The SBU Bearcats won their third game in a row for the
first time since 2001, by defeating Kentucky Wesleyan, 34-14.
It is the first time that SBU has been over the .500 mark since winning
the 2003 season opener to go 1-0, also against Kentucky Wesleyan in
Owensboro.
The Bearcats ran 99 offensive plays and generated 524 yards of offense.
They were led by Steve Gachette, who was 27 of 53 for 3 touchdowns.
Gachette also scampered for 91 yards on the ground. Deandre Brown and
Jeff Finnell ran for 70 yards each.
The Bearcat defense gave up only 4 net yards on the ground on 28
opposing rushes. Clint Carroz was credited with 3 sacks.
"It feels good to be 3-2 right now," said SBU’s head coach, Keith Allen.
"We came out in the first half and executed well, on both sides of the
ball. We moved the ball down the field like we wanted, and we shut them
down defensively. But we were sloppy at the end of the first half with
penalties, which we will address by the next game. That sloppiness
carried over into the second half, especially on the offensive side of
the ball. The bottom line tonight is that we made way too many errors as
a team to be happy with this win."
The first half belonged to the Bearcats, on both sides of the ball.
Besides holding the Panthers scoreless, the Bearcats put five touchdowns
on the board.
Gachette marched SBU down the field in the first 3 minutes, 30 seconds
of the game for the Bearcats’ first touchdown, which ended with the
purple quarterback running nine yards into the end zone. Kentucky
Wesleyan fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Gachette was able to find
Johnny King for a 13-yard touchdown on the very next play. SBU 14,
Kentucky Wesleyan 0.
SBU’s Jeff Finnell ran the ball in from 2 yards out at the 1:01 point of
the first quarter to give SBU a 21-0 lead. Six minutes later, with 10
minutes remaining in the half, Gachette disappointed the Panthers’
homecoming crowd with a 39-yard touchdown strike to Jonathan Alvarado,
putting the Bearcats up by four touchdowns.
With seconds remaining in the half, Gachette stayed in the pocket and
threw a missile to Thaddeus Sanders for a half-ending, 44-yard
touchdown. SBU missed the extra point, but went to the locker room with
a 34-0 lead.
The teams were scoreless in the third, until Gachette was picked off
with a minute left in the third quarter. Wesleyan’s Robert Glover made
the interception, and ran the ball back for a 31-yard touchdown. During
the third quarter, SBU’s defense came up big, unleashing a triad of
sacks, hard hits, and hurries on the opposing committee of quarterbacks.
Wesleyan tacked on another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to
complete the scoring.
The win moves the Bearcats to 3-2 on the season, as they return home
next Saturday to face Central Oklahoma.
