NCAA Division II Facebook Live page and produced by the Niles Media Group.

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

#11 Jordan Jorgenson: WR; 5' 10"; 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

#12 A.J. Devecchi: DL; 6' 0"; Sophomore

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

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

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

#20 Travis Myerson: DB; 6' 1"; Junior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#11 Jordan Jorgenson
: 5' 10"; Senior
: WR

#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

#12 A.J. Devecchi
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: DL

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

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

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

#20 Travis Myerson
: 6' 1"; Junior
: DB

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