Football 10/20/2021 8:25:00 AM

Bulldogs Seek To Clip Cardinals For Homecoming Saturday

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – It will be the 77^th edition of a homecoming football game on the Truman State University campus on Saturday when the Bulldogs host William Jewell (Mo.) College at 2 p.m. It will be the third time in the GLVC era that the Cardinals will be the opposition on homecoming with the last being in 2016, a 31-24 Bulldog win.

Truman will be looking to get back on track following a 27-21 loss at Southwest Baptist University last Saturday in Bolivar. After the Bulldogs took a 7-0 lead on a Cody Schrader touchdown carry, the Bearcats scored 17 straight points and picked up crucial third down conversions in the second half to hold off Truman for the win. SBU quarterback Cooper Callis threw for 401 yards with two receivers recording over 100 receiving yards apiece.

Schrader notched his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game (101 yards/27 attempts) and quarterback Nolan Hair completed a season-high 25 passes with Matt Hall becoming the first Bulldog this season go have 100 yards receiving in a game.

Schrader has already gained over 1,000 yards for the season (1,145) and is third in Division II in both rushing yards and rushing yards per game. UINDY's Toriano Clinton leads the nationa and conference with 1,287 yards and 183.9 per game. Jordan Terrell of Barton (N.C.) is second with 1,245 yards (177.9/g).

The Bulldogs are tops in the GLVC against the run having allowed only 75 yards per game on the ground this season. Opponents have averaged 342 yards total for a game with the bulk (267) coming via the air. On the offensive side, Truman's bread and butter is the ground game with 197 per game rushing and 183 passing for a total of 380.0/game.

William Jewell is searching for win number one for head coach Mike McGlinchey. The Cardinals are 0-7 this season and lost all three games during the spring season including a 34-15 defeat at Stokes Stadium to Truman back on April 10^th. Jewell's most recent loss came on Saturday to Missouri S&T 37-16.

The Cardinals grabbed an early 6-0 lead on the Miners with Livingston Benoit catching a 19-yard pass from Anthony Pritzel on the game's opening possession. The Miners scored 14 straight points to end the first quarter and led 30-9 at halftime. Jalik Jaggwe hauled in a 25-yard pass from Bart Harris midway through the fourth quarter to account for the last Jewell score.
Pritzel has completed 48% of his passes for 974 yards and six touchdowns this season with Jaggwe leading the corps with 33 receptions for 384 yards. As a team, the Cardinals average 306 yards of total offense per game while allowing 476 (137 rushing/338 passing).

Pritzel tossed for over 300 yards in the Cardinals visit to Stokes last April but a blocked punt for a touchdown and Jaylen Jefferson racing 58 yards for a touchdown put Jewell down 13-0 after one quarter. A safety gave the Cardinals their only points in the half while Jake Ellis and Schrader each notched touchdowns to have the Bulldogs up 27-2 at the break. Schrader busted off a 66-yard run to cap Truman's scoring while the Cardinals got a five-yard run by Pritzel and a 26-yard pass to Grant Latina to end the scoring at 34-15.

Schrader rushed for 142 yards on the night on 23 carries and Hair completed 11-of-16 for 126 yards. Pritzel finished with 302 passing with Jaggwe collecting five balls for 122 yards receiving.
While the all-time series is fairly tight at 11-8-2, the modern day version has been all Bulldogs. Truman has won the last six game and seven of eight since the two starting playing each other in the GLVC. The only Cardinal win was at Stokes Stadium during homecoming in 2014 when Jewell erased a 17-0 Truman lead at half to win 21-17. The teams played 13 games prior to 1923.

About the Bulldogs:
Offense:
Schrader is the 13^th Bulldog back to gain 1,000 yards or more in a season and it has been done 22 times in school history. His 1,145 yards are tied with Jordan Salima's total from the 2019 season and good for 13^th on the single-season rushing list. He will next pass Garrett White (1,166) with eyes set for Andrew Gillespie's 1985 total of 1,201. He is one rushing touchdown (14) shy of cracking the single-season top 10.

Schrader is the 16^th Bulldog player to gain over 2,000 career rushing yards (2,233) which is good for 13^th on the career chart. He is roughly 110 yards back of Mike Harris.

Quarterback Nolan Hair is 8-3 as the starter and is nearing a career milestone as well. He has thrown for 2,079 yards in 11 games and became the 20^th Bulldog to throw for 2,000 career yards. Hair this season has completed 60% of his passes for 1,261 yards and 10 scores.

Truman has had 13 different players catch passes from Hair this season led by Dante Ruffin's 28 and Matt Hall's 22. Ruffin has three receiving touchdowns and 291 yards this season while is also the active leader in receiving yards with 1,207 on 108 receptions. Ruffin can crack the top 25 in receiving yards with 84 yards. Jake Ellis is second on the active list with 1,154 yards on 93 catches and is tied for the school record for career touchdown receptions with 22.

