Bethel football returned to Thresher Stadium on Saturday night and came up short against McPherson, 33–7. The Threshers showed fight on both sides of the ball and put together a strong third-quarter scoring drive to highlight the contest.
Quarterback Byron Reese led the offense, completing 16 passes for 248 yards and one touchdown. His lone score came on a 12-yard strike to Josiah Buller, who finished with two catches for 20 yards. Ben Vincent led the receiving corps with three catches for 77 yards, including a 40-yard grab. Noah Miller and Jimmy Martin added 43 and 41 receiving yards respectively as Reese spread the ball to multiple targets.
On the ground, Reese scrambled for 21 yards, while Miller and Tristan LeBlanc combined for 18 yards. Though Bethel finished with just 30 net rushing yards, the offense converted 18 first downs and produced over 275 total yards against the Bulldogs.
Defensively, the Threshers came up with two interceptions and 10.0 tackles for loss to slow McPherson's attack. Isaiah Rivera led all tacklers with 12, while Jaric Woodley added eight with one TFL. Lyric Wheeler and Amerdid Marial combined for 11 stops, and both Avery Richardson and Kevin Hill snagged interceptions to flip momentum. The defense forced four punts and limited McPherson on several key drives.
Special teams contributed steady field position, highlighted by Breakir Killpack averaging 36.0 yards on five punts and Trevon Madison totaling 10 yards on two punt returns. Hector Santana added the extra point following Buller's touchdown.
The loss drops Bethel to 0–2 on the season, but the Threshers showed clear improvement on both sides of the ball and will aim to build on their passing game and defensive takeaways heading into Week 3.
