The Basics
The Bulldogs are set for their second road trip of the 2024 Pioneer Football League season. Drake will visit Presbyterian on Saturday, Oct. 19 with a chance to extend their PFL win streak to 15 games.
Bulldog Bites
Drake is 4-1 on the year and coming off a convincing victory over Butler last weekend. The host Bulldogs hit their stride in the second half to run away from their canine counterparts and cement themselves atop the league standings.
Drake's defense picked off Butler's Reagan Andrew twice in their last contest. Senior
Holden Hughes sealed the game on the visiting Bulldogs' final drive while freshman
Mekhi Toms picked of his first career INT earlier in the game. It marked Drake's first game with 2+ interceptions since 2022.
Drake's star signal caller
Luke Bailey has been on a hot streak under center. Bailey tossed a touchdown on 213 yards vs. Butler last Saturday, marking his eighth consecutive 100+ yard performance, dating back to last season.
Time of possession has been a primary indicator for the success of Drake football this season. When the Bulldogs own the ball for more 30 minutes or more in a game, they are 4-0 this year. When Drake has the ball for less than that 30-minute mark, they are 0-1.
The Bulldogs will look to continue its current 14-game Pioneer Football League winning streak.From Oct. 9, 2021-Oct. 22, 2022, Drake football lost 10 consecutive PFL games before immediately going on its current roll that started on Oct. 29, 2022 with a 24-17 win at Stetson.
Bulldog Leaders
Rushing
Davion Cherwin | 23 rush, 152 yds, 2 TD
Blake Ellingson | 20 rush, 119 yds, 2 TD
Luke Woodson | 32 rush, 95 yds, TD
Passing
Luke Bailey | 106-177, 1187 yds, 5 TD, 2 INT
Blake Ellingson | 7-10, 30 yds, TD
Receiving
Trey Radocha | 28 rec, 315 yds, 2 TD
Mitchell January | 21 rec, 281 yds, 2 TD
Taj Hughes | 27 rec, 243 yds, TD
Tackles
Sebastian Adamski | 50 tck, 23 solo, 3.5 TFL
Sean Allison | 43 tck, 20 solo, 2.0 TFL
Tyler Radocha | 39 tck, 20 solo, 1.5 TFL
Sacks
Finn Claypool | 3.5 sck
Jacob Auen | 3.0 sck
Sean Allison | 1.5 sck
Scouting Presbyterian
The Blue Hose of Presbyterian enter this weekend sitting at 2-5 overall and 0-3 in Pioneer Football League play. Both of the Blue Hose wins came against non-Division I teams with a 31-14 victory at Erskine (Sep. 7) and a 52-0 shutout of Virginia-Lynchburg (Sep. 14). Presbyterian's losses came against Mercer to open the year, Gardner-Webb to finish their non-conference slate, and vs. Davidson, San Diego, and Morehead State in PFL action.
Presbyterian's offense is spurred by quarterback Collin Hurst's 1,235 passing yards with 10 touchdowns. Three of those throwing scores were caught by Dominic Kibby, the Blue Hose leading receiver with 354 yards. Cincere Gill and Nathan Levicki have also caught three TD's this season.Quante Jennings leads the PC offense with 220 rushing yards while Zach Switzer has scored a trio of touchdowns on the ground. Defensively, Alex Herriott's 55 total tackles rank second in the PFL.
Drake and Presbyterian have split their two previous matchups, 1-1. The Bulldogs won the most recent tilt last season.
Head coach Steve Englehart is 7-22 in his three seasons at Presbyterian and 77-71 in 14 years as an NCAA head coach.
Blue Hose Leaders
Rushing
Quante Jennings | 37 rush, 220 yds, TD
Zach Switzer | 49 rush, 207 yds, 3 TD
Antonio Wright | 40 rush, 165 yds, TD
Passing
Collin Hurst | 88-146, 1235 yds, 10 TD, 4 INT
Ty Englehart | 20-39, 236 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
Receiving
Dominic Kibby | 27 rec, 354 yds, 3 TD
Cincere Gill | 16 rec, 221 yds, 3 TD
Nathan Levicki | 9 rec, 197 yds, 3 TD
Tackles
Alex Herriott | 55 tck, 19 solo, 5.0 TFL
Brooks Russ-Martin | 33 tck, 15 solo
Sebastian Conwell | 29 tck, 11 solo, 2.0 TFL
Caleb Francis | 29 tck, 16 tck, 2.0 TFL
Sacks
Malek Horlback | 3.0 sck
Carter Szydlowski | 3.0 sck
Dalton Epps | 2.0 sck
Raymond McCray | 2.0 sck
Up Next
Drake will host Marist as their PFL slate marches on. The Red Foxes will visit Des Moines on Saturday, Nov. 2 with kickoff set for 1 p.m. in Drake Stadium.
