Bolivar, Mo. – On a rainy Saturday afternoon, the Quincy Hawks defeated SBU 48-34 on SBU's homecoming. Quincy snags their first conference win, and both teams go to 3-4 (1-3 GLVC) on the season.
Quincy got the ball first and drove the field in 1:03 to go ahead 7-0. SBU responded with a 3-play 1:10 drive of their own, after
Brenden Smith hit
Rashad Blunt for 62 yards and
Eric Knight ran the ball in for a touchdown. The Bearcats took the lead on their next possession, a 14-play 77-yard drive highlighted by a
Bryce Cabrera 31-yard touchdown run where he hurdled a defender. The Hawks drove all the way down to the SBU 1-yard line on their next drive, where
Quincy Jones Jr. forced a fumble that was recovered by SBU in the end zone for a touchback.
The teams exchanged possession, and SBU began another long drive early into the 2
nd quarter. SBU had a 4
th and 6 on their own 45-yard line when the Bearcats called a fake punt.
Aaron Harris was given the ball and he ran for 20 yards to pick up the first down.
Brenden Smith connected with
Curtis Cuillard for 25 yards on the next play, leading to a
Bryce Cabrera touchdown from Smith. After another stalled drive by Quincy,
Cory Hanger returned the punt 47 yards to the Quincy 23-yard line. That drive ended in a 38-yard
Kyle Ghetes field goal, 24-7 SBU. Quincy scored twice before halftime, creating a tight score of 24-21 in favor of SBU.
On the opening drive of the 3
rd quarter, SBU scored two touchdowns, but both were called back because of holding. They settled for a field goal, making the score 27-21. Just over halfway through the quarter, Quincy scored another touchdown, taking the lead once again. They scored again, late in the quarter, taking a 35-27 lead.
Early in the 4
th, an SBU interception led to a 2-play touchdown drive for the Hawks to extend their lead. After swapping possessions,
Bryce Cabrera opened the SBU drive with a 55-yard run to set the Bearcats up on Quincy's 36-yard line.
Brenden Smith then hit
Chance Deitz for 17 yards to move closer to the goal line. The drive was capped off with a 7-yard
Brenden Smith rushing touchdown, making the score 42-34 Quincy. The Bearcats got a break late in the 4
th when
Pierce White forced a Quincy fumble, recovered by
Jeremiah Scroggins. Unfortunately, the Hawks made an interception on the very next play. They drove the field and scored once more, making the final score 48-34 in favor of the visitors.
Brenden Smith was 19-31 for 224 yards and a touchdown in the air, and 24 rushes for 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Bryce Cabrera led the team in rushing yards, collecting 151 yards on 19 attempts with a touchdown and a receiving touchdown.
Rashad Blunt was Smith's primary target, catching 4 passes for 97 yards.
Taylor Jones-Morgan led SBU's defense with 9 tackles including a tackle for loss and forced fumble. Last week's GLVC Defensive Player of the Week,
Cory Hanger, also had 8 tackles and a pass break-up.
The Bearcats have a three game road trip ahead of them with the first stop at Lebanon, IL as SBU visits McKendree on October 26 with game time set for 2 PM.
