Adrian College Football is hosts Wisconsin Lutheran College at 3pm in a critical homecoming contest this Saturday. On Kapnick Field and at home inside of Docking Stadium, the Bulldogs will be looking to get back to their winning ways.
Adrian is 8-3 all-time against the Warriors, and won the last meeting 30-12 back in 2015. In that contest, the Bulldogs allowed just 239 yards and the offense kept the ball for 39-minutes, 50-seconds while rushing for 201 yards. Emmanuel Stewart, the all-time leading rusher in AC history, ran for 132 yards on 29 carries and Darius Philon caught four balls for 108 yards and a touchdown.
The game is part of the ninth annual MIAA-NACC Challenge. The Bulldogs are 7-1 in the series. Last week WLC could not erase a 24-point halftime deficit as the Warriors fell to NAIA non-conference opponent Lawrence Tech 34-14 Saturday afternoon at Blue Devils Stadium.
A good sign for Adrian is how well Lawrence Tech’s QB, Tyler Kulka, performed against Wisconsin. Kulka passed for 287 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-27 attempts. Tanner Foley led all rushers with 186 yards on 23 attempts. Derrick Hinton caught nine passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns, and Kendyl Williams had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. The Blue Devils had 558 yards of total offense.
BULLDOGS / WARRIORS BROADCAST INFO:
Non-Conference Game, Homecoming
Adrian College Bulldogs @ Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors
Date: Saturday, September 21st | Time: 3:00 pm ET
Location: Docking Stadium – Adrian, Michigan
TV: Adrian College TV, Buckeye Cable Sports Network | Radio: 107.9 WVAC-FM, 103.9 WLEN-FM
If there’s anything Adrian can do: it’s score the football. Sophomore quarterback Jack Wurzer went 22-for-34 for 308 yards passing last week. Junior wide receiver Henry Wilson posted game highs of six catches and 125 yards, and Adrian College scored four rushing touchdowns. Adrian’s winning points on Saturday will come in the trenches and on defense.
The young and electric defense Adrian is rebuilding will need to have a big day.
Freshman Blake Masterman had a career-high eight solo tackles to lead all defenders from his linebacker spot against Hanover. Fellow freshman linebacker Leonard Cohen also had a career-best eight solos. and in addition to all of those young names, Sophomore defensive back Brandon Kwiatkowski recorded four stops and had an interception return of 10 yards.
BULLDOG HYPE VIDEO BY ADRIAN COLLEGE TV:
Check out this cool promo for the @AdrianBulldogs Football team
Homecoming comes to @AdrianCollege in Adrian, Michigan this Saturday#GDTBAB #D3FB #GoDawgs #AdrianCollege @d3football pic.twitter.com/JofQquWlUO
— Midwest Sports Network (@MWSNsports) September 20, 2019
So how good is the offense that Adrian will need to stop, or at least slow down?
Their quarterback, Yockey, finished 19-for-39 for 313 yards and two touchdowns. His top target was Luce, who caught two passes for 83 yards. Senior Javion Morgan also had 38 yards on two grabs. Wisconsin Lutheran accumulated 336 yards of total offense, of which 319 were in the air. WLC was not able to get much going on the ground rushing for just 17 yards. That’s a great sign for Adrian, who is self proclaimed much better in the defensive backfield.
Adrian dropped last week’s contest, which was played just West of Kentucky. Hanover scored on special teams early on to ignite a 42-0 point-scoring run through two quarters and the first five minutes into the third. Jackson blocked a punt at the Adrian 45 on the Bulldogs’ opening possession and scooped the ball up for a 55-yard TD return into the end zone just 1 minute and 43 seconds gone.
Hanover has qualified for the NCAA Division III Football Championship seven times including a tournament bid last season. This was also the first-ever meeting between the schools on the gridiron. Adrian began to stage a comeback late, and the Sophomore laden team is likely to return to form this week at home.
TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
(VIA ADRIAN’S SPORTS INFO DIRECTOR, PATRICK STEWART)
- Adrian leads Wisconsin Lutheran in the all-time series, 8-3, that dates back to the 2000 season (AC won 13-12). The Bulldogs, who haven’t lost to WLC since 2014 (17-7), are 4-1 lifetime at home against the Warriors.
- Jim Deere ’89 is 56-38 record (.598) in his 10th season as the Adrian head coach. He has piloted the Bulldogs to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships in 2012 and 14, and NCAA tournament bids in those seasons.
- Sophomore QB Jack Wurzer leads the AC offense with a MIAA-best of 236.5 yards passing per game. He has completed 35 of 63 attempts–both second in the conference–for a 55.6 success rate.
- Junior WR Henry Wilson is Wurzer’s favorite target with nine receptions for a 105-yard average, which leads the MIAA. He also leads the conference with 23.3 yards per catch–ranked 55th in NCAA Division III.
- Freshman LB Blake Masterman has 17 total tackles for 8.5 per game, a mark that is fifth in the conference. Sophomore DB Brandon Kwiatkowski is second on the squad with 16 stops, 12 solo.
- Senior RB Colton Randle leads Adrian with 101 rush yards.
- Receivers Joe Cleary, a senior, and Clarence Madison, a sophomore, have six receptions apiece. Madison is second on the team with 79 yards, Cleary is fourth with 45.
- Adrian ranks 38th in the nation in red-zone defense, allowing opponents to score from inside the 20-yard line 44.4 percent of the time.
- Three of Adrian’s top-four tacklers are freshmen linebackers, led by Masterman, Dwight Mann (16 total, 10 solo) and Leonard Cohen (14 total, 12 solo).
- The Bulldogs haven’t started a season 0-3 since 2001, ending up 2-8.
ABOUT WISCONSIN LUTHERAN
(VIA ADRIAN’S SPORTS INFO DIRECTOR, PATRICK STEWART)
- From 2002-2007, the Warriors were football-only MIAA members. Today, they compete in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.
- The football program is celebrating its 20th season in 2019.
- WLC, which opened the season at home on Sept. 5, will not play another home game until Oct. 12.
- WLC is playing back-to-back road games in the state of Michigan for the first time since 2013 after playing at Lawrence Tech last week.
- Freshman QB Nick Yockey has thrown for 512 yards and four touchdowns, both ranking third in the NACC; top target: Marquis Davis with 8 receptions and 71 yards.
- Both of freshman WR Gavin Winter’s receptions have been for touchdowns, totalling 48 yards.
- Sophomore Ty Castillo is third in the NACC with a team-high 21 tackles through two games.
- Sophomore Alan Jackson is the team’s leading rusher through two games, averaging 3.7 yards per carry on 23 attempts.
- The Warriors have fallen to Lake Forest at home, 27-15, and Lawrence Tech on the road, 34-14.
This article was written using a press release and information generated by Adrian College’s sports information department. Media in this article is courtesy of Adrian College athletics. For more college sports, follow us on Twitter@MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.
