CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbirds scored a season-high 59 points on Saturday afternoon at Eccles Coliseum to pick up their second win of the season over the Idaho State Bengals, 59-34.
With the win the T-Birds are no 2-7 on the season and 1-4 in the Big Sky Conference.
"I'm just thankful and grateful for the team I have," SUU head coach Demario Warren said. "It was hard to lose that many games in a row, losing at home and the guys came out and had a tremendous week of practice. I felt the maturity really start to grow, they want to finish the season the right way."
The Thunderbirds started red hot.
After an interception by Carlton Johnson on ISU's first offensive play, the Thunderbirds punched it in the endzone as Lance Lawson broke across the goal line from seven yards away.
Idaho State scored a touchdown on their next possession, but the Thunderbirds automatically responded with another score as Carlos Baker took one into the endzone from 55 yards away to put SUU up 14-7.
SUU's third touchdown was set up by a blocked punt, and two plays later Chris Helbig broke into the endzone from seven yards away to put SUU up 21-7.
The Thunderbirds would score again on their next drive, after Nela Otukolo put them in solid position with the team's second interception, as Thomas Duckett ran it in from 22 yards away to push SUU ahead 28-7.
After the Bengals scored again with 51 seconds left in the quarter, the wild opening quarter came to a close with SUU ahead 28-14.
The second quarter was a kicking contest, as the Bengals put home two field goals and the Thunderbirds got one, leaving the score after a half of football 31-20.
The Third quarter belong to the Thunderbirds, as Karris Davis and Cody Frampton both broke into the endzone for the Thunderbirds to extend their lead to 45-20.
ISU made things interesting to start the fourth quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to cut SUU's lead to 45-34. But SUU made one final surge, as Duckett scored his second touchdown and Johnson had his second interception result in seven points to ultimately give the home team the 59-34 victory.
Helbig finished the day with 20 completions for 268 yards and four touchdowns.
On the ground Duckett had 91 yards and one touchdown. James Felila had 11 carries for 76 yards.
Francis Bemiy led the team with eight tackles. Alex Sims had seven tackles as well. The T-Birds finished the day with three interceptions and five tackles for loss.
The Thunderbirds will be back on the field next weekend in Bozeman to take on the Montana State Bobcats.
Keep tabs on the Thunderbirds throughout the entire Big Sky Kickoff by following @SUUFB on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Football page on Facebook.
Single game tickets and season tickets are available for the remainder of the 2019 campaign at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
