WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 10-ranked Southwestern College football team saw their defense author a masterpiece against the Friends University Falcons on Saturday. The Builders did not allow a single point to the Falcons in a game where the SC offense did not need to muster a massive output to earn the victory. The Moundbuilders coasted to a 28-0 win over the rival Falcons on the road.

"I am proud of our team and thought their effort was outstanding," said defensive coordinator Trevor Strong. "It is always good to win against your rivals, and we are excited to honor our seniors next week in the home finale."

It was a bit of a lethargic showing for both teams' offenses in the first quarter, as all of the possessions ended without points being put up. Southwestern did force a Friends fumble, as Richard Holmes was awarded the strip and he also was tabbed for the recovery. The battle would rage on to the second frame, as the score stayed knotted at 0-0 after one.

There was a bit more excitement in the quarter leading into halftime, as on Southwestern's first drive of the period, they went on a seven-play 70-yard march to pick up seven points on a 21-yard touchdown scamper by quarterback Brad Cagle. Friends would have a chance to answer that score later in the stanza, but luckily for the Builders, a 31-yard TD strike was wiped off the board after a holding penalty against the Falcons. There would be no more points scored in the opening half, as SC entered the break with a slim 7-0 advantage.

A strong start to the third quarter for Southwestern would put them up two scores, as after the defense forced a quick three-and-out from the Falcons, another seven-play scoring drive was compiled by the Builders. Martez Jones II would end the drive with a 7-yard rush into the endzone, as several big plays led up to that point, including a 25-yard pass from Cagle to Josh Edson to begin the drive. The Falcons had very little success moving the ball in the quarter, going three-and-out on their first three possessions of the period. Due to the struggles by the home squad, SC would enter the fourth quarter with a 14-0 lead.

When Friends finally did start moving the ball a bit on their first drive of the fourth (which began at the end of the third), they were thwarted on their third play of the fourth frame, when Drew Smith grabbed an interception forced by a rushing Riley Havird. Havird's pressure of the QB forced an errant toss across the body of the passer, as the Builders took over at their own 20 yard-line. Quickly, the Moundbuilders turned that into points, developing another seven-play scoring possession. A fake punt on the possession, where Josh Carter ran for three yards on fourth down and one on the squad's own 29, set up Jones for a 63-yard TD run. The 21-0 lead would be more than enough to stay ahead of a moribund Falcon offense, but the Moundbuilders tacked on another score in the final minute of play. Cagle capped off the final drive of the game for Southwestern with a 4-yard rushing score to make the final score 28-0 over the Falcons.

Cagle was the only quarterback to play in the game, which has not happened for the injury-plagued Builders in multiple weeks. The consistency behind center was much needed, as after he knocked off the rust in the first half, he helped the team to put up over 200 yards of offense in the second stanza. He threw for 123 yards on 12-of-20 through the air, but was also impressive as a rusher, tallying 77 yards on 14 carries. He had a pair of rushing scores in the game.

In addition to Cagle's rushing prowess, Jones had another amazing performance on the ground for the Builders. He rushed just 10 times but picked up a total of 89 yards, while contributing a pair of scores to the squad's tally. Jaqulis Coleman rushed seven times for 39 yards, raking in 5.6 yards/carry to help the cause. Sommarra Hunter was able to carry the ball twice for 21 yards in limited action, as well.

The Builder wideouts did not have to do much in this game, as the ground game carried the majority of the weight, but Keyshawn Jones came up with a team-high five catches for 68 yards in the tilt. Edson secured three passes from Cagle, tallying 31 yards, while Matthew Holthusen was next on the list with two grabs for 16 yards. Layke Hoffman added a single reception for eight yards to round out the yardage gained on the day through the air.

It was a great day for the defensive players on the SC roster to pad their tackle numbers, as four Builders ended the game with double-digit tackles. Havird had a team-best 16 tackles, followed by Caden Buoy (12), Carter (12) and Cameron Cornelius (10) to round out the top four. Jakharious Smith had nine stops, with 1.5 of those being tackles for loss, and Richard Holmes, Will Hilton and Shane Rodriguez each had seven. Holmes had the forced and recovered fumble in the first quarter, and D. Smith snagged the interception in the fourth frame, accounting for the two forced Falcon turnovers.

It all comes down to Senior Day for the Moundbuilders (8-1, 8-1 KCAC), who continue to stay even with both No. 17 Avila and No. 13 Bethel in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) standings. Southwestern will host the (RV) Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes with a possible playoff berth on the line, as the game will kick off at 1 p.m. in Winfield at Richard L. Jantz Stadium on Saturday, November 12.

--buildersports.com--