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(SBU Sports Information)
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University football team put together a dominating performance in their 55-6 victory over Quincy on Tuesday afternoon. The Bearcats had a strong all-around performance, collecting 604 yards of total offense, while the defense held QU to only 132 yards of total offense in the win.
The Bearcats were led by signal caller TJ Edwards who threw for a career high 443 yards with a career best 5 touchdown passes, while three different Bearcat receivers tallied over 100 receiving yards each. Jereminic Smith had a career high 131 yards and a score, Kendrick Payne had 129 yards and a score, and Cassian Foreman had 113 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively Brycen Gagnon had a game high 11 stops, and had a 20-yard fumble return for a score, while De’shawn Tone collected 8 tackles and Tyler Curts and D’Angelo Tucker had 7 tackles a piece.
The SBU offense immediately went to work against the QU defense, as Edwards threw for 44 yards in the opening drive, but an SBU fumble on the goal line prevented the Bearcats from finding the endzone. However, the Hawks gave the ball right back to the Bearcats on the second play of their drive. QU quarterback Andrew Rund failed to properly execute the handoff, and Tyler Curts recovered the loose ball and gave the SBU offense possession inside the QU 15-yardline. The offense wasted no time, as Edwards hit Foreman with a 15-yard touchdown pass to give the Bearcats the early 7-0 lead. The SBU defense held strong, and a sack from Tucker forced a Quincy punt which was downed inside the 2-yardline. However, the quick-striking offense was once again on displayed when Edwards aired out a 98-yard touchdown pass to Foreman to extend the SBU lead to 14-0. Quincy would connected on a field goal before the first quarter ended, as the Bearcats led 14-3 after a quarter of play.
The QU defense forced an SBU punt in the opening minutes of the second quarter, and a poor snap gave QU the ball deep in SBU territory. The defense again held strong, as Quincy failed to advance the ball any further, but QU was able to connect on a 42-yard field goal as the Bearcat lead was cut to 14-6. However, the Hawks wouldn’t find the scoreboard again as the Bearcats would go on to real off 41 straight points. Edwards once again aired the ball out on the following SBU offensive drive, throwing for 53 yards before connecting with Chris Robb on a 3-yard touchdown strike to extend the lead back to 14 at 20-6. With neither offense putting up points for four straight possessions, the SBU defense got on the board with their third defensive touchdown of the year. QU running back Chris Poindexter fumbled the ball on a rushing attempt, and Gagnon was there to pick it up and return it 20 yards to the house as the Bearcat lead was extended to 27-6. The SBU defense again forced another Quincy punt, and with 1:16 left in the first half the offense went back to work. Edwards hit Robb with a 15-yard pass before connecting down the middle of the field with Smith on a 32-yard reception to bring the ball into the Quincy redzone. Edwards then connected with Smith on an 8-yard reception on the following play, as the Bearcats would head into the half with a 34-6 lead.
The SBU defense played an extremely strong third quarter, limiting Quincy to only two first downs across five possessions. The Bearcat offense was able to extend the lead late in the quarter when Edwards threw a short pass to Kendrick Payne, who finished off the play with a 74-yard touchdown, as SBU led 41-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
The SBU starters were pulled early in the fourth quarter, but both units continued to impress. Backup quarterback Dylan Mountain rushed for 53 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown scamper, to push the lead to 48-6 on SBU’s next offensive possession. The defense again forced a three-and-out, and on the next drive the Bearcats again ran the ball, with Larry Nixon picking up 36 rushing yards on the drive, capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Mountain to give the Bearcats a 55-6 lead. The SBU defense capped off a strong game with a Malek Butler interception as SBU would cruise to the 55-6 victory.
The defense finished off their impressive performance by allowing only 132 yards of total offense, forcing 9 Quincy punts on the afternoon. The Bearcats allowed only one third down conversion, limiting the Hawks to a 7.7% third down conversion rate (1 for 13).
SBU will hit the road on Saturday, September 30 when they travel to McKendree to take on the Bearcats. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. from Lebanon, Illinois.
