DAVIS, Calif., Oct. 30 - Brad Sorensen completed 30-of-36 passes for 397 yards and a school-record-tying five touchdowns Saturday to propel Southern Utah to a 55-24 win over UC Davis and the Thunderbirds first Great West Conference championship.

"Brad was so hot and the receivers were playinkg so well and catching balls," SUU Coach Ed Lamb said. "He's been on an unbelievable streak. I credit his development with the coaches continuing to work with him, and his humility. Like I said at the beginning of the season I think he has the best physical tools in the state, and probably a lot wider range than that."

Southern Utah improved to 5-4 overall and finished its Great West season with a perfect 4-0 mark. It is the first outright football championship for the Thunderbirds in the school's four-year history and its first since the team shared the American West Conference title with UC Davis back in 1993.

The Thunderbirds were jump-started by a 73-yard Blake Fenn interception return early in the game, then methodically pulled away, scoring on all but one possession in the first half. The team kept up the efficiency in the second half, as the Thunderbirds wound up scoring on nine of 11 possessions and did not turn the ball over.

UC Davis drove to the SUU 32 on the opening drive of the game but Fenn stepped in front of a Randy Wright pass at the SUU 27 and with Colin Pretlow leading the way returned it for a touchdown. It was SUU's second interception return for a touchdown of the season and the longest since Ryan Smith returned one 80 yards against Morehead State in 2000.

SUU added three points on a 38-yard Brock Miller field goal before the Aggies got on the board with a 44-yard pass from Wright to Sean Creadick. The Thunderbirds pulled away in the second period, however, with Sorensen sandwiching an 18-yard TD pass to Tysson Poots and an 11-yard scoring strike to Fesi Sitake around a 36 yard Aggie field goal by Sean Kelley. After forcing a UC Davis punt with 1:46 to play, the Thunderbirds pushed the advantage to 31-10 when Sorensen followed his center from less than a yard out for a touchdown.

Big plays played a big part of the first half for the Thunderbirds. In addition to the interception return they also got a 31-yard run from Austin Minefee that set up the Sitake touchdown, and a 50-yard pass from Sorensen to Daryl Brown to set up Sorensen's.

SUU kept its foot on the pedal in the second half, as Sorensen found Sitake again, this time on a 7-yard third quarter TD pass, and Poots twice, one from 13 yards out and the second from 42.

Meanwhile the SUU defense was limiting UC Davis' potent offense, and although the Aggies finished with 445 total yards and 24 points, Lamb said he was pleased with the effort.

In the second half "it was never in doubt, and UC Davis chose to make it a game like that," Lamb noted. "They just kept blitzing us, so instead of being able to run the ball and run the clock UC Davis had too many defenders in the box so we kept throwing it, we don't take time off the clock, the defense keeps going out there ... in the end to give up 24 points with that much time on the field (33:33) I'm proud of our defensive effort, it was a total team effort.

"I'm so happy for the guys and all the work they've put in," Lamb said. "We started 1-4 and when that happens you can start to doubt your coaches, you can start to doubt your teammates and our ability to get it done but we never did that, we just kept working. The administration saw this coming long before the players did, the coaches saw this coming and they players just hung in there. That was really the only question mark, would they hang in there, because everything was getting so much better and they made it happen, they made the plays tonight."

Poots wound up with 12 catches for 191 yards and the three touchdowns, while Austin Minefee and Sitake each had seven receptions, for 75 and 63 yards, respectively. Minefee also carried 12 times for 72 yards. Wright completed 22-of-35 passes for 278 yards and a score but was sacked four times, one each by Marlon Hogains, Jeff Tukuafu, Tyler Osborne and Trent Barney. Hogains led the team with nine tackles, all solo, while Fenn and Dion Turner each had eight tackles.

-- SUU --