ABILENE -- After last Thursday's defensive slugfest against Northwest Missouri State, the third-ranked ACU Wildcats needed a chance to get their offense tuned up for the rest of the season.
They were able to do that and much more Saturday night in a 58-10 rout of Fort Lewis College in a non-conference contest in front of 7,124 fans at Shotwell Stadium.
The Wildcats rolled up 537 yards of total offense, forced three turnovers and returned a punt for a touchdown as they steamrolled the Skyhawks. Fort Lewis had just 278 yards of total offense, including just nine rushing yards on 21 attempts.
The win was a program-record 12th straight regular-season win for the Wildcats, although their final three wins the 2007 season were vacated earlier this week because of NCAA violations. The last time the Wildcats lost a regular-season game was a 41-31 loss to West Texas A&M on Oct. 20, 2007.
The Wildcats (2-0) will make the program's first appearance ever at the Cotton Bowl next Saturday when they take on winless Texas A&M-Commerce in the second Harvey Martin Classic. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. from the famed stadium in Dallas.
ACU -- which opened its season last Thursday with a nationally televised 19-14 win over then-No. 2 Northwest Missouri State -- had little trouble with the Skyhawks, scoring on its first five offensive possessions of the game. The Wildcats held a commanding 38-3 halftime lead and never looked back on their way to the victory.
Three ACU quarterbacks combined to complete 19 of 33 passes fo 310 yards and four scores, while eight Wildcats carried the ball 38 times for 227 yards and three touchdowns.
Kendrick Johnson had a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown in ACU's first-half onslaught, the first time a Wildcat has returned a punt for a score since current Chicago Bears safety Danieal Manning went 57 yards to the house against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 17, 2005.
ACU's backups played out most of the final two quarters with
Raymond Radway -- who won the 2008 NCAA Division II national championship in the 400 meters -- catching a pair of touchdown passes, one a 10-yarder from
Clark Harrell late in the third quarter, and the other a 56-yarder from third-stringer
Mitchell Gale with 6:41 to play in the contest.
The Wildcats jumped on Fort Lewis early, forcing a three-and-out and then taking just five plays to move 64 yards to a score. Starting quarterback
Zach Stewart -- who finished 9 of 15 for 165 yards and two touchdowns -- hit
Terrell Woodall with a 45-yard scoring pass to make it 7-0 with 11:33 left in the first half.
After a Fort Lewis field goal made it 7-3, the Wildcats ripped off 31 straight points to close the half.
Reggie Brown scored on a three-yard run with 2:31 left in the first quarter before Johnson's punt return with 34 seconds left in the quarter made it 21-3.
Stewart hit fullback
Justin Andrews with a 1-yard scoring pass with 13:08 left in the first half to make it 28-3 before
Daryl Richardson scored the first of his two touchdowns to make it 35-3 with 10:35 left in the half.
Ricardo Navarro tacked on a 28-yard field goal with 54 seconds left in the half to make it 38-3.
The Wildcats tacked on two more scores in the third when Richardson scored eight yards out to make it 45-3 with 6:26 left in the quarter and Radway caught a 10-yard pass from Harrell with 3:16 left to make it 52-3.
Fort Lewis finally got into the end zone with 13:21 left in the game when Harrison Scheid caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Justin Peters to make it 52-10. The Wildcats finished off the scoring when Gale launched his touchdown pass to Radway with 6:41 to play.
