The Buccaneer football team had a lead in the third quarter but couldn't hold on in a 23-6 loss to Crown College on the road Saturday. Beloit falls to 0-2 with the loss while Crown moves to 1-1.
The Storm grabbed the momentum out of the gate with a 48-yard return of the opening kickoff to the Beloit 29-yard line.
Caleb Wachal and
Andrei Prikhodko hushed the crowd a bit taking down Crown's Cole Minstretta behind the line of scrimmage for a three-yard loss. The Storm responded with back-to-back first downs taking the ball down to the Bucs' 13. Beloit's defense stiffened forcing Crown to settle for a 23-yard field goal.
Despite a few big plays including two
Alex Alvarez to
Juan Reyes connections for 18 yards and 20 yards the scoreboard read 3-0 in favor of Crown at intermission.
An interception on the first play of the second half brought the Beloit defense back onto the field shorty after the halftime break.Follwing a 22-yard Storm rush coupled with a Beloit penalty, Crown quickly had the ball near midfield. Once again the Buc defense stiffened allowing Crown to move just one yard before forcing the punt. The Storm punt went out of bounds at the Bucs' 29 as the offense retook the field.
What looked to be a three-and-out for the Bucs turned into a first down on a Crown personal foul that gave Beloit a new set of chains at Crown's 24-yard line. Alvarez found Reyes for five yards but missed the connection on second down.
Ethan Hansen picked up three on third down bringing up fourth and two. Beloit opted to go for it deep in Storm territory and tapped Hansen for the handoff. He surged through the line for another three-yard gain to move the chains and give Beloit a new set of downs.
On first and 10 from the Crown 16, Alvarez once again found his favorite target for the day, Reyes, this time for 11 yards for a first down at the Storm two-yard line. Hansen bulldozed his way into the endzone for the touchdown to make it 6-3 Beloit. The point after was no good but Beloit held the advantage with 8:48 to go in the third.
Holding true to the theme of the game, Crown posted a big gain on first down to move the chains but the Buc defense responded, bearing down to force the punt and send their offense back onto the field.
A 'pick-6' on third and nine on Beloit's next drive swung the advantage back into the hands of the host team as Crown took a 10-6 lead on the interception return.
Crown posted 13 points in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Alvarez was 11-28 for 98 yards and four interceptions in the game. Hansen led the backs with 44 yards including the two-yard touchdown run.
Reyes caught five Alvarez passes for 55 yards.
Tyler Korous registered four receptions for 22 yards in the game.
Prikhodko led the defense with 15 tackles including seven solo tackles adding four tackles for a loss of 17 yards.
Michael Lafayette joined Prikhodko with double figure tackles with 10.
Up Next: The Bucs will take a week off before heading to Knox College Saturday, September 28. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
