WAXAHACHIE – Wayland Baptist scored on its first three possessions of the game then hung on to claim a 24-14 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God University at Lumpkins Stadium here Saturday.
"The kids played really well. They came out and made plays and made things happen," Wayland coach
Butch Henderson said.
The Pioneers' second straight win – fueled by a 134-yard receiving effort by
Brayln Kirby, a two-interception, five-tackle, 3-PAT, one-field goal performance by
Kaleb Thornton, and a six-takeaway showing by the WBU defense – evened Wayland's records to 3-3 on the season and 2-2 in the conference. SAGU remained winless at 0-6, 0-4.
De'Sean Johnson scored Wayland's first touchdown on a 3-yard run, capping a nine-play, 80-yard drive.
The Pioneers made it 14-0 when Kirby caught a 61-yard TD pass from
Mitchell Parsley with just over three minutes left in the opening quarter.
"From the first snap the kids were playing hard," Henderson said.
Thornton made his first big impact on the game when he booted a 33-yard field goal three minutes into the second period, making it 17-0.
The score stayed that way until the Lions got on the board on a 35-yard Hail Mary pass to end the first half.
The Pioneer defense began coming up with turnover after turnover in the second half. First was an interception by
Gerrick McKinney, then a recovery of a fumble forced by
Casey Buck in the end zone by
Nicholas Pearce, whose touchdown on the third play of the fourth quarter made it 24-7.
The defensive TD was made possible by a 41-yard punt by
Josh Throns that was downed at the SAGU 2-yard line.
Henderson said Throns, the former all-conference basketball player for Wayland from Australia, is "coming into his own," getting off a couple of punts that flipped the field.
The Lions' next two possessions ended on fumble recoveries, first by
Charles Lee then by
Damian Morrell.
Thornton then came up with a pair of picks near midfield to end back-to-back SAGU possessions.
A fumble by the Pioneers at their own 20-yard line led to the Lions pulling to within 10 points when SAGU converted 3
rd-and-10 from the 20 with 3:16 to play.
SAGU attempted an onside kick, which the Lions recovered. But they were penalized for illegal touching on a close play.
The Pioneers punted with 2:27 to go. SAGU took over at its own 31 and managed a couple of first downs to near midfield before Wayland's defense ended the threat with 20 seconds to go. On fourth down, Dominique Taylor forced a fumble on a quarterback sack.
Kirby's 134 receiving yards, on five catches, was 12 yards shy of a school record, set by
Ben Owen against Arizona Christian in 2016.
Parsley completed 14-of-27 for 202 yards and the 61-yard TD to Kirby.
Jerrell Peterson ran 20 times for 48 yards while Johnson rushed nine times for 42 steps.
Linebacker
Manny Arguijo led the Pioneer defense with eight tackles, including a sack and 3½ tackles for loss.
Trace Richey and
Casey Buck were credited with seven stops apiece.
The Pioneers allowed only six rushing yards on 22 carries. The Lions' 14 points were a season-low.
"We played a great defensive football game," Henderson said. "(SAGU) has moved the ball against everybody they've played, but they couldn't move it against our guys."
Wayland ended with almost twice as much possession time, 46 minutes to 24.
WBU next travels to Batesville, Ark., to face Lyon College at 2 p.m. Oct. 26. The Scots (4-2, 3-1) were open this week after defeating SAGU a week earlier in Waxahachie, 38-22.
"We have a shot to go 7-3, but we'll take it one game at a time," Henderson said.
