Despite being held scoreless for more than three quarters, the Snow College football team claimed a 15-6 road victory over Dodge City Community College Saturday in Kansas. The Badgers used a nearly 2-1 time of possession advantage to earn their third consecutive victory.
Snow College entered the weekend matchup with the Conquistadors following a 45-3 victory over the St. George Junior College Eagles Sept. 9. The Badgers, fresh off a bye week, squared off with DCCC in Dodge City, Kansas for just the second time ever.
The Conquistadors sported a 2-1 record entering the matchup and had won back-to-back games. They were just outside the NJCAA Division I Football Poll but were receiving votes. The two teams last met in 2015 at the Salt City Bowl where the Badgers came out victorious 38-14.
Things started promising for the Badgers. They forced a punt and recovered a fumble on DCCC's first two possessions but were unable to capitalize. After starting in plus territory, a tipped interception game the Conquistadors the ball back at the Badger's 39-yard line.
DCCC capitalized on the turnover and scored on a 17-yard passing touchdown. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty forced the PAT attempt to be taken from the 18-yard line, resulting in a missed kick giving DCCC a 6-0 lead.
The Badgers and the Conquistadors exchanged turnovers to end the first quarter and start the second quarter. Snow College was able to record three first downs on the following possession, but a false start penalty and a sack gave DCCC the ball back.
The Badgers regained possession following an interception by
Bryan Cuthbertson. They used ten plays and nearly five minutes of game time but were stopped at the goal line. The drive ended in a missed field goal, keeping the Badgers off the scoreboard. Snow College was unable to score before the end of the first half and went into halftime trailing by six.
Both teams exchanged punts to begin the third quarter and the Badgers started a drive at their own 29-yard line. They gobbled up seven minutes of action, running 17 plays, but ended up turning the ball over on downs.
The Badger's defense remained stout throughout the game and gave the offense the chance to take the lead. The offense did just that to begin the fourth quarter. They went 80 yards down the field in 12 plays, which culminated in a 4-yard touchdown pass from
Donovan Smith to
Jared Wilson, giving the Badgers the 7-6 lead.
Snow College forced a punt on the ensuing possession and took over at the DCCC 39-yard line. A couple of positive rushing plays and a pair of Conquistadors penalties set the Badgers up at the 1-yard line. The Badgers gave the ball to
AJ Tillman, who punched it in. They elected to go for two in order to put themselves up by two scores. It was
Spencer Lambert who got the call this time and after the initial hit, he dove forward and broke the goal line plain for the successful try.
Cuthbertson sealed the victory for the Badgers on the ensuing DCCC possession. He intercepted the Conquistador's Trey Jefferson's pass giving Snow College the ball back. Two first downs later, and the Badgers claimed the 15-6 victory.
As a team, the Badgers gained 164 yards rushing led by Lambert who was responsible for 93 of those yards. Tillman contributed 71 yards on 17 carries as well. The Badgers dominated time of possession nearly doubling DCCC. Snow College held possession of the ball for over 38 minutes of action. They also went 5-8 on fourth-down conversions.
The Badgers will continue its two-game road swing by taking on No. 15 Georgia Military College Saturday in Milledgeville, Georgia. The Bulldogs are 3-2 overall this season and are riding a two-game winning streak following victories over Lackawanna College and Monroe College.
Snow College and GMC squared off last season in Ephraim with the Badgers claiming the 41-18 victory. Saturday's game will take place at Davenport Field with kickoff scheduled for 11:00 a.m. MDT. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.
