BOX SCORE
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Campbellsville racked up 570 yards of total offense and held Bluefield to only 258 to even its record at 2-2 with a 40-14 win on Saturday afternoon.
Leading 19-14 in the middle of the second quarter, the Fighting Tigers (2-2, 0-0 MSC West) outscored Bluefield (0-5, 0-1 MSC East) 21-0 the remainder of the game.
Quarterback Jacob Russell finished throwing for his eighth career 300-plus yard game, finishing with 23 completions on 39 attempts. Russell finished the day with 357 yards and three touchdowns.
Two of the Tigers' receivers had big games of over 100 yards. Jarrod Harrington finished with four catches and 122 yards. Harrington picked up a huge chunk of that on one play when Russell hit his fellow senior on an 86-yard pass-and-catch with 1:00 remaining in the first half.
Russell hit Zerric Willis four plays later and the Tigers went up 26-14 after a Will Ward PAT. Willis finished with a game-high nine catches and 101 yards and the lone touchdown.
Percy Minor led the defensive charge for Campbellsville. The Tigers allowed 189 of the 258 Bluefield yards on the ground from Marian Harris. Minor finished with team-high seven tackles and had a timely interception with Bluefield driving late in the second quarter.
"It was a huge win for us," said CU head coach Perry Thomas in his postgame interview with Jim Freeman on WLCU-TV and 88.7 The Tiger. "Bluefield is a good football team even though their record does not show it. They have been beaten by two Top 10 teams in the country and were in both of those games. This is a quality victory for our program because we were able to play a lot of guys. And a lot of those guys were able to contribute. Our defense was lights out, the kicking game was solid, so I thought it was great team win."
Even though the Tigers have one of the best offenses in the country, CU deferred the toss and allowed Bluefield to receive the opening kick. The Rams took it right to the house, scoring on six plays in 2:32.
Campbellsville came back in its first offensive drive, as Russell hit Wade Holtsclaw for a 20-yard touchdown reception – the first TD reception of Holtsclaw's career.
The Tigers next offensive drive stalled after running five plays and only gaining 20 yards, but Coach Thomas went deep into his playbook. The offense stayed on the field and Russell delivered a pooch punt, pinning Bluefield College inside its own 5-yard line.
The field possession game worked, as Campbellsville forced Harris to fumble inside Bluefield's own end zone. The Rams were able to recover but the Tigers picked up their first safety of the season.
Campbellsville took advantage of the safety and Ward put the Tigers up 12-7 with a 24-yard field goal with only 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter after the ensuing free kick from the safety.
CU kept the pressure on early in the second quarter as Russell hit Harrington for their lone touchdown hookup of the afternoon giving CU a 19-7 lead.
The CU defense had only two blemishes on the day — the first drive of the game and a long 49-yard rushing touchdown by Harris. Harris finished with the only two scores for the Rams.
"We were close to almost playing a perfect game on defense," said Thomas. "You take away that duck pass by Bluefield on its first drive and the long 49-yard run up the middle, we could have had a shutout."
Campbellsville went into half leading 26-14 after the Willis and Russell hookup late in the second quarter. With the late score and getting the ball first in the second half, the Tigers had all the momentum from there on out.
After a pass interference call on Bluefield, Holtsclaw picked up his second touchdown of the day – first on the ground – on a 4-yard run. Holtsclaw led the CU running backs with 39 yards on the ground and averaged 4-yards per carry.
CU's next drive was aided with another fourth down conversion. Russell hit Connor Dunn on a bootleg off the right end, picking up 15 yards and moving CU inside the 5-yard line. On the next play, Harrington ran in from four yards out on a jet sweep – this time off the left end – to put the Tigers ahead 40-14 with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
Campbellsville was able to play some reserves the entire fourth quarter. Hunter Brown, a redshirt freshman quarterback, played the final two drives for CU. He finished hitting 5-of-7 passes for 48 yards.
The Tigers will hit the road once again and travel to No. 4 Faulkner University on Saturday, Oct. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET but fans can tune into 88.7 The Tiger (WLCUFM.com) for the Tiger Tailgate Show at 2 p.m.