The Bulldog offense is third in Division II in fourth down conversions at 84% (11/13). They are third in rushing yards per game in the GLVC at 197.0 and have won 33 straight games when running for over 200 yards in a contest dating back to the 2010 season. Truman is averaging 30.6 points per game.

Defense:
The team is the top ranked team in the GLVC and sixth nationally against the run. Truman has held opponents to 75.1 yards per game and only two of the six opponents this season have gained over 100 yards. The most rushing yards allowed was 154 by Lindenwood.

Truman is third in the GLVC in scoring defense having allowed 25.6 points per game.

Ben Thomas and Isaiah Estes are Truman's tackle leaders with 54 and 52 stops respectively. Thomas has 10 pass breakups, an interception and 2.5 tackles for loss. Estes had four TFLs and is coming off a 14-stop performance against Southwest Baptist on Saturday.

Six Bulldogs have recorded an interception this year with Peyton Carr leading the group with two. He has the only pick-six of the season, which came against Missouri S&T.

The Bulldogs have had 51 tackles for loss this season and 17 quarterback sacks. True-freshman Jack Marth has been creditied with three QB sacks and five TFLs while Ulysses Ross (8.5 TFLs) and Robert Greco (7.0 TFLs) are the leaders.

Eight of the top 11 defenders this season have played in 11 or fewer career games only Ben Watson (23), Estes (21) and Thomas (19) have played in more games.

Special Teams:
Truman is second nationally and first in the conference in kick return defense. They allow opponents only 12.3 yards per kick return. Josh Scheiderer is averaging 55.5 yards per kickoff with nine touchbacks.

Scheiderer is 4-of-9 on field goal attempts with a long of 46 this season. He has converted on 26-of-27 point after touchdown attempts. Scheiderer has 237 career points which ranks him sixth on the career scoring list at Truman. His 36 field goals is one shy of tying for second all-time and he is second alone in PAT kicks made with 127.

Punter Taylor Cornish is the GLVC leader in punting with a 39.8 yards per boot mark. He has 29 punts on the season with two touchbacks, eight fair catches and 10 inside the opponents 20. His long this season was 54 yards.
Jaylen Jefferson has dropped to third in Division II after leading the nation in kickoff return yards at 36.4 per attempt and has two kick return touchdowns. He has 11 returns for 385 yards.

Ben Thomas has 11 punt returns for 119 yards (10.8/return) with a long of 26.

Miscellaneous tidbits:
The Bulldogs are 24-7 in their last 31 games played. In those last 31, Truman has averaged 33.8 points per game while allowing 21.4. They have outscored their opposition by 373 points (1015-642).

Truman appeared in both the American Football Coaches Association Division II Top 25 and the D2Football.com media poll. The Bulldogs were 18^th in the AFCA and 22^nd in the D2Football polls the week of September 27. They dropped out of both polls following the loss to Lindenwood and for the first week this season, did not pick up any votes in the poll.

Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt is second in school history in coaching wins with 67 and has the second-longest coaching tenure at the school in 11 seasons. He is 67-54 all-time and 39-19 in GLVC games played since joining the league in 2013.

The Bulldogs are tied for ninth in Division II in all-time wins with 591 in 113 seasons. Virginia State is also ninth with 591. Northwest Missouri is eighth with 604 wins.

Truman is 47-27-2 in homecoming games since the first event occurred on campus on November 3, 1939.

Three of Truman's seven overtime games have occurred on homecoming in 1999, 2007 and 2008.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will play consecutive home games since September 14/21 of 2019 when they return to Stokes Stadium next Saturday to face their closest Division II opponent, Quincy University. The Hawks are 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference and will host Indianapolis this Saturday in Quincy. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr: DB; 6' 0"; Freshman

#98 Taylor Cornish: P; 6' 4"; Junior

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

#33 Isaiah Estes: LB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#51 Robert Greco: DT; 6' 1"; Junior

#6 Nolan Hair: QB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Matt Hall: TE; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#4 Jaylen Jefferson: RB; 5' 9"; Senior; National Letter of Intent

#41 Ulysses Ross: LB; 5' 10"; Freshman

#11 Dante Ruffin: WR; 5' 11"; Senior

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

#7 Cody Schrader: RB; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: DB

#98 Taylor Cornish
: 6' 4"; Junior
: P

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

#33 Isaiah Estes
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: LB

#51 Robert Greco
: 6' 1"; Junior
: DT

#6 Nolan Hair
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: QB

#10 Matt Hall
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: TE

#4 Jaylen Jefferson
: 5' 9"; Senior; National Letter of Intent
: RB

#41 Ulysses Ross
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: LB

#11 Dante Ruffin
: 5' 11"; Senior
: WR

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

#7 Cody Schrader
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: RB