Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 15)—The McKendree University football team wrapped up its 2013 season in impressive fashion on Saturday night at Leemon Field with a 58-14 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan College.
 
The Bearcats registered season high totals in points (58), total yards (599), rushing yards (461) and first downs (32) as they rolled to a 34-7 halftime lead and cruised to victory in the final Great Lakes Valley Conference game of the 2013 season. McKendree closes the year with an overall record of 4-6 and a 3-4 mark in the GLVC.
 
"It's always nice to end the season with a win, but I'm very proud of our total team effort today," said McKendree head coach Mike Babcock, who wrapped up his first season on the sidelines with the Bearcats. "We fought back from an early deficit and grabbed control early. I thought we played hard on both sides of the ball, and the final numbers certainly showed that. We wanted to send our seniors off with a memorable night, and it was great to see them head off the field one final time with a win."
 
Along with the stout offensive numbers, the McKendree defense was just as impressive in Saturday's victory. The Bearcats held Kentucky Wesleyan to minus-four yards rushing, and 174 yards of total offense on the night. McKendree also limited the Panthers to just eight first downs on a rainy and windy evening in Lebanon.
 
Junior running back Ryan Herring (Fairview Heights, IL/Belleville East) led the offensive attack for McKendree with a game-high 117 yards on 11 carries. Freshman running back Sharoid Roach (Calumet City, IL/Simeon) had all 18 of his carries in the second half and finished the night with 87 yards on 18 attempts. Five different McKendree running back posted at least 60 yards on the ground against Kentucky Wesleyan.
 
The 461 yards piled up by McKendree is the highest rushing total for the Bearcats since gaining 391 yards in a 37-0 victory at William Penn University back in 2007.
 
"We knew our running game was capable of putting up some big numbers," said Babcock. "That's a credit to our three senior offensive linemen (Richie Rebmann (Bensenville, IL/Fenton), Anthony Sabattini (Springfield, IL/Glenwood) and Ayoola Oyetunji (DeSoto, IL/Carbondale)) and their work up front. They created the holes and our running backs did a nice job of reading those blocks all night."
 
Sophomore quarterback Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) completed 12-of-16 pass attempts for 112 yards with three touchdowns. Fisher's third TD pass of the night, a four-yard strike to junior wide receiver Dewayne Gatti (Pasadena, CA/Bonita) in the third quarter, set a pair of McKendree season records. It was Fisher's 19^th touchdown pass of the year, giving him one more than his older brother Austin, who held the Bearcats' record with 18 TD passes set in 2010. It was also Gatti's seventh touchdown reception of the year, breaking a tie with Brett Gross (1997), Tony Vail (2004) and Byron Gettis (2009) for the single-season record at McKendree.
 
Fisher established new single-season passing records this year with 189 completions, 308 attempts and 1,961 yards. Gatti also set new season standards with 64 receptions for 837 yards.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan (0-11, 0-7 GLVC) took the opening kickoff and marched 53 yards in eight plays to take a 7-0 lead. McKendree answered with an eight-play scoring drive of its own, as Fisher connected with senior fullback Chris Murphy (East St. Louis, IL/East St. Louis) for a five-yard TD pass. The extra point was blocked as the Panthers still held the lead at 7-6. The Bearcats took the lead for good in the final minute of the first quarter as Herring scored from a yard out to cap a 10-play, 75-yard drive. Freshman kicker Steven O'Block (Libertyville, IL/Carmel Catholic) tacked on the point after to give McKendree a 13-7 advantage.
 
On a third-down play midway through the second quarter, Fisher swung a pass over the defense to sophomore running back Branden Walker (St. Louis, MO/University City), who danced through a pair of tackles and raced 25 yards to the end zone for a touchdown and a 20-7 McKendree lead. After a three-and-out forced a Kentucky Wesleyan punt to midfield, sophomore wide receiver took a handoff on a sweep and scampered 52 yards for a score to extend the Bearcats' margin to 27-7. Murphy closed out the first-half scoring on a 12-yard TD run with 3:29 left in the second quarter.
 
James returned the second-half kickoff 52 yards to the Kentucky Wesleyan 44-yard line to help set up the Bearcats' next touchdown. Fisher threw his record-breaking TD pass to Gatti nine plays later, and O'Block's extra point stretched the lead to 41-7 for McKendree.
 
Sophomore running back Jeruel Taylor (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) added a one-yard scoring plunge later in the third quarter before the Bearcats closed out the scoring with 10 fourth-quarter points. Roach broke through a hole and rambled 21 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, and O'Block booted his sixth field goal of the year, 27-yard with 7:32 remaining, to cap the scoring frenzy for McKendree.
 
Senior defensive back Tirell Anderson (Decatur, IL/MacArthur) led McKendree in his final collegiate game with five tackles. Junior defensive Collin Townsend (Moweaqua, IL/Central A & M) added four stops, including a quarterback sack. Sophomore defensive lineman Derrik Starrett (Brighton, IL/Alton Marquette) had two sacks for the Bearcats, while sophomore defensive back Eric Dickson (Chicago, IL/Simeon) collected the lone interception of the game for McKendree.
 
The 32 first downs posted by McKendree sets a new team record, topping the old mark of 30 set in a 2002 game against Iowa Wesleyan College.