Football 10/27/2021 8:22:00 AM

Truman Entertains Neighbor Quincy To Close October

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Bulldogs and Quincy Hawks will meet on Saturday to close out October and Truman will be looking to continue their mastery over their neighbors as they have won the last four against the Hawks and nine of 11 all-time.

Truman is coming off a 52-0 shutout over William Jewell on Saturday. It was the first shutout since 2016 for the squad and 175^th all-time shutout of an opponent. It was the second shutout of an opponent by a GLVC team this season and first to happen in conference play. On the flip side, the last time Truman was shutout in a game was in 2009 by Nebraska-Omaha 38-0 or 130 games.

Running back Cody Schrader had a season-low 13 carries on the afternoon but scored three more touchdowns and notched his sixth straight 100-yard rushing game with 172 yards. Schrader is on the verge of entering the top 10 in both single-season rushing yards and career rushing yards on Saturday afternoon. He is 26 yards from 10^th on the season chart and could pass legendary Dale "Paley" Mills' three seasons (1958,59,60) in the top 10 and Steve Powell (1977) with 67 yards. Schrader is 64 yards away from the career top 10 at Truman and Jaden Barr's 2,390 yards from 2016-19.

Quincy ran into the other top running back in the GLVC in Indianapolis' Toriano Clinton. The Hawks gave up 425 yards on the ground and Clinton had 234 in the Greyhounds' 70-21 romp over Quincy on Saturday. The Hawks led 7-0 after the first quarter and the game was tied at 14 with 7:13 to play in the first half. It was still a one-score game early in the third quarter before the Greyhounds scored the final 42 points over the last 24 minutes of game action.

The Hawks feature one of the top receivers in the GLVC in Eugene Witherspoon. The sophomore, Miami Gardens, Florida product has hauled in 29 passes for 709 yards and 13 touchdown passes. A.J. Hardin has a team-high 32 receptions and Paul Sullivan Jr. has 28 catches. Quarterback Tionne Harris has completed 125 passes for 1,796 yards and 19 touchdowns.

In the 2019 matchup, Jaylen Jefferson and Cody Schrader both ran for 100 yards and Truman racked up 343 on the ground in a 63-14 win at QU Stadium. Jordan Salima was the starting running back that afternoon and capped his day with 13 carries for 64 yards. Jefferson finished with 129 yards on 19 attempts and Schrader had the big play with a 59-yard touchdown run and 126 on 11 attempts. Quincy's playmakers this season did not play in the 2019 game.

About the Bulldogs:
Offense:
Schrader is the fifth Bulldog back to gain 1,300 yards or more in a season and it has been done 10 times in school history. His 1,317 yards sits right outside the single-season top 10. Next on the list is Dale Mills (1343 in 1960), Dale Mills (1358 in 1958), Steve Powell (1372 in 1977) and Dale Mills (1385 in 1959). His 17 rushing touchdowns are tied for fifth in a season with Chad Guthrie's 1991 total and is two back of matching Guthrie's 1992 and Mills' 1959 totals. The single-season rushing touchdown champion is Jarrett Anderson with 27 in 1996.

Schrader has the longest 100-yard rushing game streak by a Bulldogs, currently at six, since Jarrett Anderson had nine-straight in 1996. Schrader's 31 career touchdowns is tied for eighth in a Truman career.

Quarterback Nolan Hair is 9-3 as the starting quarterback with four games in the spring and all eight games in the fall season. He has thrown for 2,233 yards with 21 touchdowns in those dozen games and completed 60% of his passes. This season, Hair has thrown for 1,415 yards with 12 touchdowns and added 110 yards and one rushing touchdown.

Truman has had 13 different players catch passes from Hair this season led by Dante Ruffin's 33 and Matt Hall's 23. Ruffin has three receiving touchdowns and 348 yards this season while is also the active leader in receiving yards with 1,264 on 113 receptions. Ruffin can crack the top 25 in receiving yards with 27 yards. Jake Ellis is second on the active list with 1,154 yards on 93 catches and is tied for the school record for career touchdown receptions with 22.

The Bulldog offense is fourth in Division II in fourth down conversions at 84% (11/13). They are second in rushing yards per game in the GLVC at 205.6 and have won 34 straight games when running for over 200 yards in a contest dating back to the 2010 season. Truman is averaging 33.2 points per game.

Truman is also 10^th nationally and second in the conference in Red Zone Offense at 92%. They have scored on 23 of 25 trips when getting inside the opponent 20 with 22 touchdowns.

