The Snow College football team secured a convincing 57-7 victory against Monroe University Saturday in Ephraim. With the victory, the Badgers improve to 8-2 overall.
Snow College entered the matchup with the Mustangs following a 35-18 victory against New Mexico Military Institute last weekend. The Badgers forced seven turnovers and blocked two field-goal attempts in the victory.
Saturday's matchup got started with a bang as, for the third time this season, the Badgers returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. It was
BJ Inmon who took the kick at the 8-yard line. He proceeded to sprint untouched into the end zone to give the Badgers the early 7-0 lead following the PAT from
Keaton Rosquist.
Snow College forced a punt on the ensuing possession and took over at its own 18. The first play of the drive was a 47-yard pitch and catch that was hauled in by
Reggie Frischknecht to put the Badgers into Mustang territory.
Adonis Tillman finished off the drive with a pair of rushes, the second of which found the end zone from nine yards out.
Another punt gave the Badgers the ball back near midfield. Snow College was able to pick up three first downs and was set up inside the 10-yard line but was forced to settle for a field goal. Rosquist's 24-yard attempt was true, and Snow College took a 17-0 lead.
The Badgers would score two more times in the second quarter. the first came midway through the period. It was set up by a big Tillman rush that penetrated Mustang territory. The drive culminated as
Donnie Smith found
Shandon King in the end zone from 27 yards out to give the Badgers a 24-0 advantage.
It was the Badgers' special teams that made an impact late in the second quarter. After losing a fumble near the goal line, the Badgers' defense forced a punt from the Monroe 3-yard line. The punt was blocked by
Jaeden Wright, and the ball sailed out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The Badgers took a 26-0 lead into halftime.
Both teams scored on their first possessions of the second half. The Badgers' drive started out following a 46-yard kickoff return, which set them up at the Monroe 48. Smith was a perfect 4-4 for 40 yards on the drive and ultimately found
Drew Patterson in the end zone for a 17-yard passing touchdown, giving Snow College a 33-7 lead.
The Badgers then kicked and recovered an onside kick. They capitalized and scored on a 9-play, 52-yard drive as Tillman found paydirt for the second time. He scored on the ground from 14 yards out to extend the lead to 40-7.
Snow College got the ball back right away as
Ty Smith picked off the Mustangs' quarterback on the second play of the subsequent drive. The Badgers were unable to gain a first down, but Rosquist was called upon again for a field goal. The kick was good, this time from 40 yards, and the Badgers led 43-7.
The Badgers found the endzone just before the end of the third quarter. A 20-yard reception from Smith to
De'yhare Overstreet converted a 2
nd-and-14 for the Badgers. Smith then found King for his second touchdown reception of the game from 36 yards out.
The final tally of the game came as
Titan Saxton recorded the Badgers' third interception of the game. Saxton returned the pick 20 yards to the end zone giving Snow College a 57-7 lead. The Badgers would maintain the lead and secure their 8
th victory of the season.
Smith went 20-41 for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Tillman scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and gained a total of 79 ground yards on 13 attempts. King tallied 6 receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. The Badgers defense allowed just 12 rushing yards and 133 yards of total offense to the Mustangs throughout the game.
The Badgers will now wrap up their regular season next Saturday against Sussex County Community College. The Skylanders own a 3-5 overall record this season. Snow College and SCCC have never played each other before. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. inside Terry Foote Stadium. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.
