By Michael Freeman, Managing Editor
By the time the East Central Tigers had picked up their first first down, ACU running back Bernard Scott had already scored two of his four touchdowns. By the time the Tigers had posted their first points on the scoreboard, the Wildcats had already converted two East Central fumbles into scores. And by the time Saturday night’s game was over, No. 4 ACU had kept their perfect season alive, crushing the Tigers 66-7 at Shotwell Stadium.
The Wildcats improved to 5-0, putting up their highest point total of the season while handing the Tigers their worst loss against ACU ever. The 59-point win dwarfed ACU’s 35-7 victories over East Central in 1998 and 1979. This season, East Central is now 1-5 after Saturday’s loss.
“Overall, I think we did pretty good,” Scott said. “But I’m pretty sure once we go back and look at the film, there will be some improvements [to make].”
The ACU offense racked up 595 total yards, while the defense held East Central to only 179 total yards.
“The defense has been stepping up week in and week out,” Scott said.
Scott began the offensive onslaught at the 8:11 mark in the first quarter when he tore through a few would-be tackles and sprinted toward a 60-yard touchdown on the first play of the Wildcats’ second possession.
Two minutes later, Scott scored again off of a 23-yard pass from quarterback Billy Malone. Malone threw for 357 yards and five touchdowns in the game.
“It’s easy whenever you’ve got Bernard Scott, John Ferguson, Johnny Knox and Edmund Gates,” Malone said. “It’s kind of easy on me.”
Scott finished the game with 128 rushing yards, 173 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Edmund Gates caught two touchdowns and 92 yards receiving. But Gates’ scores came after the Wildcats had posted 15 more points.
With 12:22 remaining in the second quarter, placekicker Matt Adams booted a 26-yard field goal. On East Central’s ensuing possession, a mishandled snap led to a fumble recovery in the end zone by defensive back Richard Havins, putting ACU up 24-0.
East Central scored their only points in the second quarter with 7:16 on the clock as running back Joshua Maldanado punched in a 2-yard touchdown run.
On ACU’s next possession, Malone tossed a 19-yard pass to Scott who trotted in for his third touchdown with 4:40 left in the half.
The Wildcats received the kickoff at the start of the third quarter, and on their first play, Malone threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Edmund Gates. The touchdown marked the third straight game where ACU scored on its first play of the second half.
At the 7:20 mark, Gates caught his second touchdown pass – a 22-yard pass from Malone that came off of an 11-play, 80-yard drive that lasted four minutes and 53 seconds of the play clock.
Scott scored his fourth touchdown of the game at the 2:00 mark off a 53-yard pass from Malone.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, quarterbacks Zach Stewart and Clark Harrell subbed in for Malone and running backs Chancy Campbell and Patrick Washington played for Scott. Even with their starters resting, the Wildcats scored twice in the fourth quarter.
With 11:22 left in the final quarter, Campbell rumbled through the East Central defense for a 5-yard touchdown run. And with 6:57 remaining, Washington scored from 4 yards out.
Despite committing twice as many penalties than the Tigers during the game, the Wildcats made up for their mistakes by capitalizing on East Central’s turnovers.
East Central fumbled the ball a total of six times, losing it three times. And Tiger quarterbacks Marcus Johnson and Lee Blankenship threw a combined three interceptions.
“Obviously, you want to score when the defense forces a turnover,” Malone said. “We just got to attack them. The defense will keep on getting turnovers, and we’ll keep on turning them into points.”
The Wildcats will take on Angelo State at Shotwell Stadium next Saturday. The Rams are 2-3 this season. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
