Knox College Prairie Fire (3-6, 1-4 MWC South)
at Beloit College Buccaneers (2-7, 1-4 MWC North)
MWC Championship Saturday
Saturday, November 14, 2015, 1:00 p.m.
Strong Stadium, Beloit, Wisconsin
The Buccaneers close out the 2015 season at home as they host Knox College as a part of MWC Championship Saturday. Beloit is looking to snap a six-game loss stretch after last Saturday's 48-24 setback against Carroll University at Strong Stadium on Senior Day. The Prairie Fire have dropped two straight and five of their last six after Saturday's 49-7 loss to Monmouth College in Galesburg…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Prairie Fire are meeting for the 99th time in a series Beloit leads 53-43 with two ties. Beloit won the most recent meeting on November 15, 2014, 28-21 in Galesburg to snap a two-game Knox winning streak in the series. The Buccaneers have won five of the last seven between the teams. KC's most recent win in the series came on October 12, 2013, 31-21 in Beloit. The programs first met in the final game of the 1899 season, a 6-6 tie…
The Bucs Most Recent Game: Beloit had good offensive numbers but couldn't match Carroll University's second half output in a 48-24 loss on Senior Day at Strong Stadium last Saturday. The Pioneers got things rolling with a pair of first quarter touchdowns on 17 and 13-yard scoring passes. Beloit made it a 13-7 game at 4:32 of the second quarter when Evan Phillips hit David Lafayette on a fake field goal from 27 yards away. Carroll answered with a 56-yard pass play for a TD to make it 19-7 before the Bucs closed out the opening half scoring on Kam Sallee's 45-yard field goal, making it 19-10, CU, at the break. The teams traded TDs in the third quarter, with the Pioneers getting a 31-yard run three minutes in to start the back and forth. Ryan Sughroue caught a 12-yard pass from Danny May to pull back within 27-17 but a 40-yard pass play by CU pushed the lead back to 35-17. May scampered in from one yard out at 3:45 of the quarter to keep Beloit within striking distance at 35-24 as the fourth quarter started. But Carroll had the only two scores of the final quarter on a short run one minute in and an eight-yard pass midway through to close out the scoring. The Pioneers had 519 yards of offense, including 413 through the air, while the Buccaneers finished with 343. May ended up with 183 yards passing, with eight of his passes connecting with Mike Nolden, who had 103 yards receiving. Joey Werner was the leading rusher with 78 yards on 14 carries. Defensively Juan Guerrero and Danny Quijas each had six tackles while Dewight Walker and Quin Dixon had five each. Dixon had Beloit's lone sack…
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Prairie Fire: Beloit smiled as they headed to the off-season after a 28-21 season-ending win at Knox College on November 15, 2014, as part of Midwest Conference Championship Saturday. The Prairie Fire scored first in what became a back and forth battle on a one-yard run by Terry White at 5:04 of the opening quarter. The Buccaneers evened it up at 7-all early in the second quarter on Evan Phillips' nine-yard run and then took the lead when Phillips hit Michael Nolden with a 21-yard scoring pass to send them to the break up 14-7. KC tied it up at 14 five-plus minutes into the third quarter on a two-yard run by White before Beloit retook the lead at 3:59 on Nolden's second TD catch from Phillips, this one from 17 yards away. But Knox set up a winner-take-all fourth quarter when they scored on an 11-yard run by Matt McCaffrey one second before the end of the third quarter. Alan Ham, one of four seniors playing their final game for the Bucs, and a regular starter on the defensive line, sealed the win at the 9:18 mark of the quarter on a one-yard pass from Kam Sallee to complete a 12-play drive. Beloit then stopped the Prairie Fire on a fourth down run at the BC 24 before running out the final 5:20 with an 11-play drive, most of the plays coming from Mason Dixon rushes. Dixon finished with 192 yards on 30 carries, finishing the season with 1,199 yards and giving him a two-season total of 2,525, sixth all-time in Beloit history. Phillips threw for 74 yards and Sallee 61 while Nolden had six catches for 86 yards. White finished with 96 yards rushing on 11 carries. McCaffrey threw for 115 and ran for 85. Ilir Emini caught eight passes for 63 yards. On defense Dewight Walker and David Lafayette both had eight tackles while Riley Pearson and Antonio Jones had seven each. Jacob Paul had 10 tackles for the Prairie Fire while Will Ruzicka had eight. In addition to Ham, who finished with two tackles, Tyler Coleman (six tackles), Derell Carter (six tackles) and Jake Fisher (two tackles), all played their final game for the Buccaneers…
The Real Senior Day: Though the Bucs' seven seniors were recognized for Senior Day before last Saturday's loss to Carroll, it turns out this Saturday's game vs. Knox College is officially their last appearance at Strong Stadium and in a Buccaneer Football uniform. It doesn't hurt to thank Lukeson Versulien, Antonio Jones, Nathan Brault, Joey Casa, Mike Roth, Patrick Galloway and Jacob Thuente again…
Notes & Notables: WR/K Kam Sallee's 45-yard field goal late in the first half Saturday was the fourth-longest in Beloit history and the longest of his career. He had a 44-yarder, the fifth-longest, against Grinnell on September 13, 2014. Sallee has 16 career field goals, third in the Beloit record books…WR Mike Nolden needs 24 receiving yards to move into the fifth spot on the Beloit career list. He's also #5 in career receptions with 126 and has the second-most career receiving TDs with 21 (29, Derek Carrier, 2008-11)…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: The 2016 season is scheduled to open on Saturday, September 3, at Lake Forest College. The Buccaneers will host Knox College in the home opener on September 10…