(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - The 11th-ranked Thomas More College football team defeated Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Saint Vincent College, 24-6, today (Saturday, October 16, 2010) at The Bank of Kentucky Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky to clinch its 15th winning season in 21-year history of the program.
With the win, the Saints improve to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the PAC. With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 1-5 overall and 1-2 PAC.
The Saints never trailed in the game as they led 3-0 after one quarter, 10-0 at halftime and 17-6 after three quarters.
Thomas More took a 3-0 lead with 9:59 to play in the first quarter when senior place kicker Dustin Zink (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) connected on a 35-yard field goal.
The Saints then increased the lead to 10-0 at halftime when freshman running back Domonique Hayden (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Christian Academy) scored on a two-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Rob Kues (Fort Thomas, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) and Zink added the point-after-attempt with 1:49 to play in the second quarter.
Then with 12:22 to play in the third quarter Thomas More increased the lead to 17-0 when Kues scored on a 16-yard run and Zink added the PAT.
Saint Vincent cut the lead to 17-6 when Aaron Smetanka threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cody Strelick and Aaron Jones' PAT failed with 7:25 to play in the third quarter.
Hayden then scored on a two-yard run and Zink added the PAT with 8:50 to play in the game for the final score of 24-6.
Thomas More outgained Saint Vincent 442 yards to 278 yards as the Saints had 305 yards rushing and 137 yards passing and the Bearcats had 26 yards rushing and 252 yards passing.
The Saints had two players reach the 100 yards rushing plateau as junior running back Kendall Owens (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) had 117 yards on 15 carries and Hayden had 115 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries. Kues was 12-of-24 passing for 137 yards and one touchdown and added 73 yards rushing on 15 carries. Freshman running back Adam Rauch (Yorkshire, Ind./East Central) led the Saints in receiving as he had five catches for 60 yards.
Defensively, the Saints were led by sophomore defensive back Antonio Booker (Louisville, Ky./Male), who had eight tackles. Sophomore linebacker Nick Gramke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) added seven tackles, while sophomore defensive end Tyler Owens (Fort Thomas, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) had five tackles, including two for a loss and one sack, senior defensive back Aaron Monk (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) had five tackles, including one for a loss and junior defensive end John French (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) had five tackles, including one and a half for a loss and one sack. Senior defensive back Marcus Lancaster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Dakota) and sophomore defensive back Zach Autenrieb (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) each had one interception.
The Saints return to action next Saturday (October 23) when they travel to Bethany, West Virginia to play PAC foe Bethany College. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m. at Bison Stadium.