October 17th, 2009
(Photo of Quinnten Cleveland by Tim Clark)
Box Score
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In the first football meeting between old Heart of Texas Conference rivals, Incarnate Word opened a 32-0 lead over Texas Lutheran at the half and cruised to a 53-18 win Saturday over the Bulldogs.
At Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium on the UIW campus, the NCAA Division II independent Cardinals scored on their first two offensive possessions and established dominance over the Bulldogs, a member of the NCAA Division III and the American Southwest Conference.
TLU dropped to 0-6 overall with the non-conference loss. The Bulldogs have lost nine consecutive games dating back to the last three games of 2008.
UIW won its third straight game and moved to 4-4 overall. The Cardinals are in their first season of collegiate football.
UIW’s Dominic Hamilton caught two TD passes, one from Thomas Specia and one from Eric Massoni. Hamilton finished with six catches for 123 yards.
Cardinal receiver Todd Walker added two catches for 55 yards and had a 46-yard grab for a TD in the first quarter.
UIW quarterbacks Massoni, Specia and Paden Lynch combined for five TD tosses, 266 yards passing with 17 completions in 25 attempts. Massoni was 11-for-15 for 176 yards and three TDs.
The Cardinals also rushed 49 times for 213 yards and held TLU to a net rushing total of 72.
Through the first quarter, TLU ran 14 plays and produced only 39 yards. By the half, the play total hit 30 and the total offense number dropped to 21 yards.
The Bulldogs opened the game with a new-look offense and a new quarterback, redshirt freshman David Jones, who had yet to take a varsity snap in 2009. Jones rushed seven times for -19 yards and went 2-for-10 for five yards and two interceptions.
After the half, TLU scrapped the run-oriented offense and went to a four-wide set with former starter Jarret Buchholtz at quarterback. With the game already well in hand for UIW and with UIW playing many of its reserves, Buchholtz led TLU to two fourth-quarter scoring drives and produced a pair of two-point conversions.
TLU’s Quinnten Cleveland scored on a five-yard run at the 11:16 mark of the fourth quarter. Cleveland then caught a pass for the two-point conversion.
Buchholtz capped the game’s scoring with 52 seconds to play on a TD strike to Jonathon Randle that covered 11 yards. Randle then made a grab on the two-point conversion.
The Bulldogs’ first two points of the game, scored at the 8:38 mark of the third quarter with TLU trailing 39-0, came on a safety. UIW snapped a ball out of the endzone on a punt attempt.
TLU had its own adventures on punts during the game. Punter Frank Vera stepped out of bounds in the back of his own endzone to give UIW two points. Late in the second quarter, Vera had a punt blocked. The blocked punt was returned 15 yards for a touchdown by Robert Williams.
TLU lost two fumbles and tossed two interceptions and ended the contest with a -2 turnover margin.
Justin Guerrero intercepted a pass for TLU, and Joshua Arce picked up a UIW fumble.
Dantrell Anderson led the Bulldogs with 16 tackles (nine solo, seven assists). He also had three tackles for loss and a half-sack. Gary Cooper contributed 10 tackles and a tackle for loss.
UIW’s Chaz Pavliska registered two interceptions, a sack, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also had six total tackles.
TLU returns to Seguin’s Matador Stadium next Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest with McMurry University. TLU will have live video from www.tlu.edu/athletics, and KWED 1580 AM will have live audio on the radio and on the web, at www.seguintoday.com.