SAINT LOIUS, Mo. – An explosive third quarter defense helped push the Siena Heights football team past Missouri Baptist, 38-10, in a Mid-States Football Association Mideast League contest, on Saturday.
Defensive backs Raymond William Jr. and Da'vonte Price each scored a pick-six against the Spartans in the third quarter to give the Saints the momentum that carried them through the rest of the game.
The Saints' defense finished the game with four forced fumbles, two recovered and three interceptions, returning for 63 yards. SHU allowed only six of 18 third down conversions.
SHU Quarterback Nick Gilliam ended the day 13 of 24, throwing for a total of 177 yards.
Siena Heights ran for 147 yards against MBU, Dont'e Fox rushing for 89 yards with no loss of yardage in his 16 carries throughout the game. D'aries Davis ran for a total of 51 yards in ten carries.
Damon Wright Jr. led the game with 86 receiving yards in six catches. Deontae Rush had three completions for 56 total yards.
Defensively, Cordell Crosby lead the team with four unassisted tackles and two assisted tackles. Nyshaun Marks finished with four unassisted tackles while both Jordan Riley and Price had four solo tackles.
The Saints started off slow in the first half. With 2:45 left in the first quarter, Brock Quinlan made a 41 yard field goal before the Spartans countered with an Isaiah King 54 yard touchdown from quarterback William Ritchey.
In the second quarter, Missouri Baptist stretched their lead to seven with an Alex McGlassion, 21 yard field goal. Siena Heights (2-0, 2-0) answered with a six yard touchdown run by quarterback Garrett Schaller to tie the game 10-10 going into halftime.
William Jr. turned the game around for Siena making a 15 yard interception return, to put the Saints up 17-10. Fox added on a five yard touchdown before the SHU secondary extended the lead again.
Price made a 41 yard interception return with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter. The defense forced four turnovers in only four Missouri Baptist possessions, two of the turnover being touchdown interceptions.
The Saints ended the scoring for the day in with 3:04 remaining in the fourth quarter when Tony Addison made a four yard run into the end zone.
MBU quarterback Ritchey went 16 of 28 on the day for a total of 137 yards. Dalton Barcom had three receptions for a total of 37 yards. King led the Spartans (0-2, 0-1) in the air with two completions for 57 yards.
On the ground, Antoryio Barton led MBU with 70 yards in 17 rushes.
Next up, the Saints will travel to Concordia for a MSFA Mideast League contest. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 17.
