Rough rides come to end for Tabor College football
Kansas Wesleyan's 38-7 victory leaves Tabor football team winless in league play
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
If the area chiropractors aren't bursting with business from the Tabor College football team this week, it could be a real shock.
After suffering a bad case of whiplash from their first winless season in the KCAC this decade, the Bluejays can finally relax and look ahead to next year.
Tabor closed out the regular season Saturday in Salina, falling to the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes, 38-7, to end the year at 1-9 overall and 0-9 in league play.
The Bluejays entered the contest 10th in the league in rushing defense, which the Coyotes took advantage of, running for 381 yards with Preston McCorkle carrying 29 times for a game-high 219 yards.
Tabor countered with 79 yards from Demetrius Cox, and quarterback Anthony Davis got the Bluejays on the board by the time they were out of striking distance.
The Coyotes, who were possibly faced with their first losing season in four years, had dropped two straight games.
They hardly looked like a team struggling as McCorkle got KW out of the gate with three minutes, 53 seconds left in the first quarter.
Tabor was in a 21-0 hole by halftime with the Coyotes scoring on three of their five first-half drives.
Much as they have all season, the turnovers killed the Bluejays for the final time with Tabor gift-wrapping two touchdowns for the Coyotes off of three fumbles.
One wiped out a drive with the Bluejays getting all the way to the Wesleyan two-yard line before losing the ball.
That set up a 95-yard drive capped off by a 30-yard run by Steve Valliere, to make the deficit three scores.
The Coyotes tacked on 10 more unanswered points before Davis broke up the shutout, scoring on a 16-yard quarterback keeper.
The Bluejays mustered 357 total yards with Davis throwing for a game-high 206 on 16-27 passing.
Caleb Marsh closed out a stellar career, hauling in six catches for a game-high 87 yards.
Despite the winless season in KCAC play, Tabor was one of its own worst enemies, mishandling the ball and staying healthy.
Injuries hampered the Bluejays, forcing coach Mike Gottsch to rotate defensive linemen to offense, leaving the lines a point of emphasis for next year.
Tabor loses a solid group of seniors, but considering Gottsch was a late arrival on campus in February, he'll have a whole year to ready the Bluejays for 2008.
