BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Truman Bulldogs scored 17 points in the second quarter and hung on for a 24-8 victory in the season finale on Saturday against Southwest Baptist University. The Bulldogs conclude their season with a 4-7 record.
After a scoreless first quarter, senior quarterback J.B. Clark found fellow senior Harnish Ayora on a throwback pass on third and five and Ayora scampered 50 yards for his first career touchdown reception and a 7-0 lead.
With a howling wind from the south playing a major factor in the game, SBU managed just a 13-yard punt in their next possession to set the Bulldogs up at midfield. Clark opened up the drive by finding Dallas Grier for 32 yards to move the 'Dogs down to the Bearcats 19. Following a penalty, Clark hit senior Anthony Brown over the middle for a 22-yard TD strike and a 14-0 lead.
Derek Koon would match the Truman single-season field goal record later in the quarter as he nailed his 15th of the season from 40-yards away.
Punter Eric Phillips capped off his fine season by using the wind and blasting a career-best 75-yard bomb to pin the Bearcats at their own three. That allowed the defense to pick up the next score as sophomore Nic Abbate forced and recovered the football in the endzone to give the Bulldogs a 24-0 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the third.
Just as the wind helped Phillips the quarter before, he was hampered with a 13-yard punt to start the fourth that set the Bearcats up deep in Truman territory. Three plays later Dan Connors completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Mourik and got the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 24-8.
Phillips came into the game with the best single-season punting average in Bulldog history but with the wind will finish fourth-tenths of a yard behind current record holder Bob Fletcher at 42.9 yards this season.
SBU then went for the onsides kick with Richie Schumacher recovering for the Bulldogs. Truman turned the ball over and the Bearcats marched down the field.
Senior Terrance Byrd made three big plays on defense to force the turnover on downs and seal the win. Byrd got a shoestring tackle to stop Drew Lauderdale for just a two-yard gain on a tunnel screen, then pulled down Mourik to force a fourth and five. On the fourth down play, Byrd knocked the ball away from Mourik to give it back to the 'Dogs at their own 18 with 7:01 left.
Senior Donald Harvey was able to grind out some final first downs and finish with 62 yards rushing as the Bulldogs matched last season's 4-7 record with the win. Clark ended the day 9-of-22 for 146 yards with Brown catching five passes and Grier catching three for a game-high 61.
Schumacher moved into the top five in single-season tackles with 13 on the day to finish with 130 on the year. Abbate had three sacks and four tackles for loss among his six total.
Connors threw for 318 yards for the Bearcats in the loss and SBU put over 400 total yards of offense.
These two teams will open the 2012 season back in Bolivar. The Bearcats finish their final season as an Division II Independent with a 6-5 record and will rejoin the MIAA in football next year.
