KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – In a battle of undefeated and teams receiving national recognition, it was the Truman State Bulldogs that prevailed over Saginaw Valley (Mich.) State 21-7 in a slugfest on Saturday afternoon.
 
Quarterback Nolan Hair was masterful in engineering the Bulldogs against a Cardinal team that had previously held opponents to just over 200 yards per game of offense. Hair completed 14-of-22 passing for 263 yards, two touchdowns while also rushing for 22 yards.
 
The game was a defensive battle to start until Hair connected with Christopher Kerr out of the tight end position for a 46-yard touchdown pass with 4:27 to go in the half.
 
The teams were called off the field due to lighting with 2:32 to go in the second quarter and after more than an hour delay, Saginaw grabbed the momentum when Mike O'Horo connected with Derrick Hinton Jr. for a 15-yard pass play to tie the game with 35 seconds left.
 
The score remained knotted at seven until the fourth quarter. Facing a third and seven at the Cardinals 10, Hair evaded tacklers and gained eight yards for a first down to keep the drive alive. Two plays later Mason Huskey punched it in from one yard away and the 'Dogs went up 14-7 with 12:09 to play. The drive started at the Bulldog 10 and lasted 5:38 on 10 plays.
 
Saginaw moved the ball down to the Bulldog 13 but Ulysses Ross pressured the quarterback forcing an incomplete pass. Kendall Hutchinson got a sack on a blitz following a holding call to push the Cardinals back. They attempted a 48-yard field goal but it flew wide left.
 
The Cardinals last ditch drive started with 3:22 to play and again the Bulldog defense came up with stops on short passes forcing a fourth down. On that play, O'Horo had Arron Foulkes over the middle but the ball hit the turf forcing a turnover on downs.
 
With no Saginaw timeouts and 2:17 on the clock, the Bulldogs worked the time piece down to only seven seconds showing for a fourth down play. Hair launched the ball trying to get the clock to expire but it fell right into the hands of an uncovered Tate Crane in the endzone for a 14-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring off.
 
Crane caught five passes for 96 yards while the running back committee was led by Huskey with 45 yards and Tim Johnson Jr. with 37. The offense was 8-of-17 on third downs and controlled the clock for over 37 minutes.
The defense held Saginaw to 230 yards of total offense, 81 on the ground. The Cardinals converted on only one third down play out of 11 tries.
 
The Bulldogs dodged some miscues. They had two field goals blocked by Saginaw Valley, had a redzone interception and had a Bulldog blocked punt by Robert Goehl that initially was out of bounds at the Cardinals nine-yard line called back on an offsides call and eventually flipped the field down to where Truman started the possession on their own 10. A drive that would eventually lead to the go ahead touchdown.
 
Truman will take their 3-0 record on the road to Detroit, Michigan for another battle against a tough regional opponent. The Bulldogs and the Wayne State Warriors will kick off at noon central time next Saturday.