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The Malone University and Kentucky Wesleyan College football teams will square off this Saturday at 12 o'clock noon at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Malone (0-5) and Kentucky Wesleyan (1-4) are both in search of their first Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) victories as the two teams are the only two remaining winless teams in conference play.

Media Information
Live Video/Stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
Live Radio: ESPN 990 AM | espn990.com
Twitter: @Malone_Football | @maloneathletics

Gameday Storylines
Bunnell Leads 4th-Quarter Comeback at Alderson Broaddus
Coming in for injured starting quarterback John Iacucci, sophomore backup Zane Bunnell was outstanding in his 2017 debut last week at Alderson Broaddus as he led Malone to two fourth-quarter touchdowns after being down 24-10. Bunnell engineered a 14-play scoring drive that featured a pair of fourth-down conversion passes and his first career touchdown run on 4th-and-goal from the four. Trailing 24-17 on the next drive, Bunnell found Dakota Hobbs deep down the middle of the field for his first career touchdown pass to tie it with 2:35 left. Alderson Broaddus, however, scored the game-winning touchdown with just 11 seconds to go. Bunnell finished 5-of-6 passing for 89 yards while adding seven carries for 42 yards on the ground.
 
Pioneers Celebrate Homecoming
The comeback at Alderson Broaddus represented the first time Malone overcame a 14-point deficit since turning a 14-0 disadvantage into a 21-14 lead in September of 2015 at Wayne State. A year prior, Malone celebrated homecoming by overcoming a 35-21 4th-quarter deficit to defeat Northern Michigan 42-35 in overtime. The Pioneers will look for another Homecoming victory on Saturday when they welcome Kentucky Wesleyan to Canton.
 
Great Midwest Represented in the NFL
Kentucky Wesleyan's All-American wide receiver Keelan Cole scored four touchdowns in the Panthers' 40-30 victory over Malone last season. Cole has since graduated and now catches passes for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Cole, the 2016 G-MAC Player of the Year, is the first G-MAC athlete to compete in the NFL. Including this week, each of Malone's next four opponents had former players in NFL training camps this summer. Lake Erie's Anthony Kukwa (LS/TE) and Findlay's Harold Jones-Quarter (DB) were cut prior to the season starting. Hillsdale has two players, Andre Holmes (WR/Buffalo Bills) and Jared Veldheer (OL/Arizona Cardinals), on NFL Rosters. In all, 90 former Division II players are playing in the NFL.
 
Dulin Continues to Impress
Pioneer junior wide receiver Ashton Dulin, a man with similar playmaking abilities to Keelan Cole, recorded the seventh 100-yard receiving game of his career last Saturday at Alderson Broaddus. Dulin caught six passes for 101 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown on the final play of the first quarter. On the season, the big-play threat has touchdown receptions of 53, 67, 71, and 85 yards and is the only player in DII with four 50+ yard touchdown receptions. Dulin ranks 12th in DII in receiving yards per game (113.6) and is well on his way to becoming just the fourth 1,000-yard receiver in Malone history. Last season at Kentucky Wesleyan, he caught a career-high 12 passes (one shy of tying a school record) for 168 yards and a touchdown.
 
Pioneer Kicker Moving Up the Record Book
Redshirt-junior kicker/punter Marcus Moeller moved into a tie for third all-time at Malone with his 19th career field goal last week at Alderson Broaddus. Last season at Kentucky Wesleyan, Moeller tied a Malone single-game record with three field goals and became the single-season record-holder with 13. In that game, he also set the mark for most consecutive field goals made with 11. The Denmark native ranks 5th all-time in total punts at Malone with an even 100, and his 38.8 yards-per-punt average is tops in school history. Of his 24 punts this season, eight have been downed inside the 20 and none have gone into the endzone. Of Moeller's 21 kickoffs this season, eight have gone for touchbacks and his 61.2 yards-per-kickoff leads the G-MAC.
 
Pioneers to Watch
Offense: The Malone run game that racked up 219 yards against KWC last season should be excited to face a Kentucky Wesleyan defense that allowed 408 rushing yards to Walsh last Saturday. Xavier Garland carried the ball 20 times for 58 yards last week at AB. Redshirt senior guard Brenson Ennis will be going up a KWC front four that features two undersized ends and two underclassmen tackles.
 
Defense: The Pioneer secondary will need to play well this week against a Wesleyan team that throws the ball 35 times a game. Look for safeties Daniel Tepe and Jaylon Doss to have big-play opportunities against quarterback Mike McGee, the G-MAC leader with nine interceptions.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan at a Glance
Kentucky Wesleyan, located in Owensboro, Kentucky, is led by 14th-year head coach Brent Holsclaw, a former quarterback at his alma mater. The Panthers' lone win this season came against winless Livingstone College in week two. Since then, they are 0-3 and have allowed 47.3 points per game.
 
Offensively, Wesleyan relies heavily on the passing game as their run game ranks 167th of 168 teams in DII. The Panthers' pass defense ranks second in the G-MAC, allowing 193.0 yards per game, but their run defense is seventh, giving up an average of 231.8 on the ground. Kentucky Wesleyan lost 56-29 to Walsh last Saturday, surrendering seven rushing touchdowns.
 
Panthers to Watch
Offense: Sophomore quarterback Mike McGee, who threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns against Malone last season,  passed for 277 yards last week and completed a career-high 71.9% (23-of-32) of his passes. He will look to fare even better this week against a Malone defense that has allowed each of its first five opponents to complete at least 65% of their passes. Wide receiver Jared Beard caught six passes for 114 yards last week vs. Walsh.
 
Defense: Free safety Ty Martin-Miles led the Panthers with 19 tackles against Walsh. He had five tackles and two fumble recoveries vs. Malone in 2016. Cornerback Travell Brown leads the team with three pass-breakups and had an interception against Malone last season. Defensive end Dalen Cofer leads the Panthers with two sacks.
 
By the Numbers
1 – Fumble lost by Malone through five games this season, tied for second fewest in the country. Malone has averaged 1.4 lost fumbles per game over the previous 10 seasons.
10 – 4th-down conversions by the Pioneers. Malone is tied for 3rd in DII with two conversions per game.
90.0 – Percent of 4th-down tries (9-10) converted against Kentucky Wesleyan. Statistically, the Panthers' 4th-down defense is the worst in DII.
255 – Rushing yards by KWC this season. Six players in DII have run for more than that in a single game this season.
1,155 – School-record receiving yards by Derek Deardorff in 2008. Ashton Dulin is on pace for 1,136.

Looking Ahead
Malone will travel to Lake Erie College next Saturday, October 21st for a 7:00 pm kickoff.