McPherson no match for No. 10 Bluejays years ago
Butler's four TDs help Tabor drub Bulldogs, 55-13
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Bluejay coach Mike Gardner sounded earnest weeks ago when he said that nothing comes easy in the KCAC.
Anybody can beat anybody on any given Saturday.
Anybody but the Bluejays, that is, and the McPherson Bulldogs just happened to be the unlucky victim Saturday in Hillsboro on homecoming.
Proving it's head and shoulders above the rest of the KCAC, Tabor (6-0, 5-0 KCAC) buried the Bulldogs by halftime, 41-0, eventually rolling to a 55-13 win.
When the Bluejays are rolling, it's generally a safe bet tailback Roger Butler is, too.
Butler scored four touchdowns, carrying the ball 17 times for a game-high 109 yards.
McPherson was in dire straits after the first quarter with the Bluejays scoring on drives of 83, 86, and 32 yards to build a 21-0 lead after the first 15:00.
Two of the touchdowns were Butler's and the other was quarterback Ricky Ishida firing a quick strike to John Garcia.
Ishida was 16-for-22 on the day, throwing for 285 yards to help Tabor pile up a school record 582 yards, including 418 in the first half alone.
And big things seemed to happen every time the Bluejays had the ball.
After three more scoring drives of 80, 61, and 80 yards, Tabor cruised into the break with a commanding 41-0 lead.
The only thing that fouled up the Bluejays' perfect first half was their ever-occurring problem with converting on the PATs.
Aaron Jenkins caught three passes for a season game-high 101 yards and a 76-yard touchdown.
Jenkins dove into the end zone on the catch, leading to an arguable excessive celebration call that forced the Bluejays to kick from further back.
The PAT was no good, but the lead was never in jeopardy with the Bulldogs being held to 109 yards of offense with seven coming on the ground.
McPherson gave Tabor a lift on its opening possession of the second half.
Quarterback Patrick Luz was picked off by Andy Bartell, who took it to the Bulldog-five.
With 1:07 gone by in the second half, Tabor was up 48-0 after Butler scored his fourth touchdown.
The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter against the Bluejays' second string, engineering a 13-play 67-yard drive topped off by a one-yard run from Freddie Nails.
McPherson finished the day with 257 yards total offense with Tabor holding its powerful ground game to 95 yards.
The Bulldogs leading rusher Lamar Jacobs picked up a paltry 32 yards on 12 carries.
The Bluejays face a stiff road test Saturday in Winfield against the Southwestern Moundbuilders in a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
Despite the 'Builders posting a 2-4 record in league play, Winfield hasn't been the kindest place for Tabor over the years.
