Peru State College Athletics

(St. Louis, Mo.)- The Peru State College football team battled in the second half to spark a comeback, but fell short as the Bobcats lost to Missouri Baptist by a score of 21-14 on Saturday night.
 
Peru State falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action while the Spartans rise to 1-1 overall while remaining 0-0 in Conference play.
 
The Bobcat defense started off the game strong by not allowing a single first down in their first three series, until a penalty on a Peru State punt set Missouri Baptist set the ball on the Bobcat 32-yard line, a 4^th and three led to a 42-yard field goal by the Spartans that split the uprights with 3:08 remaining in the first. Peru State found success in the next drive with a 30-yard strike to Bryant Thomas (Hinesville, Georgia. Bradwell Institute High School) to bring the offense into Missouri Baptist territory, a 17-yard pass brought the Bobcats into the redzone, but a 32-yard field goal by Peru State went wide right to keep the score 3-0.
 
The defense continued to hold as the Spartans punted after three plays for no gain and after gaining possession the Bobcats faced 4^th and five, an incomplete pass would put the ball in Missouri Baptist possession. A nine play, 37-yard drive resulted in a Spartan field goal and after neither team was able to find momentum on offense, Missouri Baptist would land a punt on the Bobcat one-yard line and would stuff a handoff for a loss to result in a safety to bring the score to 8-0 to end the half.
 
The Spartans opened the second half by finding a 12 play, 55-yard series that resulted in another field goal to extend the lead to 11-0, The Bobcat offense received the ball on their own 26-yard line and marched with an 18 play, 74-yard touchdown drive that took 7:47 off of the clock which featured five first downs and was highlighted by a six-yard rush by John Holcombe II (Houston, Texas. / Summer Creek High School). Missouri Baptist began their drive with 1:23 remaining in the third and drove 7 plays, 64-yards to punch in a one-yard rush that brought the score to 18-7.
 
The Bobcat offense had kept their stride as they marched into Spartan territory until CJ Dixon (Loganville, Georgia. / Grayson High School) rumbled 24-yards for a rushing touchdown and following a good point after, Peru State was down 18-14 with 7:36 remaining in the game. A good kickoff return began Missouri Baptist on their own 40-yard line and facing a 3^rd and six, an incomplete pass by the Spartans looked to bring out the punt team until a penalty by the Bobcats kept the drive alive. After 10 plays and 52 yards, Missouri Baptist would kick a field goal to extend the lead to seven and give the ball to Peru State with 1:49 left.
 
The offense began the series with a six-yard pass but after back-to-back Bobcat penalties backed them up to 2^nd and 19, the following pass was batted up and picked off by the Spartans. They would run out the clock as Missouri Baptist would take the win 21-14.
 
Dixon led the Bobcat offense as he completed 18 passes for 202 yards while totaling seven carries for 39 yards and a score, Holcombe II picked up four rushes for 16 yards and a touchdown. Blake Durham (Birmingham, Alabama. / Pike Road High School) manned the receiving efforts with five grabs for 81 yards while Thomas contributed with four catches and 56 yards.
 
Devon Byrd (West Palm Beach, Florida. / Cardinal Newman High School) paced the defense with nine total tackles, six solo, three quarterback hurries and a TFL while Jeremy Porter (Laurel, Mississippi. / Laurel High School) notched four total tackles, three solo and two pass breakups.
 
Peru State returns to action on Saturday where they face off against Westgate Christian University at home for the 2026 Hall of Fame Game.