Sterling College

There's probably not a better way to script a homecoming game. Most schools schedule 'light' for homecoming to 'insure' a good chance of winning. What made Saturday sweet was hosting the #8 ranked pass defense in the Nation and a 4-2 Swede team and still dominating opening kickoff to triple 0's; 42-0.

"We needed a couple breaks early as strong as Bethany is on the defensive side; and the turnover on their first posession was a big break," exclaimed Coach Andy Lambert after the game.

Even though there was the better part of 55 minutes left in the game, it seemed as though a fumble on the 2nd Swedish offensive play, after a 38 yard Tyler Degenhardt TD scamper, resulting in an Adam Langvardt TD reception from Jake Buchanan took the air out of any Swedish plans for a homecoming ambush.

With the Swedes averaging less than 20 points a game offensively, giving up 14 in the first 5 minutes did not bode well.

Bethany gave the ball to previous back-up QB Mark Margres who did what he could to move the ball; but most of the success for Bethany came from Sean Dahley who ended the day with 81 yards rushing on 22 carries. Unfortunately, the 14 point spot early did not give the Swedes the luxury to matriculate the ball down the field in the hands of the 210 pound runner. They had to produce points to hang with the #1 ranked offense in the KCAC.

After 2 more TDs via the popular Jake Buchanan/Josh Oberle connection giving Buchanan his 15th and 16th passing TDs and Oberle his 10th and 11th receiving TDs, the Swedes seemed to be caught in a whirlwind. To end the half, the Warriors tacked on one more TD with a Degenhardt carry putting the halftime score at 35-0.

The Warriors kept it conservative for the most part for the most of the 2nd half not wanting to give the Swedes any fuel to mount a 2nd half attack. However, the Warriors capped the day with 10 minutes to go in the 4th quarter after a Brent Schneider reception that placed the ball on the Sterling 1 yard line.

The Warriors chewed up half of the remaining time in the quarter while driving the ball 99 yards ending with a Stephen Wilson rushing TD, his first of the year putting the score at 42-0 for the Warriors.

The Warriors closed the day outrushing the Swedes 273 yards to 94 yards; 482 total yards to 260 total yards; the Warriors running 14 more plays on the day. Jake Buchanan was the sharp shooter going 15 of 20 for 205 yards and 3 TDs, Tyler Degenhardt carried the load in the ground game rushing for 130 yards on 12 carries, some of those yards coming out of the QB position when the Warriors switched to a single wing look to keep the Swedes guessing.

Craig Mans and Derrick Sullivan led the way defensively as the compiles 7 and 11 tackled respectively, Mans also pulling in his team leading 5th interception of the year.

The Warriors host the 4-3 Coyotes from Kansas Wesleyan next Saturday at 1:30pm. The Warriors with the win over Bethany sit alone in 3rd place in the conference behind the 6-0 Bethel and 5-1 Friends.