(BETHANY, W.Va.) - Senior defensive back Marcus Lancaster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Dakota) returned two interceptions for touchdowns to lead the 10th-ranked Thomas More College football team to a 48-14 win over Bethany College today (Saturday, October 23, 2010) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game at Bison Stadium in Bethany, West Virginia.
With the win, the Saints improve to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the PAC. With the loss, the Bison fall to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the PAC.
Thomas More never trailed in the game as it led 21-0 after one quarter, 27-7 at halftime and 41-14 after three quarters.
Thomas More took an early, 7-0, lead when sophomore quarterback Rob Kues (Fort Thomas, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Mercier Doucette (Florence, Ky./Boone County) and senior place kicker Dustin Zink (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) added the point-after-attempt with 12:05 to play in the first quarter.
The Saints increased the lead to 14-0 with 7:27 to play in the first quarter when sophomore running Luis Perez (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kues and Zink added the PAT.
With 6:16 to play in the opening quarter Thomas More took a 21-0 lead when freshman running back Domonique Hayden (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Christian Academy) scored on a 16-yard touchdown run and Zink added the PAT.
In the second quarter, Lancaster intercepted a Bison pass and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown, but Zink's PAT was blocked and the Saints led 27-0 with 6:25 to play in the quarter.
Bethany cut the lead to 27-7 at halftime when Eric Walker scored on a three-yard touchdown run and Joe St. Clair's PAT was good with 1:34 to play in the opening half.
Bethany came out in the second half and cut the lead to 27-14 when Matt Grimard scored on a three-yard touchdown run and St. Clair's PAT was good with 11:02 to play in the third quarter.
Thomas More then increased the lead to 34-14 when Kues connected on a 37-yard touchdown pass to Perez and Zink added th PAT with 8:55 to play in the third quarter.
Then with 6:52 to play in the third quarter Lancaster intercepted another Bison pass and returned it 60 yards for his second touchdown of the day and Zink added the PAT to increase the lead to 41-14.
In the fourth quarter the Saints increased the lead to 48-14 when Kues scored on an 11-yard touchdown run and Zink added the PAT with 10:06 left in the game.
Thomas More out-gained Bethany, 419 yards to 273 yards. Thomas More had 239 yards rushing and 180 yards passing, while holding the Bison to 39 yards rushing and 234 yards passing.
Kues led the offense as he was 12-of-19 passing for 180 yards and three touchdowns and rushed the ball 13 time for 60 yards and one touchdown. Hayden finished the day with 16 carries for 118 yards and one touchdown and junior running back Kendall Owens (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) had 10 carries for 40 yards. Doucette led the team in receiving as he had two catches for 61 yards and one touchdown, while Perez had two catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns and freshman running back Adam Rauch (Yorkville, Ind./East Central) had two catches for 35 yards.
Defensively the Saints were led by freshman defensive back Jake Fishburn (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) with eight tackles and sophomore linebacker Elijah Anglim (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) with eight tackles, including two sacks and a forced fumble. Senior defensive back Aaron Monk (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) had seven tackles including a half for a loss, senior defensive tackle Tyler Owens (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) with seven tackles, including three and a half for a loss, one sack and a forced fumble and junior defensive end Jay Volker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) with seven tackles, including two for a loss and a half sack. Lancaster finished the day with four tackles and the two interceptions returned a combined 72 yards for two touchdowns.
The Saints return to action next Saturday (October 30) when they host Westminster College at 1:30 p.m. at The Bank of Kentucky Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.