Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University football team picked up their first victory of the 2015 season with a 52-0 win over #21 Friends University (NAIA). The Bearcats improved to 1-1 on the season after the victory.

The Bearcats started the scoring early, after forcing a three-and-out, SBU got on the scoreboard with a 33 yard field goal from Alec Gathright to go up 3-0. On the next Friends possession, the Bearcats once again forced a three-and-out, setting up the scene for SBU's first touchdown of the game. After receiving the ball on the Friends 43, SBU used a strong ground game to drive the remainder of the field, capped off by a one yard touchdown run to go up 10-0 with 10:13 left in the first quarter. SBU got back on the scoreboard in their next drive when SBU quarterback Trent Edwards II broke free for a 53 yard touchdown run to give SBU a 17-0 lead. With 3:42 left in the first quarter, SBU senior Antion McBee picked off a pass, his first of three, to help keep SBU's 17-0 lead after one quarter of play.

To open up the second quarter, Friends lined up for a 30 yard field goal, but strong penetration allowed Maurice Downey to block the field goal and preserve the shutout. SBU once again drove the length of the field, and a 30 yard touchdown run by Edwards II gave SBU a 24-0 lead. After back-to-back punts, Downey picked up his first interception of the game giving SBU the ball on the Friends 33 yardline. SBU wasted no time when Edwards II hit Nathan Mourik on a 33 yard touchdown pass to extend their lead to 31-0. On the following possession with Friends threatening, Downey picked up his second interception on the day as SBU went into half with a 31-0 lead.

SBU continued their strong performance on all sides of the ball to open up the second half. Jaylen Jones took the opening second half kickoff 94 yards for his first touchdown return of his career and extending the lead to 38-0. After once again forcing another three-and-out, the SBU offense received another rushing touchdown from Edwards II to take a 45-0 lead. The Bearcat defense once again forced another three-and-out, and Bubba Jenkins picked up a six-yard touchdown run to give SBU a 52-0 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the SBU defense continued their strong stand as the SBU looked to preserve a shutout. With Friends driving at the end of the contest, Antion McBee picked up his third interception of the day, picking off the Friends pass in the SBU endzone to secure the 52-0 shutout victory.

The Bearcats used a potent rushing attack to fuel their offense. SBU quarterback Trent Edwards II rushed for a career high 156 yards with three touchdown to go along with 121 yards and one passing touchdown. Bubba Jenkins picked up 66 rushing yards with a pair of scores, while Nehemiah Gross added 44 yards on the ground. Defensively Antion McBee led the Bearcats with three interceptions, while Maurice Downey and George Sanders both had an interception. Tyler Curts and Brycen Gagnon each recorded 8 tackles to lead SBU.

"I'm proud of the way our guys played tonight," head coach Robert Clardy stated. "We've got a lot of things to improve on before next week. We had way too many penalties tonight and that will get us beat if we don't get it corrected. I'm happy with the way our defense swarmed and kept them out of the end zone. Shutouts aren't easy and that's a credit to our whole team for taking care of the ball and not putting our defense in any bad field positions."

The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, September 19 when they travel to #23 Indianapolis. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. from Indianapolis, Indiana.