(Story courtesy of the Texas Lutheran University athletics website)
GEORGETOWN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs collected their third consecutive outright Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship with a convincing 58-3 victory over Southwestern University, Saturday night at Georgetown ISD's Birkelbach Field.
TLU romped to a 31-0 halftime lead and never looked back against the Pirates.
The Bulldogs, ranked 18th in the latest NCAA D3football.com poll, improved to 8-2 overall and to 3-0 in league play.
TLU, in its third year in the SCAC, is now 9-0 all-time in SCAC play.
Southwestern, in its third year of a football program re-start, dropped to 2-8 overall and to 0-3 in the SCAC.
The Southern Collegiate Athletitic Conference champion does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, so the Bulldogs will have to wait until Sunday for news of a second consecutive NCAA berth.
TLU's chances of an NCAA berth are slim since the team was ninth in the latest NCAA DIII South Region rankings. The Bulldogs needed losses from several teams across the country to have a better shot at a bid. For the most part, those losses by key schools did not materialize.
The Bulldogs find out their NCAA fate at 5 p.m. Sunday on www.ncaa.com.
Still, the Bulldogs sent a strong message to the selection committee with a convincing road win. TLU dominated the Pirates in every facet of the game.
The Bulldogs rolled up 601 yards of total offense and held Southwestern to 256. TLU limited the Pirates to 3-for-16 on third down. Southwestern punted 10 times.
TLU running backs Marquis Barrolle and A.J. Saucedo each rushed for three touchdowns, and TLU racked up eight total rushing TDs.
Bulldog left tackle Tyler Howlett, all of 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, joined in the rushing TD fun with an 11-yard rumble into the endzone. Trenton White tossed a lateral out to the left flat, where Howlett made the clean grab and high-stepped into the endzone.
The Bulldogs rushed 48 times for 346 yards. Southwestern gained 73 yards on 26 carries.
Barrolle scored on a pair of 2-yard runs and added a 53-yarder in the third quarter. Saucedo registered TD runs of one and two before hitting paydirt with a career-long 78-yarder.
Bryce Johnson concluded the TLU scoring with a 43-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.