CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Campbellsville University racked up 443 yards of offense and collected its first win of the season Saturday, beating Webber International University, 20-7, in non-conference action at Citizens Bank and Finley Stadium. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for CU football, dating back to Nov. 2 last season.

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"It's been a long time coming. We needed a victory," CU head coach Perry Thomas said. "We lost three straight at the end of the year last year and the first one this year, so our guys were hungry for a victory and they're well deserving of it. I'm proud of them … I think it was a good quality win against a quality opponent to give us some confidence as we get ready for divisional play next week."

The game began in a defensive gridlock, aided by penalties, but the Fighting Tigers got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Russell to Trevon Chatman. Bradley Bates, a redshirt freshman from Campbellsville, made his first PAT attempt of his career to give CU a 7-0 lead. Chatman's score capped a 10-play, 83-yard drive.

Campbellsville turned the ball over on downs twice inside the Webber 30 and had one interception in the first half, and WIU had one first-half turnover, an interception by Rashaud Hill with 28 seconds left in the first half to help secure the Fighting Tigers' 7-0 lead at the break.

The Tigers had another turnover to start the third quarter, as AJ Strong fumbled on second down at the CU 20. Webber was unable to convert the turnover into points. CU forced a 32-yard field goal try, Marquis Cain broke passed the line and nearly blocked the low attempt by Daniel LeZotte, which bounced off the crossbar, no good.

LeZotte's miss sparked the CU offense. The Fighting Tigers moved 80 yards on five plays. The drive was set up with a 33-yard first down pass to Demytreus Gipson across midfield and then a 15-yard penalty to push the Tigers to the WIU 27. Jarrod Harrington picked up 20 yards on a sweep before Trevon Chatman carried an option pitch 9 yards to the left corner of the west end zone. Bates' PAT missed wide, giving CU a 13-0 lead with 9:47 to play in the quarter.

CU added another long scoring drive late in the quarter, this time 86 yards on six plays, including 78 yards on the last four plays of the drive. Russell orchestrated the drive, starting with two shot runs by Wade Holtsclaw, and then a 38-yard pass to Harrington to open up the field. CU went on to gain 10-plus yards on the next three plays, a 12-yard run by Holtsclaw, 12-yard reverse by Zerric Wills and then a 16-yard TD pass to Gipson, who finished the game with 100 yards on six catches.

Webber answered with a 77-yard scoring drive, capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Billy Pavlock, who ran for 33 yards and passed for 22 on the drive. Pavlock finished the game as Webber International's leading rusher with 58 yards on 12 carries.

The Fighting Tigers held starting WIU running back Darius Page to 28 yards on 14 carries. Page entered the game averaging 120 yards a game, ranked fourth in the NAIA.

"They're a very good strong running team, and I think we had a little fear coming into the game, but I think our guys competed well in the box," Thomas said. "Because of what we were doing with assignments, the quarterback was going to get some yards, but we didn't think we were going to lose with him running a lot. We felt if the running back got going, then they could throw it, so we wanted to take him out of the equation, and we did."

WIU managed only 94 yards rushing and 109 passing, split evenly between Pavlock and starting QB Luke Brigham. Both QBs threw an interception, with Pavlock being picked off by James Garner with 3:56 to play to seal the win.

In contrast, Campbellsville threw for 244 after throwing for 414 yards in its season opener. The Tigers rushed for 199 yards, led by Strong's 79.

Russell finished the game with 208 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-28 passing. Milliken was 2-for-3 for 36 yards and ran for 29 yards.

"It opens our offense up," Thomas said. "Now when Bethel watches, they're going to have to defend the entire field and not just one phase of our game."

Daniel DeLeon led CU's defense for the second-straight game, this time with seven tackles, including five for a loss. Four of those were sacks, which ties CU's single-game record for sacks. The original record was set by Ron Wakefield in October 1993. Steven Delgado had six stops, while Garner and Davian Evans-Dufrene each had 4.5 tackles in the secondary.

Campbellsville (1-1) will stay home next week, Saturday, Sept. 20, to host Bethel University (0-2) in its Mid-South Conference West Division opener. CU is 7-3 all-time against Bethel, including a 26-0 win in McKenzie, Tenn., last season, which sparked a three-game win streak.


NOTES
- Campbellsville is now 2-1 over Webber International all-time, but Saturday's win is the first on-the-field win for the Tigers over the Warriors.
- The win snaps a four-game losing streak dating back to Nov. 2, 2013.
- Daniel DeLeon tied Ron Wakefield (10/16/1993) for the most sacks in a single game (4).
- CU Football hosted a food drive Saturday for the Taylor County Food Pantry.