ANGOLA, IND. -- Senior Lamar Carswell (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) rushed for a game-high 157 yards and had four total touchdowns (three rushing and one receiving) as the Trine University football team beat Bluffton University, 34-13, at Fred Zollner Stadium in Angola, Ind.
Also highlighting the day was senior Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) who picked off one Bluffton pass to bring his career total to 20 interceptions and became the program's all-time leader in the category.
At quarterback, senior Andrew Duckett (Niles, Mich./Brandywine) completed five-of-10 passes for 54 yards and had one TD. Junior Brandon Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) also saw playing time and completed five-of-eight passes for 46 yards. He was also the team's second-leading rusher with 40 yards on five carries.
Senior Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Ross) caught five passes for 47 yards. He also made an impact on special teams and had a 95-yard kickoff return for a TD.
The Trine defense held Bluffton to 225 yards of total offense (77 rushing and 148 passing) with junior Simeon Washington (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) making a team-high seven tackles (six solo and one assist) that included 1.5 tackles for loss.
Both teams were held scoreless on their opening possessions of the contest, but Trine (2-0) got on the board on its second drive when Duckett completed a pass to Carswell for an eight-yard TD. Prior to the TD completion, the drive consisted of four straight running plays by the duo of Duckett and Carswell, including a 20-yard scamper by Duckett during the drive. The extra point point attempt following the score was blocked, but the Thunder still led, 6-0, after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw a combined 27 points scored that began with a 25-yard field goal by Bluffton (2-0) that ended a seven play, 50-yard drive and made the score, 6-3. Momentum quickly swung back in favor of the home team as the Thunder answered the Bluffton score on their insuing drive, marching 76 yards in 12 plays and ended with a one-yard TD run by Carswell to extend the margin to 13-3. The Beavers came up with an answer of their own with another field goal, this time of 34 yards to get to within a touchdown, 13-6, with 2:11 to go in the half. On the ensuing kickoff, Barnett found space and dashed 95 yards for the TD to make the score 20-6. But Bluffton responded with a one-play drive on a 70-yard pass play to get back to within seven points, 20-13. The two scores would come within the span of 22 seconds, but it was Trine who took the advantage into halftime, leading 20-13.
Trine pulled away in the second half as the Thunder scored the only points with touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. Trine's touchdown in the third quarter was set up by Marcus Winters' record-setting interception and led to four consecutive rushing plays by Carswell, capped by a 10-yard run to paydirt and padded the Thunder lead to 27-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final points of the game came early in the final quarter when Carswell scored his third rushing TD of the game (fourth overall TD of the game) when he broke free for a 49-yard run as part of a two-play drive. Trine went to claim the victory by the final of 34-13.
Trine will play its first road game of the season when it travels to Plymouth, Wis. next Saturday (Sept. 15) to take on Lakeland University. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EST.