McPHERSON, Kan. – McPherson College Football finished non-divisional play 6-0 for the first time since the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) split football into two divisions.
The 6-0 start is the program’s best since 2010, which was the last time McPherson finished the season as league champions and the last time that they earned a spot in the NAIA Tournament. The Bulldogs finished that season 10-0 overall, 9-0 against KCAC teams, but ultimately fell in the opening round of the playoffs.
The conference began a split into two divisions when Evangel (Mo.) joined the conference ahead of the 2023 season. In the two years in the Kessinger Division, McPherson ended non-divisional play 4-2 and 5-1, respectively. The pattern would indicate that McPherson would indeed improve to 6-0 to start 2025, but a larger picture is shown regarding the current team.
Despite not having a game this week, McPherson enters as the #21 team in the country in the official coaches’ poll. The unofficial media polls have McPherson ranked higher, with the most recent polls seeing the ‘Dogs at #17 by NAIAFBall and #19 by the Victory Sports Network. McPherson is one of 10 unbeaten teams in the NAIA Coaches Top 25 poll.
The NAIA also has a system to help with at-large bids in the national tournament: an ARC rating system and a Performance Index ranking. These indices tally wins along with the strength of their schedule. The ARC index, last released on Oct. 2, has McPherson at No. 5 in the Midwest, and the Performance Index has McPherson in 13th nationally.
The team also has off-the-chart numbers, including having the 11th-best scoring offense in the NAIA (43.0 points/game). The team has the 10th-best offense (473.8 yards/game), including a strong passing game that is 12th nationally with 279.8 yards per contest and a rushing attack that is also 12th nationally with 194.0 yards/game.
The offense is led by quarterback Ryan Markarion, a junior in his first year with Mac after transferring from Fresno City College in California. He currently has a 66% completion percentage and 16 passing touchdowns, which ranks 5th amongst all quarterbacks in the NAIA.
Reigning KCAC Kessinger Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year, running back Jalil Brown, is continuing his dominant ground game. His nine rushing touchdowns are 4th-best in the country, while also averaging 109 yards per game. Brown is also one of the team’s top receivers, averaging 48 yards per game with a pair of scores.
The receiving corps has also been a strong point. The team spreads the wealth rather than relying on just one or two players. The Bulldogs have 18 total receiving touchdowns, spread out amongst nine different players. Jamai Rutherford leads the team with five, and Kaden Millinder is behind him with four.
However, the adage “Defense wins championships” is alive with the Bulldogs too. The team has only allowed 12.0 points per game and has 16 takeaways. Their 16 sacks rank 8th best nationally, including ending non-divisional play with four sacks with 16 tackles-for-loss.
The defense is led by a strong linebacker core in Jonavan Asuncion, Gabe Goodnight, and Kenneth Ray. They’ve also had a near-unstoppable front line of Lester Amos III, Joshua Ferguson, Jacob Guignard, and Malachi Mazetti. The back line has been tough to stop as well, with Kirby Lewis, Tradarrious Coleman, and Donavan Franklin just a few names leading the bunch.
Now, numbers can make a team look fancy, but it’s the resiliency that makes or breaks a team. Such was shown by the Bulldogs in week four against Evangel and in week six against Bethany.
Their matchup in Springfield, Mo., against Evangel on Sept. 20 was their biggest win of the season so far. Entering the game receiving votes to face a ranked team on the road is an unenviable task. Add a five-hour road trip, a night game, and a lightning delay, and you have a recipe for potential disaster. The team trailed 3-0 at halftime and 10-0 in the third quarter, but bounced back mightily to score 17 unanswered, upsetting the Valor for the second year in a row.
Two weeks later, and one week removed from dropping 70 points against Ottawa, McPherson saw themselves in an early struggle in a cross-county rivalry against Bethany. Multiple miscues saw McPherson trailing early against an upset-minded team. However, a strong second, third, and fourth quarters gave McPherson a much-needed bounce-back to win 37-13.
The Bulldogs will try to use their lessons of resiliency as they enter a tough Bissell Division field. Three of the five other divisional foes are at least receiving votes in the national poll, all of which are road games. They start divisional play at #5 Friends on Oct. 18, whose triple option style of offense currently sees them with the best scoring offense in the country, averaging 56.2 points per game.
After returning home to face Saint Mary the following week, McPherson will have to travel to Winfield on Nov. 1 to face #16 Southwestern, a high-octane passing offense that is 2nd in the country in scoring (52.8 PPG). Their final road trip will be on Nov. 8 in Salina against Kansas Wesleyan, a team receiving votes. Senior Day will be Nov. 15 against Sterling College at home.
Reaching the national stage is a possibility for McPherson, but it will not be easy. It will be especially difficult to earn the automatic bid by winning the division. However, this team has already proven many people wrong.
Catch every McPherson College Football game on 98.9/1540 KMCP, streaming live on mcphersonradio.com and on the Ad Astra Radio app.
