Peru State College Athletics

(Dubuque, Iowa)- The Peru State College football team enjoyed a 30-13 victory in a road contest against Heart of America Athletic Conference North opponent Clarke on Saturday Afternoon.
 
The victory takes the Bobcats to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the Conference slate while the Pride would fall to 0-9 overall and 0-5 in Heart action.
 
Peru State would take the opening drive and see three first downs on a drive that reached the home 16-yard line before a penalty called on the Bobcats and a sack on the following play would see second and 29, a pass for six yards followed by an incompletion on third down would see fourth and 23 at the Clarke 29 where a gain of 16 would see the Pride take over at their own 13-yard line. The Pride only gained eight yards through three plays where looking to punt on fourth and two, a high snap would fall into the endzone and result in a safety for Peru State to earn a 2-0 advantage and the following possession with 8:25 remaining in the first quarter.
 
A 36-yard return by Jazir Francois (New City, New York / Saint Joseph Regional High School) would set up the offense at the home 43-yard line where after two first down totes by Chandler Cotton (Omaha, Nebraska / Papillion LaVista South High School), a Clarke defender would jump a pass and run 74 yards down the field before being drug down at the Bobcat 13-yard line. The Pride would face a penalty on the first play to see first and 15 and after two incompletions, a 12-yard reception would set up the Pride to kick a 23-yard field goal to take the lead 3-2 with six minutes left in the first. Peru State would only need one offensive play as Cotton would take a handoff straight up the middle 66-yards for the score and a good point-after to follow would see Peru State snatch back the lead 9-3. A series of Bobcat errors would see three different punts in the following series before the Offense would regain possession following the third punt, where John Holcombe II (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek High School) would catch a screen and sprint 53-yards for the touchdown and the kick after would extend the edge to 13 (16-3).

Clarke would take the next possession and churn out a 10-play, 52-yard drive that pushed into the second quarter where after an incompletion on third down forced the Pride to take a 35-yard field goal to shorten the lead to 10 (16-6). The following Bobcat drive would see fourth and 10 at the home 34 where another Clarke interception would end the series at the Pride 22-yard marker, Clarke would march into Bobcat territory before an incompletion on fourth and eight would see a turnover on downs at the Peru State 33-yard line. Starting the following drive with 5:45 remaining the Bobcats would push 38-yards in eight plays before a 28-yard grab by Blake Durham (Birmingham, Alabama / Pike Road High School) would give the offense first and goal at the one where cotton would punch in his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon, the point-after-attempt would fly true to set the score at 23-6 with 40 seconds in the half. Clark would opt to try for field goal range where a pass from the Pride would be intercepted by Robert Bennett (Richmond, Texas / Randle High School) who would scamper 15-yards on the return to deliver the Bobcat offense one more drive with 26 seconds left, Peru State would run out the clock to enter the half leading by 17 (23-6).
 
Clarke would push the opening drive of the third quarter until dropping back for a pass on second and nine would see Jeffery Taylor (Atlanta, Georgia / Langston Hughes High School) take the possession away with an interception at the Bobcat 15. The following offensive drive would be stalled by a penalty and a fumble recovered by Peru State set up a punt on fourth and 21, Cole Spahr (Dewitt, Nebraska / Tri-County High School) would take the ball and boot it off to the home 39-yard marker. Clarke would earn two first downs as they drove to the Bobcat 34 before an incompletion on third down would have the Peru State defense face fourth and eight where Ja-Quez Oliver (Ocala, Florida / Langston Hughes High School) would break up a pass to force another turnover on downs to give the Bobcats the ball with 5:14 left in the third quarter.
 
Peru State would be forced to punt again on the following drive where on the first play of the Clarke possession, Sean Smith (Atlanta, Georgia / Westlake High School) would punch out the football for Oliver to land on it at the home 45-yard line. A 16-yard completion from Dixon would be aided by a penalty from the Pride to move the ball into the redzone where a pass to the one would set up Cotton's third touchdown of the day and Brenden Bartholomew's (Andalusia, Alabama / Straughn High School) extra point would split the uprights to make the score 30-6 with 2:01 in the third quarter.
 
Clarke would be forced to punt on the following drive where Peru State will take the drive into the fourth quarter before a Pride defender would jump a pass and dart to the endzone for Clarke's first touchdown of the afternoon, the point-after would drop the Bobcat lead down to 17 (30-13). Peru State would coast for the remainder of the fourth while the defense would force their third turnover on downs to return home with the victory 30-13.
 
Cotton led the offense with 23 carries for 148 yards and three touchdowns on a 6.4 rushing average while Dixon completed 15 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown, Holcombe II would lead the receiving efforts with two catches for 64 yards and a score while Francois would make three grabs for 30 yards.
 
The Defense was led by Amari Dawkins (Stockbridge, Georgia / Stockbridge High School) who notched six total tackles with four being solo while Daylan Kendrick (Warner Robins, Georgia / Northside High School) totaled five tackles, four of which were solo stops paired with a forced fumble and pass breakup. Tyrell McMillan (Mount Pleasant, Florida / Sneads High School) and Colton Cerveny (Ashland, Nebraska / Ashland-Greenwood High School) would lead the team with two tackles for loss and Taylor and Bennett would both record interceptions in a defensive effort that saw Clarke be held to negative net rushing yards.
 
The Bobcats are back in action on Saturday where they are set to travel to face Conference opponent William Penn on November 7^th.