The Coyotes return to action following the KCAC's bye week opening Bissell Division play with a Homecoming game against the Saint Mary Spires.
GAME INFORMATION
- Kickoff: 4 p.m.
- Day: Saturday
- Location: Gene Bissell Field at JRI Hospitality Stadium and Graves Family Sports Complex
- Records: Kansas Wesleyan 4-2, Saint Mary 0-6
- Tickets are available at www.kwucoyotes.com/tickets
- Spots in the Premium Tailgate Lot remain available for Saturday. Reserve your spot now! - www.kwucoyotes.com/tickets
LIVE COVERAGE
- The video stream of the game will be available online on the Coyote Sports Network, powered by the Urban Edge Network (https://www.urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/3623). The game will also be streamed on the KCAC Network (https://kcacnetwork.com/kansaswesleyan/?B=4617637). Saturday's network stream will include the KINA Pregame show starting at 3 p.m.
- Live Stats will be available at https://kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
- The KINA Radio Pregame Show with Tyler Henry and Brooks Garretson will start at 3 p.m. on KINA Radio. The online radio stream is available at https://radio.securenetsystems.net/ce/kina2.
THE SERIES
The Coyotes have won the last eight games, including a 42-21 victory last season in Leavenworth. They've outscored USM 294-87 during the streak and have a 21-4 lead in the all-time series..
KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
- The Coyotes lost to Evangel 24-16 at JRI Stadium in their game before the break and compiled a 4-2 record against the Ted Kessinger Division. KWU ends the regular season with five games against intra-division foes in the Gene Bissell Division.
- The Coyotes led Evangel 13-7 at halftime, but the Valor scored two touchdowns 59 seconds apart in the third quarter on a pass and pick six. Caleb Deal had 91 yards rushing and 76 passing, and AJ Woods kicked field goals of 46, 24 and 37 yards.
- KWU averages 38 points and the opposition 20.2. The Coyotes also average 377 yards per game - 200 rushing and 177 passing. They've converted 35 percent of their third down opportunities, turned the ball over 12 times and have committed 45 penalties (7.5 per game).
- Deal is the leading rusher with 737 yards and three touchdowns. He has completed 66 percent of his passes for 409 yards, nine touchdowns, and two interceptions. Alexander Elam has 23 receptions followed by Will Wilcox with 20. Gavin Skerik leads the defense with 49 tackles while Myles Elam has a team-high 6.5 sacks. KWU has 28 total sacks, 10 interceptions and ranks third in the NAIA against the run allowing 59 yards per game.
- Henry Austad threw for 303 yards and a touchdown; D'Heaven Domena rushed for 90 yards and three scores and Rhadarious Lomax-Spivey caught eight passes for 153 yards and a touchdown against USM last year. The Coyotes led 28-14 at halftime.
SAINT MARY AT A GLANCE
- The Spires lost at home to Tabor 42-21 in their game before the bye week. USM trailed 20-13 at halftime before the Bluejays pulled away in the second half. The Spires have lost their last eight games after dropping the last two in 2025.
- USM averages 20.4 points but has averaged 25 in its last four games. Opposing teams average 42 points and 418 yards while the Spires average 343 yards - 203 rushing and 140 passing.
- Garrett Hunnicutt has completed 41.6 percent of his passes for 823 yards and three touchdowns but has been intercepted 10 times. Kameron Smith has 456 yards rushing and Damarkus McCoy 422. The defense has seven sacks and one interception.
- Hunnicutt started and threw for 115 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions against KWU last season. McCoy finished with 37 yards rushing and Smith 26.
- Taylor Calvert is in his first season as head coach after serving as the Spires' offensive coordinator the previous five seasons. He earned three varsity letters as a USM player and graduated in 2007.
HEAD COACH MATT MIDDLETON
"We missed some throws down the field (against Evangel) and I think was a difference in the game. A lot of that's because of the pressure on the quarterback, so it's been an emphasis to work on that stuff and get a lot of those things fixed. Now that divisional play has started, this is the most important game of the year. We say that is every week, but this is the real deal this Saturday.
"I have become conservative in a lot of ways based off some of our struggles offensively. We can't continue to do that and be able to win at a high level. We've got to be more aggressive. We haven't been explosive and when you don't have explosive plays, that limits what you can do. When you're having to be methodical with 13 to 16 play drives with no mistakes, that's hard to do.
"(Saint Mary's) athleticism probably scares me more than anything. They've moved the ball on everybody from the 20 (yard line) to the 20. Nobody's really stops them. What they struggle with is red zone, and I hope they struggle again with that versus us defensively. Their (defensive) front four is as good as the top three in this conference with getting after you."
SOPHOMORE LINEBACKER MYLES ELAM
"We're all playing good football and just getting to the quarterback, making it hard on them. We know if we get pressure up front our (defensive backs) are going to be there in the back end and take care of what they've got to take care of.
"The mentality is to stop the run so we're going to win the line of scrimmage every time that we step on the field. That's just the goal every game and for the rest of the season."
SENIOR SAFETY TAYLOR COLLINS
"(Saint Mary has) some good speedy backs that can find the holes and make the crease. I feel like we just need to be playing our keys and making sure that we hit the right holes and make stuff clear for the backers. We need to hold up on the passes and the RPOs (run-pass options) and get them off the field."
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