Lyon College quarterback Isaiah Bradford gets away from two Missouri Baptist defenders during Saturday’s 24-12 Scots win. \ Image by Rachel Freeman provided by Lyon College
Senior quarterback Isaiah Bradford scored two touchdowns, sophomore Aedan Huntsman added another score, and sophomore running back Jaylin Babers had 20 carries for 75 yards to lead the Lyon College Scots to a 24-12 win over the visiting Missouri Baptist Spartans on Saturday night at Pioneer Stadium in Batesville.
On the Scots first drive of the game, Bradford passed to Babers for 12 yards to the Missouri Baptist 1-yard-line and Bradford capped off a 13-play, 75-yard drive when he carried in for the score from one-yard out on the next play. Freshman kicker Kevin Kargozar added the extra point to put Lyon College up 7-0.
On the Spartans’ first drive of the game, sophomore defensive back Christopher Bronson intercepted a Cooper Brown- pass and returned it 36 yards. However, the Scots drive stalled and a fumbled punt resulted in a 24-yard field goal from Missouri Baptist with 2:10 to go in the first quarter.
Missouri Baptist added a 35-yard field goal with 12:38 to go in the second period to cut the Scots lead to one point, 7-6 at the 12:38 mark. Later in the second quarter, the Spartans took the lead on their third field goal of the half, this one from 29-yards out to make it 9-7 with 6:42 to go in the first half.
The Scots used its “hurry-up” offense to get down the field quickly with Bradford passing to Reginald Brown for a 19-yard gain to the Missouri Baptist 31-yard line. After the drive stalled on two incomplete passes and a Bradford rush for eight yards, Kargozar booted a 21-yard field goal with five seconds to go before halftime to give Lyon College a 10-9 lead at halftime.
The Spartans opened the second half with a drive that stopped at its own 14 yard line and a partially blocked punt by freshman defensive back Troy Potter gave Lyon College the ball at the Missouri Baptist 28.
Bradford completed an 18-yard pass to red-shirt freshman receiver Karson Douglas to the Spartans’ 10-yard line. Two plays later, Bradford carried into the end zone for a touchdown. Kargozar added the extra point to put the Scots up 17-9, completing a three-play, 28-yard drive in 1:08.
On the second play of the fourth quarter with Lyon College leading 17-9, Huntsman broke free for an 18-yard touchdown run and Kargozar added the extra point to make it a 24-9 lead with 11:08 left in the game.
Missouri Baptist eventually managed a 28-yard field goal to cut the Lyon College lead to 12 points, but the Scots started a drive at the 6:26 mark with Emerson Price and Babers rushing for 24 yards on four carries and picked up a key first down at the Lyon 32 with 3:20 to play in the game.
Babers broke free on a 33-yard run that was called back on a holding penalty. Eventually, the Scots punted with 55 seconds to go and ended the game with Rene Dominique taking down Missouri Baptist’s Ashton Strother for a 10-yard loss on the final play of the game.
Defensively, Mason Davis led the Scots with nine solo tackles, Cameron Scarlet had six and Nate Sarver had five solo tackles. Camden Clear, Lawson Stockton, Jayden Thomas, and Michael Hullett all had three solo tackles.
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