Defense:
The team is the top ranked team in the GLVC and sixth nationally against the run. Truman has held opponents to 72.0 yards per game and only two of the seven opponents this season have gained over 100 yards. The most rushing yards allowed was 154 by Lindenwood.

Truman is first in the GLVC in scoring defense having allowed 20.1 points per game.

Isaiah Estes and Ben Thomas are Truman's tackle leaders with 60 and 56 stops respectively. Thomas has 11 pass breakups, an interception and 2.5 tackles for loss. Estes had four TFLs and has the season high in tackles with a 14-stop performance against Southwest Baptist.

Seven Bulldogs have recorded an interception this year with Peyton Carr leading the group with two. He has the only pick-six of the season, which came against Missouri S&T.

The Bulldogs have had 61 tackles for loss this season and 24 quarterback sacks. Ulysses Ross is the leader with five sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. Jack Marth is second in sacks with 3.5 and has eight TFLs.

Eight of the top 11 defenders this season have played in 12 or fewer career games only Ben Watson (24), Estes (22) and Thomas (20) have played in more games.

Special Teams:
Truman is third nationally and first in the conference in kick return defense. They allow opponents only 12.8 yards per kick return. Josh Scheiderer is averaging 55.5 yards per kickoff with nine touchbacks.

Scheiderer is 5-of-10 on field goal attempts with a long of 46 this season. He has converted on 33-of-34 point after touchdown attempts. Scheiderer has 247 career points which ranks him fifth on the career scoring list at Truman. His 37 field goals is tied second all-time and he is second alone in PAT kicks made with 134. The Bulldog career record for a kick scoring is 255 held by Derek Koon from 2010-13.

Punter Taylor Cornish is the GLVC leader in punting with a 39.6 yards per boot mark. He has 32 punts on the season with three touchbacks, nine fair catches and 11 inside the opponents 20. His long this season was 54 yards.

Jaylen Jefferson is third in Division II after leading the nation in kickoff return yards at 35.4 per attempt and has two kick return touchdowns. He has 12 returns for 410 yards.

Ben Thomas has 14 punt returns for 176 yards (12.6/return) with a long of 26.

Miscellaneous tidbits:
Truman appeared in both the American Football Coaches Association Division II Top 25 and the D2Football.com media poll. The Bulldogs were 18^th in the AFCA and 22^nd in the D2Football polls the week of September 27. They dropped out of both polls following the loss to Lindenwood and for the second straight week this season, did not pick up any votes in the poll.

The Bulldogs did not make the NCAA Super Region 3 ranking that was released this week. The rankings are the initial indicator for the Division II playoffs. Lindenwood was fourth in the rankings and the only representative of the GLVC.

Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt is second in school history in coaching wins with 68 and has the second-longest coaching tenure at the school in 11 seasons. He is 68-54 all-time and 40-19 in GLVC games played since joining the league in 2013.

The Bulldogs are tied for ninth in Division II in all-time wins with 592 in 113 seasons. Virginia State is also ninth with 591. Northwest Missouri is eighth with 605 wins.

Up Next:
Truman will open November at McKendree next Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats are 3-5 overall and 2-2 in conference. They will be at Southwest Baptist this week prior to the game with Truman. The Bulldogs have won the last three from McKendree and six of eight overall.

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Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr: DB; 6' 0"; Freshman

#98 Taylor Cornish: P; 6' 4"; Junior

#83 Jake Ellis: TE; 6' 7"; Senior; National Letter of Intent

#33 Isaiah Estes: LB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#6 Nolan Hair: QB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Matt Hall: TE; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#4 Jaylen Jefferson: RB; 5' 9"; Senior; National Letter of Intent

#41 Ulysses Ross: LB; 5' 10"; Freshman

#11 Dante Ruffin: WR; 5' 11"; Senior

#99 Josh Scheiderer: K/P; 5' 11"; Junior

#7 Cody Schrader: RB; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#21 Ben Thomas: DB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: DB

#98 Taylor Cornish
: 6' 4"; Junior
: P

#83 Jake Ellis
: 6' 7"; Senior; National Letter of Intent
: TE

#33 Isaiah Estes
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: LB

#6 Nolan Hair
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: QB

#10 Matt Hall
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: TE

#4 Jaylen Jefferson
: 5' 9"; Senior; National Letter of Intent
: RB

#41 Ulysses Ross
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: LB

#11 Dante Ruffin
: 5' 11"; Senior
: WR

#99 Josh Scheiderer
: 5' 11"; Junior
: K/P

#7 Cody Schrader
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: RB

#21 Ben Thomas
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: DB