Game Coverage:
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Two teams riding high will face off on Saturday as the Truman State Bulldogs meet the Quincy Hawks at Stokes Stadium. Truman State is 5-0, ranked 24
th in the American Football Coaches Association Coaches poll and #20
th in the D2Football.com media poll meanwhile Quincy is 4-1 and off to the best start for the program since the 1994 season.
Both teams opened conference play last Saturday with Truman picking off McKendree four times and returning three for touchdowns in a 56-24 win over the Bearcats in Lebanon, Illinois. Quincy scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to break a 24-all tie and downed Southwest Baptist 38-33.
Truman State enters the AFCA Coaches poll for the first time this season after creeping up from the others receiving votes lists since the start of the season. The Bulldogs appeared in the poll in both 2022 and 2021 with the highest-ranking being 18
th.
The Bulldogs are one of 19 undefeated teams in Division II and are fourth in the nation in controlling the clock with an average possession time of over 34 minutes per game. The team is 10
th in third down conversions at 52% and leads the nation in fewest penalties with only 15 accepted through the first five games for an average of 24.4 yards per game.
The Hawks have put up some robust numbers en route to their best start in 29 years. Quincy is averaging 51 points per game while allowing 19 and are out gaining opponents by a 424 to 250 yards per game average. The Quincy defense has picked off eight passes and recovered seven fumbles this season. The offense has averaged 7.1 yards per play with quarterback Drake Davis throwing 15 touchdown passes to only two interceptions.
The Bulldogs have taken eight of the last nine and six straight since the two teams became member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Overall, Truman State holds an 11-2 advantage in the series.
Last year in Quincy, the Bulldogs set season-highs in total offense with 500 yards gained and rushed for 381 yards in a 59-32 win. The Hawks held a 19-14 second quarter lead but a
Denim Cook 47-yard run followed by
Grant Ross' 38-yard field goal at the end of the first half put Truman on top 24-19.
The second half was all Bulldogs. Truman scored 28 straight points to put the game in hand.
Shamar Griffith ran for 177 yards and Cook added 154 and four touchdowns.
A Look Back At Last Week:
The Truman defense picked off four McKendree passes and returned three of them for touchdowns in their 56-24 win on Saturday. It was the first time since a 2012 game at the University of Central Missouri that the Bulldogs snared four passes for interceptions in a contest.
Christopher Kerr got the scoring going after hauling in a 25-yard touchdown pass from
Nolan Hair then on the next McKendree possession,
Thomas Spaulding picked off and returned a pass 19 yards and Truman State led 14-0. McKendree would trail 14-10 in the second quarter before the Bulldogs sliced down the field, going 67 yards in six plays for
Jack Butchko punching it in from two yards out to make it 21-10 Truman at half.
Tate Crane caught a 14-yard pass for a score,
Jake Closser returned an interception 20 yards and
Mason Huskey rushed for a 60-yard touchdown in the third quarter to extend the lead out to 42-10.
Ryan Olivas picked up career interception number 10 and took it home from 67-yards away for the third defensive TD of the day. Olivas would later force a McKendree fumble.
Huskey ran for 100-yards for the third straight game and
Nolan Hair completed 13-of-19 passes for 201 yards.
Zach Zerwig and Crane both finished with over 50 yards receiving.
Quincy trailed 21-10 late in the first half but quarterback Drake Davis engineered an 8-play, 75-yard drive in the final 1:23 of the half to close the gap to 21-17. Travis Isaac caught a 26-yard pass for the score. The Hawks took the lead on a short field following a fumble at the Southwest Baptist four was turned into a touchdown.
The game was knotted at 24 each early in the fourth when JQ Brown scored for two yards out to cap off another 75-yard drive to make it 31-24. Marlin Washington caught a 43-yard touchdown pass to add needed insurance with 3:35 to play as SBU was able to score with 38 seconds left but could not recover the onside kick.
Davis was 11-of-22 for 159 yards and three touchdowns while Dollard came off the bench to lead in rushing yards with 91 on 11 attempts. Washington caught five passes for 111 yards. SBU out gained Quincy 382 to 328 but the Bearcats were flagged 13 times for 105 yards and the Hawks nailed for eight flags for 69 yards.
Truman In The GLVC:
The Bulldogs are in their 11
th season as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and are second in wins with 48 since 2013. The University of Indianapolis has posted a 70-7 league record since the conference initiated football in 2012 while Truman is second with a 48-21 mark. Missouri S&T has 47 wins but have 28 losses to boot.
UINDY was picked first in the GLVC coaches poll back in August with seven of the eight first place votes. Truman was slotted second with 43 points and got the other first place nod.
About the Bulldogs:
Gregg Nesbitt is in his 14
th season on the sidelines second only to the 16 seasons of Maurice "Red" Wade in head coaching years of service at the school. The Bulldogs are 85-57 under Coach Nesbitt and have a 36-8 record since the start of the 2019 season. Last year, Truman State won nine games for the second consecutive season and capped off the 9-2 record with their third "America's Crossroads Bowl" championship. He was the GLVC Co-Coach of the Year last season.
The Bulldogs have averaged close to or more than 200 yards rushing per game over the past five seasons and have scored over 30 points per game in the past four.
Quarterback Hair has started the past 31 games at quarterback and is seventh on the career passing yards list with 5,527 yards. Hair will next catch Don Cummings, who threw for 5,531 yards in 1967-70. He has completed 62% of his passes with 50 touchdown passes. His 50 TD passes is fifth on the all-time Bulldog career list and will chase down teammate Jaden Barr who is next on the list with 52.
Mason Huskey has averaged 6.2 yards per carry in five games while
Tim Johnson Jr. has averaged 3.7 yards per carry. Huskey has also caught seven passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Tate Crane has been the top target with 24 catches for 300 yards and
Zach Zerwig has hauled in 15 catches for 146 yards. The duo is closing in on 1,000 career receiving yards with Zerwig at 982 and Crane at 978.
The Truman defense has been stingy with 20 or more turnovers forced in each of the last three full seasons. The last two years, Truman defense has had 24 takeaways with defensive backs
Ben Thomas (12) and
Ryan Olivas (10) on the career interception lists.
Isaiah Estes is 15 tackles away from reaching the top 25 in career stops as a Bulldog. He is the active leader with 233 for his career. Thomas has 212 career tackles.
Grant Ross has converted on 61 of 63 extra point attempts and has made his last 50 straight. Ross is 4-of-6 in field goals this year.
Mason Gessert has averaged 31.1 yards per punt.
Thomas is averaging 8.6 yards per punt return with a long of 25 in 13 attempts. Thomas has 43 career returns for 503 yards and a long of 64. He now sixth on the career punt return yardage list and can vault to the top three quickly. He is one yard back of Pat Fine (1984-87) for fifth, two back of Jordan Jorgenson (2014-17) for fourth and seven behind Jason Douglas (2002-05) for third. Alfonso Pugh (1999-02) is second with 721 and Eric Holm (1977-80) is the career leader with 809 yards.
Gerry Marteen Jr. has averaged 29.4 yards on seven kickoff returns with a long of 50 this year.
Up Next:
The GLVC schedule makers have next Saturday as the showdown between the perennial top two teams in the conference to meet. The Bulldogs will host the defending league champion, the University of Indianapolis at Stokes Stadium next Saturday at noon. The Greyhounds are 4-0 and will host William Jewell this weekend.
