Box Score Pick a way to put points on the board and Campbellsville University nearly did it all Saturday, as the Tigers posted the third most points in program history in a 62-17 Mid-South Conference East Division win over Pikeville College on Saturday.

The Tigers scored on four passing touchdowns, three rushing, a punt return, an interception return and a field goal en route to a 3-0 start in the MSC East.

Quarterback Robert Hill became the second Tiger quarterback in as many weeks to lead CU's offense with at least an 80 percent completion rate, as he connected on 16-of-20 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns by air. He also added one on the ground as part of a 26-point third quarter.

Campbellsville opened the game with a 7-yard Wayne Coffee touchdown to cap a 12-play, 68-yard drive. After David Hon's extra point missed wide, Pikeville didn't take long to answer, finding the end zone five plays later on a 36-yard pass from Trevor Hoskins to Thomas Weeks.

Sophomore running back Gerwan Brewer, who had 126 yards on three kick returns in the first half, set up the Tigers' second touchdown with a 55-yard return to the Pikeville 25. Six plays later, Brewer poked the ball into the corner of the end zone on a 2-yard, third-down catch from Robert Hill. CU's 2-point try intercepted to give the Tigers a 12-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Hoskins threw two interceptions in the second quarter for Pikeville. The first was a 21-yard return by Calvin Hicks for a Tiger touchdown, while Brandon Brown picked off the second to end the ensuing drive at the Tiger 2.

Pikeville and Campbellsville traded field goals of 39 and 31 yards, respectively, on the next two series to make the score 22-10 with 2:55 left in the half. Pikeville attempted to shorten the lead before the half with a 30-yard touchdown run by B.J. Iverson to cap a 70-yard drive. However, Campbellsville answered in 17 seconds. Harold Small returned the Bears' kickoff 35 yards to the Pikeville 40, and a facemask penalty gave the Tigers the ball on the 25. After a first-down run by Wayne Coffee to set up first and goal at the 10, Demetric Ray toed the back left corner of the end zone on a touchdown reception from Hill to stretch the lead to 29-17 at the half.

In the second half, Campbellsville fine tuned its game to finish the Bears. CU continued to show its third quarter prowess by creating turnovers on the Bears first two series and converting them into points.

"It's kind of our M.O. Even throughout our history here, we're a better second half team then we are a first half team for whatever reason. I thought our guys came out in the second half and corrected some of those early mistakes and then the defense was able to get some takeaways and it snowballed form there," CU head coach Perry Thomas said.

Karl Charles picked off the Bears' first pass of the third quarter to set up a 27-yard scoring drive by Campbellsville. Hill punched the ball in on a 1-yard sneak and then threw a 23-yard touchdown to Small on the next drive, set up by a fumble on the kickoff. Brewer, who had two tackles on kickoff coverage, came up with the fumble recovery.

Up 42-17, CU went on to hold the Bears to -19 yards in the third quarter and shutout Pikeville in the second half. Hill stretched the lead further with his fourth touchdown pass of the game and second to Small with 4:33 left to play in the third. The two-touchdown game for Small is the third of his career and second this season.

After CU stuck the Bears for a loss on the next drive, Calvin Bini found a hole up the middle for his second career punt return for a touchdown, going 58 yards for the score. He joins CU alumnus William Mulder as the only other Tiger to return two punts for a touchdown. Bini had four returns Saturday for 97 yards, which ties Mulder for most returns in a CU career (51) and puts him less than 100 yards away from the career punt return yards record.

"That's big news. First of all I want to give credit to my punt return team. Without them out there blocking, I wouldn't be able to do anything, and I give credit to God, because without him I wouldn't even be out here," Bini said in response to the record. "It was a relief (to return for a touchdown). I've been wanting to take one back and continue my return success from last year. It was big to take it back."

In the fourth quarter, Campbellsville emptied its bench, as Will Warf led the Tigers to a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ate six minutes off the clock. Quintan Givhan capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to close out the Tigers' scoring.

Campbellsville (4-2, 3-0 MSC East) hosts Georgetown College on Thursday, Oct. 7 for the NAIA Victory Sports Game of the Week. The broadcast will begin at 6:45 p.m. ET on VictorySportsNetwork.com with kickoff at 7 p.m.

"This is always the best week for us, since my freshman year, Georgetown Week is big. You can feel the hype around campus. We love it," said Dwight Houston, who led CU with seven tackles Saturday. "This game can hype up our season. It can also be a hump for us, because in Coach Thomas' time here we haven't won three games in a row (the same season)."

 

NOTES
- Campbellsville remains unbeaten in Pikeville (5-0) and extends its series lead over the Bears to 6-3.
- Pikeville's A. Cunningham set the school's career solo tackles record on the first play of the game. He finished the game with two solo tackles and two assisted tackles.
- Campbellsville collected 100-plus yards of penalties for the third consecutive game.
- Calvin Bini tied William Mulder for most punt returns in a CU career (51)
- Harold Small sets the record for most games with at least two touchdown receptions (3).
- Campbellsville leads the Mid-South Conference East at 3-0.


PERRY THOMAS - HEAD COACH
On players closing in on records.
They've been around a while. It says we have some athletes. We have some guys that are probably as good of a collective group athletically as anyone around. When you get those guys the ball, they have a chance to do things. Those guys have the ability to get into the open field and make big plays."

CALVIN BINI
On having another return threat.
"Gerwan is electric on kickoff, kickoff returns and offense. He makes big plays for us. It's good to have him on our team and I'm glad we're not having to play against him. He's a big part of our success this year."

On being 3-0 in the MSC East.
"As cliché as it may be, we control our own destiny. It's good to be in the driver's seat and not. We need to stay focused. This is the second time we've held a team below 20 points this year. The first was KCU. We still have to cut down on our penalties and get ready for Georgetown."
 

DWIGHT HOUSTON
On the CU defense.
"The way we play defense really don't change week in and week out. We've got to play fast. We've got to play hard and we've always got to be aggressive. We can't let the offense didcate us. If our defensive line can get pressure, we'll be alright."

 

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