No. 18 Wildcats chew up yards, Bulldogs in 50-14 win
9/22/2007 11:00:00 PM | Football
WEATHERFORD -- Abilene Christian wide receiver Jerale Badon became the Wildcats' all-time leader in receiving yards Saturday night and ACU rolled up 601 yards of total offense as the No. 18 team in NCAA Division II football whipped Southwestern Oklahoma State, 50-14, in a Lone Star Conference game at Milam Stadium.
The Wildcats' third straight victory pushes them to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the LSC, while Southwestern falls to 3-2 overall and 1-2. ACU will return to action next Saturday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Eastern New Mexico in the LSC South Division opener for both teams at Shotwell Stadium. The Greyhounds are 5-0 on the season after a win Saturday night over Central Oklahoma, and they feature one of the top running quarterbacks in NCAA Division II football in senior Michael Benton.
Badon, a senior from Abilene, finished the game with six catches for 98 yards and two scores, giving him 180 catches for 2,554 yards and 15 touchdowns in his career. He surpassed former record-holder Johnny Perkins (2,529 receiving yards from 1974-76) on a 33-yard touchdown reception on a fourth-and-six play late in the second quarter that increased ACU's lead over the Bulldogs to 27-7. Badon is now just one catch away from tying former East Texas State receiver Gary Compton for the LSC record for career catches.
The Wildcats were totally dominating on offense, rolling up 601 yards to just 291 for the Bulldogs. ACU ran for 281 yards and threw for another 320 as Wildcat junior quarterback Billy Malone finished 22 for 27 for 302 yards and four TD passes. For Malone, it was his 16th straight game with a TD pass, eight career 300-yard passing game and eighth career game with at least three touchdown passes. As a team the Wildcats finished with 32 first downs, the second-best single-game total in school history behind only the 33 the Wildcats posted in a win over Tarleton State on Nov. 8, 1975.
Saturday night's game was never in doubt as the Wildcats reeled off 36 consecutive points, turning a 7-7 tie in to a 43-7 rout late in the third quarter. Bernard Scott, who was averaging 140 yards per game on the ground, finished with 132 rushing yards and two scores, and Chris Conklin caught a six-yard scoring pass from Malone early in the third quarter to help the Wildcats pull away for their third straight blowout victory. In those wins over Texas State, Southeastern Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma State, the Wildcats have averaged 45.1 points per game, and the defense has given up just 14.2 points per game.
ACU moved crisply on its first two drives, but the first drive stalled deep in SWOSU territory, and it ended without points when a Matt Adams field goal attempt was blocked. ACU's second drive was set up by an interception by Willis Hogan, and this time ACU cashed in with Scott scoring on a short run to make it a 7-0 game. The Bulldogs, however, answered, with a touchdown drive of their own, and the game was tied at 7-7 with 7:21 left in the first quarter.
But it was all Wildcats after that.
ACU reeled off scoring drives of 55 yards, 50 yards, 41 yards, 80 yards, 18 yards, 78 yards and 62 yards to turn that tight 7-7 game into a 43-7 rout. The backups got into the scoring action late in the contest as redshirt freshman running Kebron Lampkin had a 40-yard touchdown run to cap the Wildcats' scoring night.
The Wildcats' 50-point effort was their highest scoring output since a 51-14 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State last year, and marked just the third time since 1994 that ACU has put up at least 50 points in a game.
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