September 26th, 2009
Box Score
(photo of Mike Slayden by Tim Clark)
MARSHALL, Texas – The East Texas Baptist Tigers survived a 21-point, first-quarter barrage by Texas Lutheran and defeated the visiting Bulldogs 32-21 on Saturday evening at Ornelas Stadium.
In the first-ever home game under the lights for East Texas Baptist, the Tigers (2-2 overall, 2-0 ASC) fell behind 21-0 but scored 32 unanswered points to drop the Bulldogs to 0-3 on the season.
TLU now stands at 0-2 in the American Southwest Conference.
ETBU quarterback Sed Harris led the Tiger rally. Harris rushed 16 times for 179 yards and scored twice. He scored on runs of 1 and 56 yards.
The Tigers ended the night with 322 yards rushing and three rushing TDs. Corey George added 113 yards on the ground for the Tigers.
TLU scored on its first three offensive possessions of the game. The Bulldogs opened the game with a flea-flicker pass from Jarret Buchholtz to Jonathon Randle. Another long pass, this time from Buchholtz to Steven Thrash, put TLU down to the ETBU 1. Eddie Pitts scored from a yard out to give TLU the quick 7-0 lead.
Julio Reyes intercepted ETBU quarterback Sed Harris on Harris’s first pass attempt of the game, and five plays later Buchholtz hit Thrash for a 31-yard score to give TLU a 14-0 lead.
The TLU advantage hit 21-0 after a 10-play, 78-yard drive ended with a Buchholtz 1-yard plunge. The key play of the drive was a Buchholtz pass of 45 yards to Anthony Smith.
TLU nearly had a fourth TD of the first half when holder Frank Vera just missed an open Sean Smalls near the ETBU goal line on a fake field goal attempt. Gerald Hunter intercepted the Vera pass and returned the pick 38 yards to the ETBU 44.
One play later, ETBU’s comeback began. Sed Harris took an option keeper 56 yards for a touchdown to cut the TLU lead to 21-6. The extra-point was missed.
A Kyle Pope 29-yard field goal just before the end of the first half made TLU’s halftime lead 21-9.
Harris cut the TLU lead down to five, at 21-16, with a 1-yard run at the 8:53 mark of the third quarter. The rush capped a 37-yard drive that began after a Michael Duhon interception and return of 29 yards.
George gave ETBU its first lead of the night with a 2-yard scoring run at the 12:21 mark of the fourth quarter. The rush finished off a 9-play, 76-yard drive. The two-point conversion failed, and the ETBU lead remained 22-21.
The third ETBU interception of the night put immediate points on the board for the Tigers. Hunter intercepted his second pass of the night and returned this one 45 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. ETBU led 29-21 with just under seven minutes to play.
The Tigers added insurance points late in the fourth quarter with a Pope 30-yard field goal.
TLU did most of its damage through the air. Buchholtz threw for 281 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He completed 15 of 35 passes.
Thrash, a senior receiver, hauled in seven passes for 140 yards. Smith caught five passes for 91 yards and had 16 carries for 56 yards.
Defensively, senior nose defensive tackle Eric Walker led the Bulldogs with nine tackles and a half-tackle for loss. Fellow defensive tackle James Villarreal added six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
The Bulldogs return home for next Saturday’s 2 p.m. kickoff with Howard Payne at Seguin’s Matador Stadium.