CINCINNATI, Ohio – Mount St. Joseph came into Saturday's contest as the No. 23 ranked team in Division III, and did nothing but cement their status amongst that prestigious group. They raced out to a quick lead scoring 35 points in the first quarter, never looking back they finished Bluffton off 70-21 in front a massive Homecoming crowd. The win moved the Lions to 8-0 on the season and 5-0 in the HCAC, it is the first time the Lions have been 8-0 since 2009.
The Mount set a pair of new school records in the win. The first came late in the first quarter when cornerback
DeShawn Starks picked off a pass at the Lions 5-yard line. Starks raced 95 yards in the opposite direction for the touchdown, his 95-yarder snapped the previous record of 93-yards held by Nolan Miller. The second record broken in this one was by kicker
Kyle Farfsing who made 9-PATs in the contest, going a perfect 9-for-9. Which broke the previous record of 8 held by Kevin Koch and Jerry Porter.
The Lions never trailed in this one, with
Ari Turner taking the opening kickoff 84-yards for the touchdown to get the scoring started. It was the first kick-return touchdown of Turner's career, because it was the first kickoff return period in Turner's career.
The Lions first-team offense was again fantastic,
Josh Taylor was 10-of-13 passing for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns despite not even finishing the first half.
Mariano McKenzie led a rushing attack that saw 8 players carry the ball. Mariano carried the ball five times for 58 yards and 2 scores.
Devin Holt had six carries for 49 yards and a score,
Cornell Beachem Jr. averaged 23 yards per carry on his two totes. The biggest run of the day though came from
Jonathan Rager, who made the most of his only carry. Taking the ball 51 yards for the score, for his first touchdown in a Lions uniform.
Twelve different players caught a pass in the game, led once again by
Joey Newton who had 3 for 75 yards and a score.
Defensively
Nick Stephenson led the way with 8 total tackles (5 solo).
Austin Price,
Nate Owens,
Lucas Luster and
Camden Fuller each added 5 tackles. Fuller also added a tackle-for-loss, and Luster registered half of a TFL. All told 33 different Lions registered tackles in the game.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will once again put that unbeaten record on the line as the hit the road. They will head to Franklin next weekend to take on the Grizzlies. Franklin is 4-4 on the season and 4-1 in HCAC contests.
