QUINCY, Ill. –– The Southwest Baptist University football team tied for the best start in program history on Saturday afternoon with a 37-20 road victory over Quincy, the only other undefeated GLVC team entering play on Saturday. With the win, the Bearcats improve to 4-0 (2-0 GLVC) on the season.
After the Bearcats were forced to punt on their opening possession, the SBU defense would begin to show their dominance in Quincy's first drive, holding the Hawks to -5 yards of offense while forcing a three-and-out. After a 20-yard punt return by Kendrick Payne, the Bearcats march down the field with a 14-play 60 yard touchdown drive. SBU used a balanced attack of rushing and passing, capped off by a 6-yard touchdown pass from TJ Edwards to Scottie Wilson to give the Bearcats a 7-0.
SBU added to their lead with 2:52 left in the quarter. After another solid punt return by Payne gave the ball to the Bearcats on the QU 13, Edwards rushed it in on the following play to extend the Bearcat lead to 14-0. The SBU defense held Quincy to 37 yards of total offense in the first quarter, forcing three three-and-outs.
Quincy got a touchdown back to open up the second quarter on 7-yard strike from Robbie Kelley, but a missed extra point brought to score to 14-6 SBU. The Bearcats drove down the field on the following possession, advancing the ball to the Quincy 27 yardline before missing a 44-yard field goal to keep the score 14-6 Bearcats. The SBU defense once again forced a three-and-out, which gave SBU solid field position. Bubba Jenkins led the drive off with a 13-yard rush, followed by rushes of 12 and 16 from Cory Hanger to advance the ball into Quincy territory. After a 15-yard pass from Edwards to Wilson, Edwards found Kendrick Payne in the endzone as Payne made an acrobatic catch to extend the SBU lead to 21-6.
On the following drive Quincy advanced the ball into the SBU redzone before the Maurice Downey came up with a big interception, preventing the Hawks from scoring. The Bearcats would enter the half with a 21-6 lead.
In the third quarter Quincy advanced the ball down to the SBU 22-yardline, but a big blocked field goal by Tristyn Bennett once again kept Quincy from scoring points. The Bearcats once again took advantage of excellent field position. Jenkins led the drive off with a 22-yard scamper, and after the Bearcats picked up 19 more yards on the ground Edwards connected with Payne with a 12-yard reception to advance the ball into the redzone. Edwards then connected with a wide open Nehemiah Gross for a 13-yard touchdown pass to extend the Bearcat lead to 27-6. Quincy answered back with a touchdown on the following possession as SBU led 27-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jordan LeClair connected on a 37-yard field goal to extend the Bearcat lead to 30-13 with 13:22 remaining in the game. Quincy responded with a touchdown drive on the following possession, but once again the Bearcats answered right back. The Bearcats used a steady dose of Jenkins, who collected 35 of the 47 yards on the drive, capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run from Edwards to give the Bearcats a 37-20 lead with 2:19 remaining.
The Bearcat defense held strong, forcing a turnover-on-downs on QU's final possession as SBU went on to claim the 37-20 victory.
The SBU defense was nothing short of impressive in their victory over the Hawks. Entering play this weekend, Quincy ranked 19th in the NCAA in total offense (492.0 yards/game) before the Bearcats held the QU offense to only 230 total yards. The Quincy offense also ranked 16th in the NCAA in rushing (255.7 yards/game) but the SBU defense held them to only 72 yards rushing on the afternoon. Shaun Hutchinson continued his strong season by racking up a team leading 9 tackles, including 8 solo, while Via Manuma picked up 2 sacks in the victory. As a team, SBU had 11 tackles for a loss.
Offensively Bubba Jenkins picked up 123 yards rushing, while TJ Edwards threw for 108 yards and 3 touchdowns while also rushing for 57 yards and 2 scores.
SBU will be back in action on Saturday, October 1 when they host McKendree on SBU Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. from Plaster Stadium in Bolivar.
