BULLDOGS OPEN 2023 SEASON AT HOME WITH TABOR

SEASON 5 FOR MCPHERSON COACH FISCUS

By Staff (info from McPherson College Media)

MCPHERSON – On Saturday, August 26 the McPherson College football team will be opening their 2023 season with a home battle against Tabor College in the annual Blake Reed Memorial Game.

Entering his fifth season as leader of the Bulldog program, head coach Jeremiah Fiscus will look to improve on the 2022 season when the Bulldogs finished 5-5 overall, though four of their five losses came by a total of just five points against the top teams in the KCAC. More on coach Fiscus later.

After the Bulldogs had won three games in a row against Tabor, the Bluejays held on to win the 2022 matchup in Hillsboro by a single point, 17-16.

First on the list for the Bulldogs is to find a replacement for running back Jonathan White, the reigning KCAC (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) Player of the Year. Sophomore Brysen Kerby and junior Jalil Brown, both from Texas, will be keys to picking up where White left off.

At quarterback, McPherson returns junior Tristan Szabo from Sparks, Neveda. Szabo connected on just over 50 percent of his passes in 2022 for 1,563 yards and 14 touchdowns while also being a threat to run the ball as well.

(Quarterback Tristan Szabo)

The Bulldogs do have seven offensive linemen returning to help get the offense rolling in Chris Shaw, Alvin Poole, Anthony Devries, Romin Jininez, Mark Frates, Preston Howard and Dusty Rhoads. Tight ends Jaxson Douthit and Harley Blaskey, both redshirt juniors, also return to give the coaching staff plenty of experienced players to work with.

(Offensive Lineman Chris Shaw)

Three newcomers in a pair of juniors, Kam Brown and Alex Hill, along with sophomore Trevin Lewis-Johnson will be counted on to give the passing game some folks to catch and move the ball down field.

On defense, the Bulldogs held their opponents to 17.7 points-per-fame which ranked 23rd in the nation for 2022 while they also ranked 10th in the NAIA for giving up just 246.0 yards per game. Five times McPherson held opponents to 14 points or less in a game last season.

Among the returnees on defense for the Bulldogs will be redshirt-sophomore Avery Crawford, redshirt-junior Aaron Cyrus, plus juniors Chris Roshell and Kobe Brown in the defensive backfield where they ranked 17th in the country by picking off 17 interceptions.

Others looking to lead the stout Bulldog defense again will be senior linebacker Marquis Willoughby, and lineman Taeylon Garland, a redshirt-senior, and junior Jaquiz Wilson. Coach Fiscus noted that incoming junior linebackers Kohli Lemau, Dominick Lawrence and Josiah Jones are players who could tighten up the defense even more.

(Defensive Lineman Taeylon Garland)

Tabor College will be a tough first game opponent for the Bulldogs as they return four all-conference honorees in defensive lineman Kourtney Craig, defensive back Martavian Jackson and linebackers Cole Hernandez and Brooks Gardner. Gardner led the Bluejays in tackles with 83.

The Bluejays will have several former McPherson Bullpup players returning home in Craig who led the team in sacks with seven while also getting 49 tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Junior Jakob Feil, a running back, ran for 340 yards in 2022 while Jayton Alexader is a junior defensive back and Darriene Gibbs is a redshirt freshman defensive lineman.

McPherson comes into the game picked to finish fifth in the KCAC as the league moves to a divisional format with the addition of Evangel University, bringing the KCAC to 14 schools.

If the Bulldogs can get an opening game victory, it would be the first opening game win since 2020 and their first home opening win since 2018. A win would also be their fourth in the last five games against Tabor while being the 20th win in coach Fiscus’ tenure at McPherson.

A BIT ABOUT HEAD COACH JEREMIAH FISCUS:

(Bulldog Head Coach Jeremiah Fiscux)

Within his first four seasons at McPherson College, Fiscus has coached 46 players named as All-KCAC. He was also instrumental in the successes of Melvin Reed and Jonathan White. Reed was the 2020 KCAC Special Teams Player of the Year and White was the 2022 KCAC Player of the Year. Both White and Reed also earned NAIA All-American honors as well.

Originally from Stafford High School in Kansas where he graduated in 2003, Fiscus was a multi-sport standout in both football and track/field. Fiscus then attended Dodge City Community College where he played for the Conquistadors in 2003-2005.

Fiscus is a Bulldog, having played football under coaches Dave Cunningham and Brian Ward in 2006-2007 before graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in education.

After graduating from McPherson College, Fiscus began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Northwestern State University where he worked with running backs. After gaining a master’s degree in sports administration at Northwestern State in 2010, Fiscus moved on to work as a graduate assistant at Texas Christian University where he earned another master’s degree, this time in educational administration while working for coach Gary Patterson as an assistant offensive line coach and recruiter.

With his two seasons at TCU, Fiscus was part of a Horned Frog team that won two Mountain West Conference championships while also winning both the Rose Bowl and Poinsettia Bowl.

The only other coaching stop for coach Fiscus came at Henerson State University where he spent six seasons working as a director of equipment operations, team travel coordinator, NFL liaison, recruiting coordinator, offensive line/tight end/fullback coach and offensive coordinator. During his time at Henderson State, the team won three league championships, made three NCAA Division II playoff appearances and had the number one scoring offense in the NCAA Division II twice.

2023 MCPHERSON COLLEGE BULLDOG SCHEDULE:

Saturday, August 26 = hosting Tabor College, 6:00 pm (Blake Reed Memorial Game)

Saturday, September 2 = at Sterling College, 6:00 pm

Saturday, September 9 = hosting University of Saint Mary, 6:00 pm

Saturday, September 16 = at Ottawa University, 1:00 pm

Saturday, September 23 = hosting Avila University, 1:00 pm

Saturday, September 30 = at Kansas Wesleyan University, 1:00 pm

Saturday, October 14 = at Bethel College, 6:00 pm

Saturday, October 21 = hosting Bethany College, 1:00 pm (Homecoming)

Saturday, October 28 = hosting Evangl University, 12:30 pm (Senior Day)

Saturday, November 4 = at Friends University, 1:00 pm

Saturday, November 11 = at Southwestern College, 1:00 pm

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at macks.people.places@gmail.com)