Pictured left to right: Devin Alvarez, Landon Taplin, Weston Rock and Joesph Welsh
MCPHERSON: The Abilene Cowboys season came to an end Friday night 41-20 at McPherson College. Abilene finished the season 3-6 while McPherson improved to 5-4. The #8 seeded Bullpups will travel to Wamego next Friday. The top seeded Red Raiders defeated Independence 42-14.
Friday night, McPherson scored first with 29 seconds to play in the opening quarter on a 15 yard pass play from QB Carter Allen to Brody Seidl. The Bullpups carried a 7-0 lead into the 2nd quarter.
Abilene tied the game with 5:32 to play in the half on a 11 yard run by Junior QB, Taygen Funston. Senior, Weston Rock helped keep the drive alive on a 12 yard reception on 4th and 9 at the McPherson 34 yard line. The Bullpups answered with a 5 yard touchdown run by Catch Delaney with 3:18 to play in the half. The score gave McPherson a 14-7 lead. The Cowboys came right back with an 18 yard touchdown pass play from Funston to Jaxon Cuba with 52 seconds left in the half. It was the first touchdown of Cuba’s career. McPherson wasn’t done. Allen connected with Bishop Brown for a 74 yard touchdown pass play with 29 seconds left in the half. That gave the Bullpups a 21-14 lead at the break.
The Cowboys opened the second half with the football and put together a 12 play, 63 yard drive that took 4:47 off the clock. Funston scored his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 1 yard run. Rock again kept their drive alive on a 31 yard reception to the Bullpup 8 yard line on a 4th and 9 play. Abilene missed the extra point after the Funston score but pulled to within 21-20 with 7:08 left in the 3rd quarter. McPherson finished the scoring in the 3rd quarter with a 47 yard run by Dane Becker with 2:11 to play in the quarter to increase their lead to 27-20. The Bullpups pulled away in the final quarter with a 47 yard reception by Becker and an 8 yard catch by Seidl for their final 2 touchdowns.
McPherson finished with 416 total yards. They were led by Allen, he threw for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns. Abilene totaled 304 yards but only mustered 30 on the ground. Funston threw for 229 yards and a touchdown and ran for 2 more scores. His favorite target was Weston Rock, who finished with 9 catches for 124 yards.
