MARSHALL, Texas – An inability to move the ball and string together first downs after the first quarter spelled defeat as the Southwestern University football team fell to East Texas Baptist 31-10 in an American Southwest Conference tilt.
Southwestern compiled a strong first quarter that saw the Pirates lead 10-7 with just 0:43 to go in the opening stanza thanks to a 33-yard connection between Landry Gilpin and Jojo Wilson. Charlie Fournier's extra point kick was good and would prove to be the final point the Pirates would muster the rest of the contest.
Fournier opened the scoring for both teams when his field goal attempt from 32-yards out split the uprights to give Southwestern (2-2, 1-1 ASC) a 3-0 lead.
ETBU (1-3, 1-1 ASC) scored the game's first touchdown with 7:19 remaining in the first quarter on a Melek Hamilton 5-yard run.
After Southwestern regained the lead on Wilson's touchdown reception, ETBU would answer less than two minutes of game action later with a 54-yard pitch and catch from Cornelius Banks to Kaleb O'Bryant at the 13:55 mark of the second quarter.
The lead change would be the final of the day as the Tigers would go on to a field goal in the third quarter and a pair of touchdowns in the fourth for the final margin.
The ETBU defense gave Gilpin fits all evening as the senior signal caller finished the game going 16-44 for 196 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Wilson was Gilpin's primary target throughout the game catching eight passes for 74 yards and one touchdown.
Kolby Bartlett was second in receiving yardage with one catch for 42 yards.
Freshman running back Sam LeBlue tallied the most rushing attempts and yards with 10 and 32, respectively.
The defensive effort by the Pirates kept them in the game for as long as it could with Aleksander Gomez spearheading the efforts with a staggering 18 tackles on the day including 11 solos and one tackle for loss.
Southwestern was constantly putting pressure on ETBU's Banks and was successful in collecting four sacks including two solo sacks from Maliq McDonald and one from Nathan Huerta from a combined loss of 20 yards.
Patrick Nicolas and Elijah Norris stepped up in the senior leadership roles as defensive backs and hauled in an interception each to keep Banks and the rest of the Tiger offense off the field and give their team a chance.
Unfortunately, that chance never came to fruition as the Pirates managed just 76 yards on 31 plays through the second and third quarters combined.
UP NEXT
The Pirates will have next weekend off before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 15 when they travel to Brownwood, Texas, to take on the Yellow Jackets of Howard Payne University for a 2 p.m. CDT kickoff.