WALESKA, Ga. - The Bluefield University Rams won the statistical battle Saturday afternoon against the Reinhardt University Eagles, but the score on the board is what counts and the Eagles claimed a 49-35 win an a Mid-South Conference Appalachian Division battle.
Reinhardt opened a 14-0 lead in the game's first four minutes, driving the opening kickoff for a score, then blocking a  BU punt for a TD. The Rams got on the board with 2:33 to play in the first when Jaquan Ebron hauled in a pass from Nathan Herstich for the score. The PAT failed. Reinhardt went up 21-6 with 90 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Antonio Strickland and Herstich teamed up on a 15-yard scoring play capping a 78-yard, eight play drive. The kick was good by Tanner Griffith and it was 21-13. Reinhardt then reeled off four unanswered scores in the second quarter to take a 49-13 lead into the intermission. Neither team scored in the third.
The Rams began their charge in the fourth. With 14:23 to play in the game Lebron Fields dashed 10 yards for the touchdown and Joey Dales kicked the PAT. With 10:43 remaining Ebron and Herstich combined on a play from seven yards out. Herstich passed to Matthew Trevillian for the two-point conversion to make it 49-28. The Rams were not finished. With 1:41 on the clock Herstich scampered 10 yards for the touchdown and Dales kicked the extra point to make it 49-35.
Statistically the Rams were superior. BU had 28 first downs to 24 for Reinhardt. The Rams ran 70 offensive plays to the Eagles' 66, and Bluefield had 435 offensive yards, Reinhardt 420.
Herstich was 33-of-56 passing for418 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for another. Strickland caught 11 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown. Ebron had nine catches for 79 yards and two scores, while Trevillian caught seven balls for 94 yards.
Defensively KeDarrius Phinazee led BU with 11 tackles. DaMarcus Wimbush and Sam Kirtley each had eight stops.
The Rams are on the road next week in MSC non-divisional play against Warner (Fla.) University.