Author(s): Harold Bechard - The Hutchinson News - hbechard@hutchnews.com Date: October 2, 2007

With all due respect to Campus, Arkansas City and Winfield, the McPherson Bullpups were ready to be tested last Friday in a home game against Newton. After dropping a season-opening 17-7 decision to the No. 1 ranked team in Kansas, Hutchinson, the Bullpups proceeded to outscore their next three opponents 162-23 heading into the AVCTL II showdown with the Railroaders.

The Bullpups didn't exactly click on all cylinders against Newton, but still posted a 27-0 homecoming victory to improve to 4-1 overall and 4-0 in the AVCTL II.

In addition to posting a big league victory, the Bullpups also moved to the top of Class 5A this week in The Hutchinson News' high school football rankings following previously No. 1-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas' 21-14 loss at Blue Valley Northwest.

Being No. 1 is nothing new to McPherson in sports like basketball, tennis, golf and soccer. But football? That's a new one for Bullpup fans.

McPherson may still be a "basketball town," but second-year coach Tom Young and his players are doing their best to keep the locals excited during football season.

"McPherson is a good sports town, period," said Young, a long-time coach who has a career record of 281-91 at Hanover, Wellington, Derby, Leavenworth and McPherson. "There's a lot of interest in all activities, so I think for football, my impression was everyone was real hungry to have a good program. We have quite a few of the basketball kids playing for us."

Senior linebacker Sam Stucky said players have noticed a much higher level of interest in football than in previous years. He said Young is the main reason why.

"He's brought us a lot more respect in the town than we ever had, and that comes from winning," Stucky said. "And, this being his second year, he's a little more relaxed. He's done a lot of stuff for us in the weight room, which has improved us. There's definitely more people talking about (football) now that we're winning. That makes a big difference for us, too, because that makes us want to play harder for the town."

The Bullpups are still looking to improve in many areas, most notably running the football. They had only 87 yards rushing against Newton, but senior quarterback Kolin Walk completed 8 of 13 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns.

In addition to Walk's numbers this season - 43 of 62 for 611 yards - McPherson has senior Blake Tillman running for 509 yards on 67 carries. Tanner Hawkinson, a 6-5, 230-pound tight end/defensive end, who has verbally committed to the University of Kansas, has caught 17 passes for 255 yards. Cody Fawl has caught 11 balls for 184 yards and Stucky has eight receptions for 113 yards.

"We're just looking to improve ourselves right now," Walk said. "We have one of the toughest districts in the state with Salina South, Great Bend and Hays, so we have to be ready to play each week."

Defensively, the Bullpups held Newton to 185 yards of offense and only 126 after the opening drive of the game. Their three linebackers, junior Ross Klein, senior Jared Pavlik and Stucky, are the team's leading tacklers.

"It's gone pretty well so far," Young said. "We battled Hutch right off the bat and came up short there, but we've done pretty well since then. We weren't really quite sure about our team until last Friday night when we played Newton, who has a very good team. I was real pleased with that win. That has been our most impressive win."

Although the Bullpups lost a 10-point decision to Hutchinson to open the season, that low-scoring result has proven to be more impressive as each week passes. Hutchinson defeated its next four opponents by 39, 28, 27 and 64 points, while averaging nearly 56 points a game.

"It's pretty rough to play the best team in the state the first game, but I think it's gotten us well-prepared for everybody else," Stucky said. "It's like, we've seen the best right away, so we know how to handle it."

"I think we played Hutch very close. Obviously, we could have done a lot better and played them closer, but they are a very good team," Walk said. "We knew Newton was going to be tough, so we worked every hard to get ready for that game."

Young is enjoying his second year in McPherson. Most of his family is in the area and he is part of a community that enjoys supporting its athletic teams.

"Last year, we got started so late and the offensive and defensive system was so new," Young said. "I mean, we were still learning where to line up halfway through the year, but this year I think everything has gone a lot smoother. We've got a good start with our strength and conditioning program, which I think is a real key to developing a high school program."

? Correction - Because of an incorrect score received last week, St. Mary's Colgan of Pittsburg was given a loss instead of a victory over Girard. The Panthers won the game, 42-41, in double overtime instead of losing a 41-35 decision. Rankings in both 4A (Girard) and 2-1A (Colgan) this week reflect that corrected score.

McPherson Unified School District 418
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