The Coyotes are back on the road for a Kansas Conference and Gene Bissell Division game against Sterling.

GAME INFORMATION

• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Day: Saturday
• Location: Smisor Stadium, Sterling
• Records: Kansas Wesleyan 5-2 (1-0 Bissell), Sterling 2-5 (0-1 Bissell)

LIVE COVERAGE 

• The video stream of the game will be available online on the Coyote Sports Network, powered by the Urban Edge Network (https://www.urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/3971). The game will also be streamed on the KCAC Network (https://kcacnetwork.com/kansaswesleyan/?B=4114528). 
• Live Stats will be available at https://kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
• The KINA Radio Pregame Show with Tyler Henry will start at 3 p.m. on KINA Radio. The online radio stream is available at https://radio.securenetsystems.net/ce/kina2.

THE SERIES 
The Coyotes have won the last eight games, including a 35-0 victory last season at JRI Hospitality Stadium. They outscored the Warriors 311-57 during the streak and have a 14-11 lead in the series since 2001 but are 6-6 in games played at Sterling during that time. KWU leads the all-time series 51-34-3.


KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE

• The Coyotes trounced Saint Mary 49-3 on Homecoming last Saturday at JRI Hospitality Stadium and the Graves Family Sports Complex. They had 536 yards total that included a season-high 331 rushing. The defense limited USM to 160 yards, just 26 passing.
• Sam Mitchum ran for a season-best 149 yards and two touchdowns while Andrew Bown had 75 yards and a touchdown and Caleb Deal 53 yards. Wyatt Oak returned from an injury and threw for 129 yards and a touchdown – 15 yards to Kyler Brown in the first quarter. Troy Sylve ran for a score and threw for one out of the Mule Train power alignment. Kyler Brown caught six passes for 98 yards and the TD.
• The defense was superb once again limiting USM to three first downs – two by penalty – on 14 drives. Safety Taylor Collins had a team-best eight tackles and one of KWU's two interceptions, giving them 12 for the season. The Coyotes also had four sacks, have 32 for the year and rank third in the NAIA with 66 tackles for loss.
• Oak started at quarterback but shared duties with Deal who opened the game at running back. Deal had 44 yards passing in addition to his 53 yards rushing.
• D'Heaven Domena rushed for 259 yards, three touchdowns and had 51 yards receiving while the defense held Sterling to 25 yards rushing on 24 attempts in last year's game.

STERLING AT A GLANCE

• The Warriors are 2-2 in their last four games and coming off a 31-10 loss to Southwestern last Saturday in Winfield. They trailed 17-10 late in the third quarter, though, and finished with 318 total yards – 233 passing – compared to Southwestern's 328 total. Both victories were at home against Bethany (24-23) and Bethel (17-14).
• Sterling averages 19 points, 126 yards rushing and 199 passing; opposing teams average 37 points, 223 yards passing and 158 rushing. The Warriors are eighth in the NAIA in tackles for loss with 59, have 13 sacks and three interceptions – all by Jaquan Lowman.
• Steven Werking threw for 233 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions against Southwestern. He has completed 56.7 percent of his passes for 974 yards, five touchdowns, and nine interceptions for the season.
• Khyaire Hines, the team's top wide receiver, had eight catches for 106 yards and a touchdown against Southwestern. He has 29 receptions for 493 yards and two scores for the year. Stephenson Kennard is the leading rusher with 479 yards and five touchdowns.
• Coach Reggie Langford Jr. is in his third season. He played quarterback for the Warriors and graduated in 2015. Langford was offensive coordinator at Bethel in 2022 before going to Sterling where he was offensive coordinator one year before being promoted to head coach.

HEAD COACH MATT MIDDLETON
"Good coaching is finding a way to play with what you have, and I think we've done that. I think that we have talent, the biggest thing is to make sure that we're doing what we can to be successful. If that means throwing it 60 times, we'll do it. Run it 60 times, we'll do it. … We're going to do what we have to do.

"We haven't run a power scheme all year until Saturday, but the way they aligned defensively gave us an opportunity to do that. The issue is going to be now it's on tape, so others are going to be ready. But we're going to find ways to still be able to do that.

"I coached Sam before at (Harding) and he's got explosion. It was good to finally see him get in the open field because he can run, and 149 yards was a big game. Kudos to the offensive line too.

"(Sterling) looks like a completely different team. They're really big up front offensive line wise; they've added a couple of strong receivers. Defensively their front four gets after you and they bring a lot of pressure. You can tell there's a different feeling with where they are. They're a very, very dangerous 2-5 team."


QUARTERBACK WYATT OAK
"Three weeks of constant rehab and working with the trainers. Thankfully we had the bye week, that was big. I got to sit out a little bit before divisional play but feeling good, feeling better than ever.

"The run game was big for us big time (against Saint Mary). We were throwing in a little bit more. Probably caught Saint Mary off guard because we were pounding the screen (pass) a lot, a lot of quarterback runs. But we got to a point where I think we ran power every play and ended up scoring. It was pretty awesome to see our run game being effective.

"Caleb can throw and he can run. He's lightning quick. When you have the run-pass option it can be a big problem because (defenses) don't really know what they're going to get."


UP NEXT
The Coyotes play their final regular-season home game of the year a week from Saturday. Their opponent will be the seventh-ranked Friends Falcons at 1 p.m. at Gene Bissell Field at JRI Hospitality Stadium.