BUENA VISTA, Va. – Wet and sloppy field conditions added to a tough afternoon for the Southwestern University football team Saturday as the Pirates fell to Southern Virginia, 40-0, in non-conference football action Saturday.
The loss ended a historic return to the gridiron for the Pirates who finished the season 0-10 and 0-3 in SCAC play. Playing exclusively with underclassmen all season the Pirates battled every game and pushed veteran teams during the 10-game schedule for Southwestern.
Saturday a very muddy field proved troublesome for the Pirates who were held to a season low 100-yards of total offense. The Pirate rushing attack saw Tyler Petrillo and Tate Taylor combine for 43 yards; however the total rushing numbers were skewed by seven sacks from Southern Virginia.
Colten Shea led Southwestern with four catches for 36-yards as he was held out of the end zone Saturday.
The Knights methodically drove 66-yards in seven plays to score their first touchdown on a 15-yard pass and catch from Andy Jones to Dee Sanford.
The Pirate defense held SVU to a three-and-out as the ensuing drive for Southwestern failed to add points to the score board. Southwestern used its good field position to control the clock with a 10-play 33-yard drive, but a missed 27-yard field goal kept the SVU lead at 7-0.
Again the Southwestern defense would step-up with the first of two interceptions as Mason Ford picked off the Jones pass in the end zone. However, a quick three-and-out for the Pirates gave the Knights the ball back with 12:16 left before halftime.
SVU quickly moved 40-yards adding to their lead with a 36-yard run from Nate Caldwell pushing the Knights lead to 13-0. The lead remained a two score lead for the Knights, but with eight second before intermission, Jones found Harper for his second touchdown of the half to give SVU a 20-0 lead.
Defensively Gregory Reeves led the Pirates with a game-high 15 tackles. Tanner Cervenka also picked off a SVU pass for one of two turnovers on the afternoon.
The Knights added three more scores in the second half including one through the air from Jones who finished with 245 yards.
On the season Southwestern was able to put up impressive number on both sides of the ball. The Pirate offense threw and rushed for more than 2,100 yards as Colten Shea finished with seven touchdowns and 673 yards receiving.
Although he was held without a sack in each of the last two games, defensive end Justin Broussard led the SCAC with six sacks and added 10.5 tackles for a loss. With Cervenka's interception against the Knights he finished the season with a team-high three picks as a trio of Pirates finished with two interceptions each.