RENSSELAER, Ind. — The Southwest Baptist University football team cruised to a 61-37 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Saturday afternoon. With the win SBU improves to 7-1 (5-1 GLVC), and has tied a program record 7 wins in a single season.
The Bearcats opened up the scoring on the opening drive. TJ Edwards opened up the game with a 35-yard pass to Cassian Foreman, followed by a 23-yard scamper by Bubba Jenkins. Edwards then hit Scottie Wilson with an 17-yard touchdown strike as the Bearcats went on top 7-0. The defense forced a three-and-out on Saint Joseph’s first possession, highlighted by a Via Manuma sack, before SBU struck again. Southwest Baptist used a 10 play 60-yard drive with a balanced attack before Edwards ran the ball in from two yards out to extend the lead to 13-0 with 10:47 left in the first quarter.
SJC responded with a 24-yard field goal, cutting the SBU lead to 13-3, before the SBU offense took the field once again. Starting from their own 14-yard line, Edwards connected with Kendrick Payne on a big third down to keep the drive alive. Edwards found Foreman with a 22-yard pass, followed by an 8-yard rush by Jenkins and a 14-yard rush by Edwards. Edwards then scored his second rushing touchdown of the day, from 22 yards out, to give SBU a 19-3 lead. A quick three-and-out by the Pumas led to SBU’s fourth consecutive score. Jenkins reeled off an 18-yard run to put the ball into Saint Joseph’s territory, before a couple of short completions from Edwards. On fourth and six from the SJC 32 yardline Edwards hit Foreman with a 32-yard touchdown pass to extend the SBU lead to 26-3 with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter.
In the beginning of the second quarter SJC put together a touchdown drive, as SBU led 26-9. Edwards opened the drive with a 35-yard rush, followed by an 8-yard pass to Wilson. Jenkins then clipped off a 23-yard rush to advance the ball into the redzone. On third and goal Edwards found Chris Robb with a 7-yard touchdown strike to give the Bearcats a 33-9 lead, scoring a touchdown on their first five possessions of the game. Saint Joseph’s came back with another score of their own, cutting the SBU lead to 33-16, before both teams would be forced to punt on each of their following possessions.
With 4:24 left in the half the SBU offense went back to work. Edwards hit Foreman with a 12-yard pass early in the drive, followed by 17-yard rush by Jenkins. Edwards connected with Wilson for an 18-yard completion, followed by another 16-yard scamper by Jenkins. After a SJC pass interference call put the ball inside the 10, Edwards collected his third rushing touchdown, this one from 8 yards out, as SBU led 40-16.
Saint Joseph’s was once again forced to punt, giving the ball back to SBU with 45 seconds left in the half. The Bearcats wasted no time, as Edwards hit Payne with a 7-yard pass, followed by an 11-yard rush from Edwards. After Jenkins picked up 21 yards on the ground SBU called a timeout with 19 seconds remaining in the half. Edwards hit Robb with a 10-yard completion down the sideline, followed by a 17-yard touchdown pass to Payne to give SBU a 47-16 halftime lead.
In SJC’s opening drive of the second half, the Pumas advanced the ball into SBU territory before Allen Hopkins picked off the Puma quarterback at the 10-yardline. The Bearcats used a 17 play, 90-yard drive to extend their lead to 54-16. The Bearcats advanced the ball both on the ground and through the air capped off with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Wilson. Saint Joseph’s responded with 14 straight points as SBU led 54-30 after the first three quarters of play.
After the SBU defense forced a punt on the second play of the fourth quarter, Foreman continued his strong day with a 68-yard touchdown return to extend the lead to 61-30. The Pumas got the seven points back on the following drive, but the SBU defense would forced a turnover on downs, and would run the clock out, en route to the 61-37 victory.
TJ Edwards had a career day for the Bearcats, throwing for 330 yards (26-43) with 4 touchdowns, while also adding 96 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. Bubba Jenkins rushed for a season high 200 yards on 27 carries with 1 touchdown, while Cassian Foreman pulled in a career high 174 receiving yards with 2 total touchdowns. On defense Vice Epenesa had a team leading 7 tackles, while Epenesa, Via Manuma, and Victor Clavier all picked up sacks in the victory.
The Bearcats will return home on Saturday, October 29 when they host Missouri S&T for SBU senior day. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. from Plaster Stadium in Bolivar.
