Cornell College Rams (1-2, 0-1 MWC)
at Beloit College Buccaneers (2-1, 1-0 MWC)
Saturday, September 24, 2016, 1:00 p.m.
Strong Stadium, Beloit, Wis.
Homecoming Game
The Bucs return to Strong Stadium to host Cornell College in the 103rd Homecoming Game…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Rams are meeting for the 55th time in a series Cornell leads 35-17 with two ties. The programs haven't met since October 5, 2013, when CC scored a 58-24 win. The Rams have won three of the last four meetings, though that stretches back to the 1996 season, with a 14-season absence of games between the two teams from 1998 thru 2011. Saturday marks the third Beloit Homecoming Game since 1974 where Cornell has been the opponent, including 1991 and 1997, both of which were Buccaneer victories. The teams first met in the third game of the 1901 season, an 11-0 Beloit win…
Bucs Most Recent Game: The Beloit College Football team had a banner day in their Midwest Conference opener, scoring a 72-17 win at Grinnell College last Saturday. Danny May hit Ryan Sughroue with a 46-yard touchdown pass 35 seconds into the game to start the fun. After a Grinnell field goal May scored on a one-yard run to make it 14-3 at the 9:46 mark of the opening quarter and then threw his second TD pass of the quarter when he hit Abraham Quijas from 64 yards out to make it 21-3. The Pioneers closed out the wild quarter with a scoring pass to make it 21-10 after one. Quijas caught his second TD pass of the game nine seconds into the second quarter, this one from Ben Sposito, and then May ran in from 53 yards out for a 35-10 advantage with 10:39 left in the half. Kam Sallee closed out the first half scoring with a 40-yard field goal as the clock hit 0:00 to put Beloit up 38-10 at the break. GC scored on a short pass at 11:44 of the third quarter before the Bucs got going again, getting a 14-yard scoring pass from May to Michael Nolden at 8:36; a 25-yard pass from May to Quijas at 7:13; and a six-yard Mason Dixon run at 4:48 to make the score 58-17 heading to the fourth quarter. Sposito scored on a two-yard run and Tyree Smith scored from one yard out in the fourth to complete the scoring. May finished with 304 yards passing and 54 rushing while Sposito threw for 102. Quijas had 142 yards receiving on his three TD catches while Nolden caught seven passes for 129. Dixon, in his first action of the season, rushed 12 times for 131 yards and Smith had 66 yards on the ground on 11 carries. Defensively, George Jacobsen had 11 tackles, three for loss, while Michael Koch and Danny Quijas both had nine stops, Koch adding three pass break-ups. Qua Williams had an interception and Andrei Prikhodko recovered a fumble…
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Rams: The Beloit College Football team got it done on the ground on October 5, 2013, but couldn't overcome a big first half by Cornell College in a 58-24 loss in Mount Vernon. After the Rams built a 34-0 halftime lead and increased it to 41-0 early in the third quarter the Bucs got themselves on the board on Kam Sallee's 20-yard field goal midway through the third. Mohammed Abbed got Beloit's first touchdown of the day with a 27-yard run at 2:50 of the third and then Mason Dixon scored from 25 yards away as the quarter clock expired to make it 55-17 after the two teams combined for 38 points in the period. Dixon plunged over from one yard out midway through the fourth quarter to close out the Buccaneers' scoring before Cornell kicked a field goal for the final points. The Bucs' 356 yards on the ground are the most since they had 501 at Lawrence on October 2, 2004. Dixon fell short of his third straight 200-yard game but finished with 180 yards on 31 carries with the two scores. Abbed also topped the century mark on the ground, running for 102 yards on 14 rushes and Sallee had 87 yards on 11 carries. Omar Gandara-Barron had 209 all-purpose yards, including 141 on kickoff returns and a 68-yard punt return. Defensively, Riley Pearson made eight tackles, seven solo, and had an interception. Derell Carter finished with seven tackles, all solo stops.
Homecoming Hoopla: According to available information, Saturday's game is the 103rd 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. Since 1974 Beloit is 24-18 in Homecoming Games, including having won six of the last eight.
"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 – Brenda Erdman Miller '96 (Volleyball/Basketball/Track & Field), Marc Montoya '00 (Baseball), Josh Hinz '07 (Basketball), and Bob Hodge, Coach (Women's Tennis) – will bring the total of HOH members to 146. The inductees will be recognized during halftime of the Homecoming Football game, along with the 1984 MWC North Championship Football team…
Notes & Notables: Danny May tied a Beloit record with his four touchdown passes, the second time he's accomplished the feat. He is the fourth quarterback with four scoring passes in a game, the second to do it twice along with current Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Jeremy Warren…Abraham Quijas also tied a Beloit record with his three TD receptions. He's the sixth to do it…The 72 points against Grinnell are the most since the team scored a 64-0 win over Northwestern College of Wisconsin in the third game of the 1922 season. It's the sixth time the program has scored 70-plus points in a game. The all-time record is 115 against DeKalb in the 1913 opener…With his 131 yards in his first game of the season, Mason Dixon moved into the #2 spot on Beloit's all-time rushing list, slipping past Lee Rankinen (2003-06). Dixon now has 3,794 yards…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: The home-one-week-on-the-road-the-next schedule continues as Beloit heads to Lawrence University to begin the month of October, playing there on the 1st. They then return home to face St. Norbert College on October 8…