By Holly Tormey, sports editor

A 14-game conference winning streak came to a halt Saturday night when the Falcon football team dropped its opening game at McPherson College, 38-60.

The loss against McPherson was anything but planned. McPherson was picked fifth in the preseason Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference poll, while the Falcons were chosen as the top team.

“McPherson is a really good football team. I say that with pride because the team who beats us will be a good team, but I just don’t want that to happen at all,” said Monty Lewis, head coach.

Friends wasn’t ready for what the Bulldogs brought after having minimal time to practice last week due to rain and other sports.

“We weren’t mentally prepared. The emotion that we need to succeed in football wasn’t there,” Lewis said.

Saturday night’s game consisted of short drives, fumbles and missed tackles, which spelled doom for Friends. All five Falcon turnovers resulted in touchdowns for McPherson.

“McPherson was ready. We disgraced the game, and with our backs against the wall, we will take every Saturday one day at a time,” Lewis said.

Tim Rozzell, a sophomore, led the team as the first-year quarterback.

“He did an excellent job. He is a very solid, tough individual who got hit very hard but kept getting back up and leading the team,” Lewis said.

Rozzell threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns. The sophomore quarterback also rushed for three touchdowns.

Lewis believes that the critics are already writing a eulogy for the Friends University football program and kicking dirt on the grave.

“It’s all premature,” Lewis said. “We will go to practice and continue to work on the basics of football and fix what’s broken”.

The Falcons will host Southwestern College for the first home game of the season Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.

“It’s a tall order to beat us at home. I can’t remember the last time we got beat at home in a conference game,” Lewis said.

Last year the Falcons beat Southwestern 54-0, but Lewis expects a tougher challenge this time.

“This (Southwestern) is a much improved team. They played a lot of young players last season, which will lead to a more physical team. We are coming off a loss, so maybe this year Southwestern will get their revenge,” Lewis said.

The Falcons will concentrate this week on the fundamentals of football.

“We need more physical play out of our defensive and offensive lines, but it’s all mental. We will fix the mental block and come out on Saturday and play mean and clean like we always do,” Lewis said.