CEDAR CITY, Utah, Sept. 6 ? Southern Utah's 19-game football losing streak is officially a thing of the past.
The Thunderbirds came out hungry against Division II Adams State Saturday night, dominated the first half in taking a 35-0 halftime lead, then coasted to a 38-10 win.
SUU scored in nearly every possible manner in the first half. The Thunderbirds scored their first points on a 7-yard Jared Ursua run to cap their opening drive, then added another TD when Thatcher Taylor blocked a Brady Rohlwing punt and returned it 29 yards.
SUU's third and fourth touchdowns came on passes from Cody Stone to Tysson Poots, and the team's final score of the half on a 57-yard Nick Miller punt return. Stone's scoring tosses to Poots were of 10 and 13 yards and they nearly had third but Joe Sawinski's shoestring tackle of Poots at the one yard line allowed time to expire in the half.
Stone completed 9-of-18 passes for 126 yards in the half, with Poots pulling in six of those for 91 yards.
SUU also got its first two interceptions of the season in the first half as Blake Fenn intercepted a Stephen Baca pass in the end zone with 3:54 to go in the second quarter and DeWayne Lewis stepped in front of another Baca offering with 36 seconds to go.
It was a different game in the second half, however, as Adams State out-gained the Thunderbirds 219-59 and finished with an overall 310-229 advantage on offense.
“We started off great, I'm happy for the win,” SUU Coach Ed Lamb said. “I was really pleased with the execution and the intensity of the first half. We'll need to improve to match up at Montana though. We'll have to play two halves of football.
“I hate to end on a bad note but I'm very displeased with the second half,” he went on to say. “Too many mental mistakes, too many penalties. We were altogether too concerned with what was going on on their sideline.”
SUU had just one play of note in the second half, a 52-yard Stone-to-Poots pass that led to a 44-yard Steve Pulver field goal. SUU was also penalized eight times for 93 yards in the second half, with three of those coming on either third- or fourth-and-long situations.
Adams State was able to get the passing game going in the second half when Bryce Buderus came on in relief of starting quarterback Stephen Baca. Buderus completed 9-of-13 passes, all of the short-to-mid-range variety, for 113 yards and the team's only touchdown, a short hookup with tailback Oscar Murray that went 38 yards for the score.
Southern Utah plays at No. 6 Montana next week.
-- SUU --
