Ottawa lost its sixth straight game, dating back to last season, with a 31-14 loss to McPherson College on Saturday evening at McPherson Stadium. The Braves finished the game with 239 yards of offense, 168 yards passing and 71 yards rushing. McPherson had 441 yards of offense, 233 yards rushing and 208 yards passing.
Through four games this season Ottawa is averaging 196.8 yards per game, 90 yards rushing and 106.8 yards passing. The Braves are averaging 11.3 points per game. Opponents are scoring 34.3 points per game and averaging 470 yards of offense per game. They are averaging 297.8 yards rushing and 172.3 yards passing.
Taylor Eggers leads the Braves in passing, averaging 106.8 passing yards per game. He is 42-for-99 through the air for 427 yards and two touchdowns. Eggers has thrown six interceptions.
Jordan Clay is OU's leader in rushing, averaging 27.5 rushing yards per game. He is averaging 2.4 rushing yards per attempt. Eggers leads OU with four rushing touchdowns.
AJ Hemphill is OU's leader in tackles with 42. He is averaging 10.5 tackles per game.
Ethan Fuentes is second on the team in tackles with 30. He has one forced fumble and one recovered fumble.
Christian Coggs has 22 tackles from his defensive line position, third on the team.
AJ Hemphill's 20 tackles, against McPherson College, tie him for second all-time in the OU record book with Doug Deveraux. Deveraux had 20 tackles against Missouri Valley College on Oct. 7, 1978. Mike Dumpert holds the school record for tackles with 22 set on Sept. 29, 1979 against Central Methodist University.
Saturday's game will be second meeting between Ottawa University and Evangel University. The Valor, ranked no. 20 in the NAIA Top 25 Poll, won the first meeting on Sept. 23, 2023 at Eagle Stadium in Nixa, Mo. 27-21.
Evangel University has its game against the University of Saint Mary postponed due to the weather on Saturday night. A make up date has not been announced.
The Valor are averaging 431.7 yards of offense per game, 202.7 yards rushing and 229 yards passings. They are scoring 35.3 points per game. Opponents are scoring 18.3 points per game and averaging 230.3 yards of offense per game, 105.3 yards rushing and 125 yards passing.
Evangel enters the game coming off a 38-14 win over Sterling College two weeks ago at Sterling. The Valor jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the Warriors in the first quarter and held Sterling scoreless in the third and fourth quarters to take the victory.
EU had 456 yards of offense, 189 yards through the air and 267 yards on the ground. The Valor averaged 6.5 yards per rush attempt in the victory.
Reid Potts leads Evangel in passing, averaging 208 passing yards per game. He is 59-90 through the air for 624 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions. Potts is completing 65.6 percent of his passes.
Eric Williams is EU's leader in rushing with 314 yards. He is averaging 104.7 rushing yards per game and 6.2 yards per carry. Williams has scored four rushing touchdowns. Broc Lyle leads the team in receptions with 18 for 248 yards. He has four receiving touchdowns and averaging 82.7 receiving yards per game.
Bradley Myers leads Evangel in tackles with 35. He is averaging 11.7 tackles per game. Myers has four tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one recovered fumble and two pass break ups. Zach Myers is second on the team in tackles with 13. He has two sacks. Riley Childs is right behind him with 12 tackles. He has one forced fumble and one recovered fumble
Evangel is ranked 28th in the NAIA in total points (106), 28th in points per game (35.3), 28th in total offense (1,295), 23rd in yards per game (431.7), 42nd in passing yards (687), 34th in passing yards per game (229), 37th in passing touchdowns (6), 26th in rushing yards (608), 35th in rushing attempts (125), 21st in rushing yards per game (202.7), 26th in yards per rush (4.9), 22nd in rushing touchdowns (7), 25th in first downs (73), 22nd in rushing first downs (36), 30th in passing first downs (32), 19th in first downs per game (24.3), 46th in sacks (6), 16th in penalties (15), 22nd in penalty yards (152), and 27th in red zone scores (12-16).
