Young, but Developed, Experienced, and Talented; 2025 McPherson Bullpup Football Season Preview

McPHERSON, Kan. – The McPherson Bullpups faced a roller coaster of a 2024 season as injuries and a tough schedule resulted in a 5-5 season.

The teams McPherson lost to in the 2024 season finished with three or fewer losses, including in the playoffs. The first loss came in week one against Great Bend, a 5A superstar team featuring future NCAA DI talent who didn’t lose a game until the playoffs. As the middle of the season emerged, McPherson started dealing with injuries to their starters and made unforced errors, which aided their losses to other tough teams Chanute and Mulvane.

Following the loss to Mulvane in week six, McPherson saw themselves at 3-3. Even though The Bullpups went 2-2 following, it was, as head coach Jace Pavlovich puts it, the best football they played. After shutting out Augusta on the road 32-0, the regular season ended with a close loss to Buhler. With the 4-4 record, they were able to clinch a home field advantage for week nine, and after a couple of early blows, the Bullpups flew past Abilene 41-20 to win the first round of the playoffs. McPherson then faced an unenviable task: Facing No. 1 seed Wamego in a chilly downpour. McPherson fought to the very end, but a late Wamego touchdown ended the season for the Bullpups.

Given the tough battles the Pups had to endure, the season could have gone much worse than it did. Instead, McPherson finished .500 with a winning league record at 3-2. “Going through a 5-5 year, it was tough in many aspects,” Pavlovich said. “The amount of stuff the kids went through, whether it be injuries or strength of schedule, they handled it very well.”

Pavlovich enters his 11th year as the head coach of the Bullpups, the longest tenure of any MHS football coach in history. He enters with a combined record of 84-27, a 75.7% winning percentage.

The Bullpups lose 17 seniors from the 2024 season, including starting QB Carter Allen, leading rushers Catch Delaney and Brock Richardson, star iron man athletes Bishop Brown and Brody Seidl, leading defender Chase Koehn, and star linemen Jase Fitzmorris and Logan Peterson. Delaney is playing football at McPherson College while Allen, Richardson, Seidl, and Fitzmorris are playing other collegiate sports.

However, a lot of the production from the 2024 season came from underclassmen. Pavlovich said the 2025 senior class will be the smallest in his tenure at McPherson, but the upcoming juniors will help lead the upcoming sophomores as they had to endure the same struggles of having to play as a young group a season ago.

With the loss of last year’s starting QB due to graduation, the Bullpups will have a new face under center. Junior Carter Bengtson was the backup behind Allen in 2024, but finished with the highest QB rating after completing his only pass thrown, resulting in a 22-yard touchdown. Another player in the running is junior Brady Rinker, the younger brother of former all-state QB at McPherson, Dylan, who played baseball at Butler CC and Fort Hays State. Another couple of options are sophomores Jaxon Hoover and Isaac Nelson.

Pavlovich broke down the QB room for 2025 and how the current room might change the offense:

Other aspects of the offense will be strong, starting on the ground. McPherson had nine rushing touchdowns and averaged 110 rushing yards per game. Leading the running room will be junior Dane Becker, who was the second-best rusher on the team behind Delaney, finishing with 293 total yards and a touchdown, getting the majority of his touches in the final half of the season. Keaton Crane and Justin Bagby earned playing time as well.

One of the stronger rooms will be with the receivers. Junior Ashton Malm led the Bullpups in receiving in 2024, catching 49 passes for 800 yards and 10 touchdowns, earning him non-senior all-state honors. Other top returning receivers include Izyck Puhalla, Aaron Winter, and Bo Barkley.

While a lot of praise was given to the returning offense, much more was given to the returning defense. One guy to note is senior defensive lineman Jayren Stutzman, who is earning local college offers. He finished with 28 total tackles last season, but Pavlovich sees him as the go-to guy on defense.

“Jayren is different this year,” Pavlovich said. “He has really taken off. He’s turned some heads in college camps. I look for him to have a really good year especially in the passing game. I feel like he’s going to give quarterbacks fits because of his athleticism and length.”

Pavlovich spoke in length, describing the rest of the defense and how strong they can be in 2025 with other athletes to look for:

While the offense and defense make up for a majority of the team, Pavlovich has his eyes set on the special teams as well. Malm and Becker had plenty of reps as returners leading the way in 2024. The biggest factor will be the kicking game with sophomore Jaxon Hoover.

Hoover, the younger cousin of former MHS Football star Blaise Hoover, had the kicking duties last season. He went 2/2 on field goals of 26 and 32 yards and also went 26/33 on extra points. The sophomore worked a lot on his kicking game in the offseason, including attending the Kohl’s Professional kicking camp, which houses the top high school football kickers in the country. For the class of 2028, Hoover was giving a 4.5/5 rating and ranked the 17th best kicker in the country in his class, the best in Kansas.

Pavlovich mentioned that he could be a force even if he doesn’t make kicks. Per high school football rules, if a field goal is missed but the football crosses the goal line, the play results in a touchback for the opposition and starts their next possession at their own 20-yard line.

“It’s a game changer in every aspect,” Pavlovich said. “In kickoffs, having a guy kick wherever you want is worth its weight in gold.” Regarding the high school rule, Pavlovich said, “If you have a kicker who tries a 50-yard field goal and misses [and goes past the goal line] the other team gets the ball at the [20-yard line]. It’s the best of both worlds.”

A lot of praise has gone into the 2025 season even with a young team at the helm. However, the biggest factors from 2024 were injuries and strength of schedule.

The schedule remains the same as last season’s with the two-year cycle but at the opposite location. Even then, the AVCTL-DIII has tough teams who returns a lot of starters. Add that to a tough non-league schedule with Great Bend, Chanute, and Rose Hill, and it’s not going to be an easy season. But who said football was easy?

Having young athletes who already have plenty of varsity experience is a game changer. Look for the Bullpups to be small, but mighty, in 2025.

Lane Gillespie and Nathan Robl with call each play of the 2025 season will broadcast live on 98.9/1540 KMCP, McphersonRadio.com, and the Ad Astra Radio mobile app. All games will also be streamed on video on adastraradio.com/tv.

Below is the 2025 schedule: