(Peru, Neb.)- The Peru State Football team defeated Graceland, 37-31, on Saturday afternoon in the Oak Bowl. This was the Bobcats fourth consecutive win over Graceland.
The Bobcats had a slow first quarter, Mack Boekhout scored a field goal within the first three minutes of the game. The score going into the second quarter was 3-0.
In the second quarter, Keyon Henry Brooks had an eight yard rush to score the first touchdown of the game making the score 10-0. Duke McClinton gets his first interception of the game with 01:34 on the clock. McClinton had a 41 yard return for a touchdown. Graceland managed to squeeze out a field goal at the end of the quarter. The score was 17-3 going into the half.
The Bobcats extended their lead in the third quarter with a pass from Colin Shields to Jordan Kempf for 26 yards the bobcats scored a touchdown making the score 24-10.
To start the fourth quarter, Duke McClinton had his second pass interception with a 42 yard return for another touchdown making the score 24-31. Though the yellowjackets were able to find their way to a tied game at 31-31, the Bobcats managed to find their way into the endzone once again putting the score at 37-31 with 00:19 on the clock. The yellowjackets took over at the Peru State 48 and managed to get to the Peru State 38 yard line.  A four yard sac by Ka'Von Lofton was the last play of the game in the Peru State's 37-31 win over the Graceland Yellowjackets.
The Bobcats outrushed the yellowjackets with Keyon Henry-Brooks having a 111 total net rushing yards. Lander Imbimbo added 25 net rushing yards. The Bobcats had a total of 122 net rushing yards while the yellowjackets only had 57 on Saturday.
Jordan Kempf for the Bobcats had 133 yards with eight receptions. Tyler Floyd ended the game with 64 yards and 3 receptions.
On defense, Duke McClinton led the team with two pick sixes for a total of 83 yards. He also had 7 tackles during the matchup. Kile Bentley had a total of 11 tackles with 6 being solo tackles. He was followed by Mason Benjamin with 9 total tackles and Ashley Thompson who had 7 total tackles
The Bobcats had three sacs on the Yellowjackets. Ka'Von Lofton had two sacs for a total of 7 yards. Mike Mitchell also got a sac for a total of 18 yards.
Peru State travels to Oskaloosa, Iowa this Saturday, October 21, to play William Penn University. Kickoff is set for 2:30.