Football 9/17/2019 1:23:00 PM

NOTES: Football Begins To Receive Poll Votes; Hosts Valpo Saturday For Family Night

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Bulldogs picked up a pair of votes in the latest American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25-poll will host FCS-Valparaiso (Ind.) on Saturday for Family Night. The Bulldogs join conference schools Indianapolis (ranked 14) and Missouri S&T (ARV) in the weekly survey of coaches.

Truman enters the game 2-0 after a 35-12 victory over Wayne (Mich.) State on Saturday afternoon. A big second quarter that saw the Bulldogs score two touchdowns in 11 seconds and put up 24 total points was the signature moment of the game. Jordan Siegel earned GLVC Special Teams player of the week honors after stripping Warrior return man Kyle Lewis at the 28-yardline and scoring just 11 seconds after Truman took a 10-0 lead. The Bulldogs would get three touchdowns, two passing and one rushing, from quarterback Jaden Barr and a pair of field goals from Josh Scheiderer.

Valparaiso is at 0-2 and has lost 11 of their last 13 contests dating back to last season. They were handled by Eastern Kentucky in the season opener 53-7 and last week at home by Central Connecticut State 42-13. First year head coach Landon Fox will bring the Crusaders into Stokes Stadium on Saturday with an offense that averages 237 yards per game and a defense allowing 452 per game, including 324 on the ground.

Truman/Valparaiso Series Notes:
This is a rematch from last year's inaugural meeting between the two schools. After a slow first half by Truman that saw the Bulldogs trail 7-6 on a pair of Scheiderer field goals, Jaden Barr hooked up with Mitch Nichols on a 75-yard catch and run for the lead early in the third quarter. That play ended up being the longest pass play from scrimmage in the 2018 season and gave Truman the lead they would not relinquish.
Barr would rush for 118 yards and the team total was 265 on 56 attempts.

Lawrence Woods' 92-yard kick return in the fourth quarter gave Truman a two-touchdown advantage as they went on to defeat the Crusaders 34-20.

Post Game Notes Against Wayne State:

Jaden Barr hit a pair of milestones in his 155-yard passing day. Barr crossed the 5,000 passing yard plateau and 40 touchdown pass mark during the game. He jumped two spots to seventh on career passing yards with 5,074 and is tied for fifth in career touchdown passes.
Barr had 16 rushing yards to close to within 91 for 2000 in his career and he will become just the 15th player and first quarterback to rush for 2,000 yards in a Truman uniform.
Redshirt freshman Cody Schrader led Truman in yards on the ground against Wayne with 69 on nine attempts. He had a season-best 36-yard scamper and averaged 7.7 yards per carry. Schrader caught one pass out of the backfield for eight yards.
Jordan Salima jumped two career spots in rushing attempts with his 13 on Saturday. Salima in now fourth with 651 attempts and is 100 away from catching Dale "Paley" Mills for third place.
After a near disastrous 11-pentalty game in week one, Truman cleaned up and had just one flag thrown against them on Saturday. The last time the Bulldogs had a game that clean was October 10, 2015 against Southwest Baptist when only one flag came out against for five yards.
Both Wayne and Truman had balanced offensive numbers with the Warriors gaining 296 yards of total offense to Truman's 293 yards. The main difference was the forcing of three WSU turnovers which led directly to 17 points.
The Bulldogs did not have a kick return in the game as two of the three Wayne kickoffs went for touchbacks and the other was an onsides attempt that was called for illegal touching by the kicking team. Again in 2015, this time against St. Joseph's College, was the last time this occurred. The Bulldogs won that game 10-3 with both Puma kickoffs going for touchbacks.
Eric Yakle and Jordan Siegel were credited with the fumbles forced with Siegel getting the touchdown return on his strip of the kickoff return for a touchdown. Ben Watson recorded his first career interception to account for the three turnovers forced by the Bulldogs.
Yakle led a balanced defensive effort with seven tackles, six solo. 18 players had at least two tackles among the 68 recorded.
Yakle had half of the teams' four tackles for loss with Sam Reeves, Jake Floyd and A.J. Devecchi earned the others. Devecchi had the lone quarterback sack.
Truman led in possession time, was 47% successful on third down and was 4-of-5 scoring in the redzone with two touchdowns.
Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt was coaching in his 100^thgame on the Truman sideline marking just the second Bulldog head coach to achieve 100 games. With the win, Nesbitt moved to 51-49 overall and is now three wins away from tying John Ware for third on the all-time wins list.

Behind Enemy Lines…

Valpo was 2-9 last season and were 0-6 in games played away from Brown Field. They have dropped their last nine road games dating back to 2017 with their last win being a 21-18 triumph over Stetson in DeLand, Florida.
The Crusaders were tied with Morehead State with 15 points apiece in the Pioneer Football League preseason coaches' poll.
Quarterback Chris Duncan, who missed the Truman game last year, led the Crusaders in passing with 1,781 yards and 14 touchdowns. In two games this year, he has thrown for 330 yards and one score.
Kyle Cartales had 45 of his team-high total 419 yards against the Bulldogs last year and scored four touchdowns. Cody Boxrucker along with Cartales and Riley Allison have carried the ball for Valpo this year but the team has averaged only 67 yards per game thus far.
Cartales is the leading receiver with eight catches while Ollie Reese has the most receiving yards with 92, 61 coming on a touchdown grab.
Jaxon Peifer and Jamari Booker are tied for the team lead in tackles with 13 each.
The Valpo defense has allowed 452 yards on average in the first two games with 324 yards per game coming on the ground. They have allowed seven touchdowns in eight redzone visits by the opponents while the offense has one touchdown in four trips to the redzone.

Up Next:
The GLVC season will open up next Saturday with Truman taking the short trip over to Quincy for the lid lifter. The Hawks are currently 2-0 as well and will be hosting Wayne State on Saturday in their home opener. Last year, Truman won 41-7. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. from QU Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

#13 Mitch Nichols: WR; 5' 9"; Senior

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

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

#93 Jake Floyd: DL; 5' 10"; Senior

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

#2 Jordan Salima: RB; 5' 10"; Senior

#99 Josh Scheiderer: K/P; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#21 Cody Schrader: RB; 5' 9"; Redshirt Freshman

#1 Jordan Siegel: DB; 5' 10"; Senior

#8 Lawrence Woods: DB; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#13 Mitch Nichols
: 5' 9"; Senior
: WR

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

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

#93 Jake Floyd
: 5' 10"; Senior
: DL

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

#2 Jordan Salima
: 5' 10"; Senior
: RB

#99 Josh Scheiderer
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: K/P

#21 Cody Schrader
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Freshman
: RB

#1 Jordan Siegel
: 5' 10"; Senior
: DB

#8 Lawrence Woods
: 5' 9"; Junior
: DB