BLUEFIELD – NAIA No. 16 Bethel University scored on its first two possessions Saturday night at Mitchell Stadium and went on to defeat the Rams 49-24 in a game much closer than the score indicated.
Bethel jumped to an early 14-0 lead in the game's first seven-and-a-half minutes but the Rams found their legs and settled down and began to battle the Wildcats.
BC marched downfield on the arm of Aidan Wilder with pass plays and the drive was capped with a four-yard touchdown pass to Lowell Patron Jr. Tanner Griffith kicked the point and with 10:41 left in the half the score was 14-7.
The teams battled for the remainder of the second half before Bethel's Chris Arrambide passed 36 yards for a score with only 1:23 before halftime to give the visitors a 21-7 lead. Bluefield did not quit and took the ball downfield and Griffith booted a 32-yard field goal as time expired in the half to make the score 21-10 at the break.
Bethel scored on its first possession of the second half to make it 28-10, then added another score early in the fourth quarter to pull ahead 35-10. Again the Rams didn't quit. A long pass from Wilder to Patron Jr., moved the ball into Bethel territory, but a BC turnover on the next play resulted in a Bethel touchdown that made the score 42-10.
Another turnover led to another BU score that made it 49-10. Wilder then connected with Patron Jr., on a 75-yard pass play for a score as the Rams continued to battle.
Wilder added another scoring strike with 3:52 left in the game when he connected with Jaquan Ebron on a 23-yard pass. Griffith's extra point made it 49-24.
Patron Jr., finished the game with eight catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns, while Jaquan Ebron caught five balls for 52 yards. Wilder was 22-of 42 passing for 278 yards with three TD passes, but threw three interceptions. Jordan Huntley led the Rams' rushing attack, toting the pigskin 15 times for 71 yards.
Defensively DaMarcus Wimbush had a game-high 16 tackles, 11 solo, and 1.5 sacks and two tackles-for-loss for Bluefield. Greg Amos had six stops and Michael Everett had five tackles and 1.5 TFL.
As a team Bluefield had 369 yards of total offense.
The Rams take to the road Saturday, Sept. 14 to take on the University of Pikeville.
