The football game between Tabor College and McPherson College scheduled for Oct. 20 in McPherson was canceled Thursday, said Scott Crawford, commissioner of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.

In a written statement, Crawford said the decision was based on a desire to honor Brandon Brown, a Tabor College student and football player who was found beaten unconscious Sept. 16 in McPherson and died Sept. 22.

The decision also respects the needs of an ongoing criminal investigation in the case, Crawford said. Two former McPherson College football players, Alton Lamont Franklin and DeQuinte Oshea Flournoy, are charged with aiding and abetting murder in the second degree. One current Tabor College and four McPherson College football players are listed as potential witnesses in the criminal complaints against Franklin and Flournoy.

The statement said Tabor College President Jules Glanzer and McPherson College President Michael Schneider supported the decision.