The Coyotes take a short road trip south for a Kansas Conference game against the archrival Bethany Swedes.
GAME INFORMATION
- Kickoff: 6 p.m.
- Day: Saturday
- Location: Ted Kessinger Family Stadium, Lindsborg
- Records: Kansas Wesleyan 1-0; Bethany 0-1
LIVE COVERAGE
- The video stream of the game will be available online on the KCAC Channel on the Urban Edge Network at: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/2695. The stream will also be available on the KCAC Network at www.kcacnetwork.com/kansaswesleyan. Bethany will be handling production of the video stream of the game.
- Live Stats will be available at https://kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
- Radio coverage will be on KINA starting at 5 p.m. with Tyler Henry and Brooks Garretson. The online radio stream is available at https://radio.securenetsystems.net/ce/kina2.
THE SERIES
Bethany leads the all-time series 57-51-6, but it has been all KWU since 2012 with the Coyotes winning the last 10 games and 12 of 13. They've outscored the Swedes 525-152 in the last decade including a 54-16 victory last season in Lindsborg. KWU has won 12 of the last 13 games in Lindsborg and is 19-5 vs. Bethany since 2001.
KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
- The Coyotes began the Matt Middleton era with a 27-10 victory over Ottawa in front of a large crowd last Saturday night on Gene Bissell Field at JRI Stadium and Graves Family Sports Complex. They outscored the Braves 13-0 in the second half and were led by a dominant defensive effort and steamroller ground game.
- Ottawa finished with 166 yards total yards that included just five yards rushing on 19 attempts. Diego Davis recorded four sacks from his end position and safety Taylor Collins had a team-best six tackles followed by linebacker Gavin Skerik with five.
- KWU finished with 362 total yards including 222 rushing on 45 attempts (4.9 per carry). Running back Luke Armstrong had 136 yards on 17 carries; Kohl Nolan added 54 on eight carries and D'Heaven Domena scored two touchdowns. Quarterback Henry Austad completed 15 of 22 passes for 140 yards. Freshman Will Wilcox had three receptions for 73 yards, Mason Ross four for 19 yards and Jevin Dorsey three for 35 yards.
- Placekickers Cole Segraves and Talon Cope both made field goals - Segraves from 45 yards out and Cope had a 33-yarder.
- KWU trailed 9-7 after one quarter last year but outscored the Swedes 27-7 in the second quarter and won the second half 21-0. Armstrong had a huge game finishing with 168 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He scored on an 85-yard kickoff return in the first quarter and 90-yard run in the second quarter.
BETHANY AT A GLANCE
- The Swedes lost to 12th-ranked Friends 73-14 in their opener last Saturday in Wichita. The Falcons' flexbone offense totaled 595 yards rushing (10.6 per carry) and finished with 695 total yards. Bethany had 251 total yards (133 rushing, 118 passing). Friends led 38-0 at halftime.
- Quarterback Landry Shields was 7 of 14 passing for 77 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Jessie Carver came in and was 4 of 11 for 41 yards and had 29 yards rushing. Chase Hyer and Ryker Grossner had four catches apiece and Carlos Leonard Jr. 85 yards rushing and a touchdown.
- Safety Malcolm Jones led the defense with five tackles and safety Nick Robinson had a sack and recovered a fumble.
- Shields had 274 yards passing and two touchdowns in last year's game, but the Coyotes intercepted three of his passes - one that Quatama Massaquoi returned 95 yards for a touchdown. KWU had 450 total yards, and Bethany 403.
- The Swedes are coached by Mike Grossner who is in his third season. He spent 15 seasons at head coach at Baker and is a 1988 Bethany graduate.
HEAD COACH MATT MIDDLETON
"They say that your biggest growth is from week one to two, so we definitely need it offensively. I was pleased how we played defensively but there's a lot of stuff on offense for us to get fixed. It took us a while to make some adjustments, but we made enough to get the win.
"Up front defensively we felt like we were good, but I think that we can be dominant. I believe that the guys that we brought in have helped us big time. We got pressure on the quarterback. They had 166 yards of total offense, which is unbelievable, and five yards rushing. They threw it (39) times, 161 yards - that's about four yards a pass.
"We need to get the passing game going but if you'd have told me we'd rush for 222 yards I wouldn't have believed it because I thought we were going to have to throw it about 45 times to do that. We gave the offensive MVP of the week to the line. The way they played and all the movement that we faced I thought they did a really good job picking that up. Henry has a cannon arm. If we can get him really rolling and our run game going, I think we have a chance to be really successful.
"Bethany is going to throw it and they're going to score some points. Up front defensively they're good, I think that's their strength. I think offensively their skill spots are good and we're going to have our hands full.
"I've heard a lot from the old-timers that I've come in contact with that you can't wear the wrong blue around here. I get it, I get how things are. But I think the kids that we coach today are not the same as when I was raised or before. I don't think it hits them quite as hard as it hits others. Obviously playing 115 times is really cool, that goes back a long, long time. It's 20 minutes down the road so a big deal for a lot of people; it's a big deal for us being game two. We're going to do our very best to get after it and put on a good show."
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR DAVID LEONARD
"We were extremely disciplined (vs. Ottawa) and that's something we preach all the time. We have really good football players, really good athletes but if they're not disciplined it doesn't look the way it should. They played team defense which is something that we've been preaching over and over. They executed and they played at a super high level, lot of intensity and that's really what we were looking for.
"You can tell (Davis) is built a little different than most players. He's a freak athlete but he is an unbelievable kid. He brings consistency to that group. Every day at practice he shows up, he's the same and I think that's the hardest thing with anything in life - being consistent.
"Bethany's a team that last year had 400 yards on us in running the ball so that's something that we're telling our guys - we've got to be prepared for run and pass. I think their quarterbacks did a really good job against Friends of getting out of the pocket and continuing to look downfield for receivers to make good plays when they've got the ball in space."
NEXT WEEK