The Bucs make their 2015 home debut as they host the Vikings of Lawrence University in the 100th meeting between the long-time rivals. It's also the Midwest Conference North Division opener for both teams. The Buccaneers won 41-31 at Grinnell last Saturday while Lawrence topped Maranatha Baptist Bible College 51-6…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Vikings are meeting for the 100th time - the second-most played series on the Beloit books (behind Beloit-Ripon, 100th meeting on 11/1/14) - in a series LU leads 58-36 with five ties. LU has won three of the last five meetings. BC has won six of the last 11 and had a six-game winning streak in the series from 1997-2002. The programs first met in the middle of the 1899 season, an 11-0 Beloit win. The Bucs won the first two meetings by shutout before LU went on a 13-1-3 tear from 1902-22 that included 10 shutout victories and two scoreless ties…
The Bucs Most Recent Game: Beloit, fresh off a 50-point outburst in the season opener, kept putting up yards and points Saturday with a 41-31 win at Grinnell College. Mason Dixon got Beloit rolling with a one-yard scoring run just over three minutes into the game, capping a nine-play, 76-yard drive. Grinnell tied it up three minutes later with a short scoring pass before Dixon struck again, this time from six yards out, to make it 14-7, Beloit, after one quarter. Dixon increased the lead to two TDs with his third rushing score of the game one minute into the second quarter but the Pioneers had back-to-back scoring passes to tie it up again at 21-all with 7:49 left in the half. GC took a 24-21 lead on a 49-yard field goal at the 4:38 mark before Danny May gave the Buccaneers the lead for good 1:39 before halftime on a six-yard TD run, making it 28-24 at the break. Dixon tied a Beloit record with his fourth rushing touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter, the only scoring of the quarter, to put Beloit up 34-24 heading to the fourth. Mike Nolden closed out the Buccaneer scoring on a six-yard pass from May seven seconds into the final quarter, making it 41-24. Grinnell pulled to within 41-31 on a short TD pass with under three minutes remaining before the Bucs ran out the final 2:55 for the win. Dixon finished with 228 rushing yards, the third 200-yard game of his career, the second straight at Grinnell, on 31 carries. May threw for 188 yards while Ryan Sughroue caught nine passes for 60 yards and Kam Sallee six for 60. Beloit finished with 468 yards of offense, 280 on the ground, while holding Grinnell to 109 rushing yards. Defensively Brenden Endrina had 16 tackles, 10 solo, with a sack while Quin Dixon had 10 tackles. Danny Quijas, Michael Koch and George Jacobsen also had sacks while Riley Pearson and Jacob Grams shared one. Antonio Jones made the game's lone interception, with his 34-yard return setting up Dixon's second TD.
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Vikings: The Beloit College Football team mounted their comeback effort too late on October 11, 2014, at Lawrence University in a 21-13 Midwest Conference North Division-opening loss. Kam Sallee put Beloit on the board first midway through the first quarter with a 35-yard field goal but the Vikings scored five minutes later on a short pass from Chance Byrd to Cole Erickson and added a 24-yard scoring pass early in the second quarter from Byrd to Trevor Spina for a 14-3 halftime advantage. The Buccaneers pulled back to within one score midway through the third quarter on Sallee's 36-yard field goal to make it 14-6 thru three. But LU scored on a 55-yard pass play midway through the fourth quarter, with Byrd hooking up with Taylor Mandich, to push their lead to 21-6. Sallee caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Evan Phillips with 6:45 left to make it 21-13. An interception by Dewight Walker led to a four plays and done on the next Beloit series and Lawrence ran out the final 3:38 for the win. Mason Dixon had 132 yards rushing on 31 carries to pace the offense while Phillips threw for 128 yards. Sallee caught four passes for 66 yards. Byrd finished with 274 passing yards to lead the Vikings. Mandich had eight catches for 130 yards. On defense Daniel Quijas had nine tackles while David Lafayette and Jake Fisher each posted seven. Riley Pearson had a sack to go with five tackles. Brandon Taylor led LU with 14 tackles while Dan Taylor had 10. Tony Harth had the lone sack…
Homecoming Hoopla: According to available information, Saturday's game is the 102nd Homecoming Game at Beloit College. The annual game was first played in 1910, with the Bucs defeating Monmouth College 17-0 in the final game of the season. The Buccaneers went 6-1-1 that season under first-year head coach Dana Evans, a man who would be inducted into the Beloit College Athletics Hall of Honor in 1971. Over the past 30 seasons Beloit is 18-12 in Homecoming Games, including having won five of seven. The Vikings have been the Homecoming Game opponent three times since 2003 (2-1, BC)…
"Best of the Best": The Beloit College Department of Athletics will induct four new members into its Athletic Hall of Honor at a dinner on Saturday night. The four – Alanna Moss '98 (Track & Field), Matt Krill '00 (Football), Adrienne Davis '04 (Softball), and Bob Hodge, Coach (Women's Tennis) – will bring the total of HOH members to 143. The inductees will be recognized during halftime of the Homecoming Football game…
Notes & Notables: Mason Dixon definitely enjoys playing at Grinnell. His 228-yard game Saturday was his second straight 200-plus yard game there. He had 219 as a freshman in 2013. The 200-yard game was the third of his career, equaling the record he now shares with Brian Balick and his father Steve. It was the 16th 200-yard rushing game in BC Football history. His 4 rushing TDs was the seventh time it was accomplished, the first time since Lee Rankinen at Grinnell on 11/12/05…Antonio Jones' interception was his second in as many games this season and the seventh of his career…The 41 points by the Buccaneers marked the first time since the last game of the 2002 season (41-14 vs. Illinois Col.) and the 2003 opener (46-19 vs. Macalester) with back-to-back 40-plus point games…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: The Buccaneers head back to the road on September 26, playing at Lake Forest College. They return to Strong Stadium on October 3 to host Monmouth College.