Box Score CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah Thunderbirds picked up a win with a 38-21 victory over the Montana State Bobcats for SUU's Senior Game.
Aside from a brief 7-7 tie a few minutes into the second quarter, the Bobcats led the entire first half. The Thunderbirds entered the second half fired up, outscoring the Bobcats 24-7 to secure the 38-21 victory.
“I'm really happy for our seniors. We had a tough game last time we were on this field, so I wanted to make sure we finished it off right for those guys,” head coach Demario Warren said. “We came out in the second half and took over one play at a time. We made some clutch plays to put the game away.”
Malik Brown led the Thunderbirds, rushing 16 times for a gain of 84 yards and one touchdown. Raysean Pringle followed, rushing five times for 43 yards and a touchdown.
“It was a hard moment thinking about this being my last game (here),” Brown said. “Knowing it was our last game, we had to go out with a bang.”
Patrick Tyler threw 25-41-0 for 231 yards. Tyler connected with Logan Parker, Steve Wroblewski, and Cameron Chambers for three Thunderbird touchdowns.
The Thunderbirds displayed a defensively dominant game, which was highlighted by four interceptions. Mitch Dalley led the game defensively with eight tackles and two interceptions, as Josh Thornton and Kyle Hannemann tacked on the third and fourth interceptions.
“It felt so good to get a win on senior game. Our offense clicked and it all felt great,” Thornton said. “It's been a tough year. We pride ourselves on being resilient, and our guys came out today ready to play.”
MSU's Chris Murray ran in the lone first quarter touchdown before Tyler connected with Parker on a 12-yard pass to open the second quarter and tie up the game. The Bobcats regained their lead a few minutes later before Tyler found Cameron Chambers on an 18-yard pass to tie up the game at halftime, 14-14.
“We didn't execute our assignments (in the beginning). But we got those jitters out early and executed in the end,” Sharp said. “Once we get those jitters out, we're good to go. Everyone buys in.”
Keita Calhoun knocked in a 48-yard field goal with 8:01 to play in the third quarter to give the Thunderbirds their first lead of the game before Tyler hit Wroblewski a few minutes later to extend SUU's lead to 24-14.
Pringle and Brown each rushed in fourth quarter touchdowns to etch a 38-14 lead before MSU connected for a 31-yard passing touchdown with under a minute to play to cut SUU's lead and finish the game with a 38-21 Thunderbird victory.
The Thunderbirds are back in action next week as they take on the BYU Cougars on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2:30 p.m. in LaVell Edwards Stadium.
