12th-Ranked Saints Defeat Washington & Jefferson, 29-21
(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - The 12th-ranked Thomas More College football team12 unanswered points in the second half to defeated Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Washington & Jefferson College today (Saturday, September 22, 2010) at The Bank of Kentucky Field in Crestview Hill, Kentucky.
With the win, the Saints improve to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the PAC and with the loss, the Presidents fall to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the PAC.
Thomas More led 10-7 after the first quarter, W&J led 21-17 at halftime and 21-20 after three quarters.
Thomas More took at 3-0 lead with 9:18 to play in the first quarter when senior place kicker Dustin Zink (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) conned on a 28 yard field goal.
The Saints then extended the lead to 10-0 when junior running back Kendall Owens (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) scored on an 80 yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Rob Kues (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) and Zink added the point-after-attempt at the 6:43 mark of the first quarter.
The Presidents then cut the lead to 10-7 when Jordan Roycroft scored on a 32 yard pass from Gino Rometo and Colin Kracinovsky added the PAT with 3:21 to play in the first quarter.
Thomas More answered with 12:23 to play in the first half when Kues connected on a three yard pass to Mercier Doucette (Florence, Ky./Boone County) and Zink added the PAT to extend the lead to 17-7.
Then Jordan Roycroft scored two answered touchdowns and Kracinovsky at the 11:08 mark and the five second mark of the second quarter to take a 21-17 at halftime.
In the third quarter Zink cut the Presidents' lead to 21-20 with 1:03 to play when he connected on a 39 yard field goal.
Thomas More then took a 26-21 lead with freshman running back Domonique Hayden (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Christian Academy) scored on a one yard run and the Saints' two-point conversion failed with 10:33 to play in the fourth quarter.
Zink then extended the lead to 29-21 when he connected on a 19 yard field goal with 7:38 to play in the game.
Offensively, the Saints were led by Kues, who was 11-19 passing for 160 yard and two touchdowns and had eight carries for 87 yards. Owens had five carries for one yard and had five catches for 90 yards and one touchdown, while Hayden finished the day with 21 carries for 49 yard and one touchdown and had one catch for 24 yards.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Nick Gramke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) led the Saints with 11 tackles, including one sack for 10 yards. Senior defensive back Marcus Lancaster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Dakota) had eight tackles with one sack for nine yards and senior defensive tackl Tyler Owens (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) had eight tackles, including one and a half sacks for 13 yards.
The Saints return to action next Saturday (October 2) when they host Thiel College on Homecoming at The Bank of Kentucky Field. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 1:30 p.m.
