INDIANAPOLIS – Two minutes left in the game. Greyhounds up, 27-24; Bearcats with the ball. A UIndy defender jumps an out route and takes it 20-something yards for the game-sealing score in a 34-24 final.
 
Believe it or not, those words accurately describe each of the previous two match-ups between UIndy and McKendree, including Saturday night's Homecoming win. Three hundred and sixty-four days after besting the Bearcats at their place in that exact fashion, the Greyhounds (2-4, 1-2 GLVC) did it again, this time with senior cornerback Korey Rogan providing the clinching pick-six.
 
Rogan, who already had two interceptions on the night, garnered his first career touchdown with a 28-yard return to seal the first GLVC win of the season for the Hounds in front of a Homecoming crowd of nearly 8,400.
 
"He played strong," said head coach Bob Bartolomeo when asked about his veteran cornerback's performance. "He played like a senior should. He's a senior guy that's started now for a couple years, and he played like a senior should, so we're real pleased with Korey tonight."
 
Two other Greyhound defenders came up with interceptions in the game, as Robert Williams and Derrick Bryant also garnered picks. Bryant added 11 tackles, one shy of Rob Dury's game-high total of 12.
 
On the other side of the ball, the Greyhounds were also clicking, especially in the run game. The Hounds produced 177 yards on the ground, with 105 coming from junior Andrew Walker. In his first 100-yard game of the season, the Chicago native scored his 30th career rushing touchdown, tying him with Greyhound-great Jim Ware (1959-62) for third in the program annals.
 
"We finally got the run game going tonight," Bartolomeo noted. "That was a key for me. Both Walker and 'Shak' (Shakir Paschall) did a great job, and I thought our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part."
 
After battling to a 17-17 stalemate in the first half, the UIndy defense held McKendree scoreless for the next quarter and a half, allowing time for the Greyhound offense to build a 10-point lead midway through the final quarter.
 
The momentum seemed to shift UIndy's way early in the second half after a near-perfect punt by Brad Schickel pinned the Bearcats back at their own five-yard line. The defense followed suit by forcing a three-and-out, giving the ball to the UIndy offense with excellent field position.
 
With redshirt-freshman Bryce Stancombe now leading the Greyhound offense after starting QB Jake Purichia left with an apparent injury earlier in the night, the Hounds capped the ensuing drive with a tie-breaking field goal by Schickel. The 24-yard boot was set up with help from a 20-yard pass from Stancombe to freshman Maurice Robinson – his first career reception.
 
The UIndy defense produced interceptions on each of the next two Bearcat possessions, including one by Rogan in the end zone.
 
Later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Stancombe found Malik Higgins with an 18-yard completion to move the Hounds inside the McKendree 30. Walker then had his number called five straight times to escort the ball to the four-yard line. Paschall took it in from there, scoring his second TD of the season and putting UIndy up, 27-17, with 11:40 to play.
 
The Bearcats followed with their longest scoring drive of the year with a 12-play, 70-yard march to cut it to three, but UIndy salted away six of the remaining eight minutes with a prolonged drive of their own. A key third-and-long play saw Stancombe tuck the ball and take a big hit, but not before advancing nine yards for the first down.
 
An eventual missed field goal attempt from UIndy gave McKendree the ball at its 20-yard line, but on 3rd & 6 and with about 100 seconds on the clock, Rogan corralled his third INT of the night and took it the other way to all but clinch it.
 
The Greyhounds return to the road to face Quincy University next Saturday, a game whose importance is not lost on Coach Bart.
 
"We've got to get two wins in a row," stressed the veteran coach, "because then we're home for two games, and so the next week is a real big game for our football team this year in terms of finishing. Quincy will be tough to beat at home; they always are, so it'll be a formidable task for us. We'll enjoy the win tonight, but we have to regroup and get back to work tomorrow and get after Quincy."


NOTES
Purichia finished an efficient 12-for-15 passing for 152 yards before exiting in the third quarter … UIndy's five defensive INTs were good for its highest single-game sum in three years … WR Garrett Willis needed just six catches to compile a career-high 117 receiving yards … The teams improbably traded 77-yard touchdown passes within about a minute of each other in the first quarter. Willis recorded the lengthy score for the Hounds.