The Lawrence University football team jumped out to a 24-0 lead and cruised to a 38-14 Midwest Conference victory over Beloit College on Saturday in the Banta Bowl.
It was the first victory at Lawrence (1-2, 1-2 MWC) for first-year head coach Mike Barthelmess.
Junior quarterback Luke Barthelmess was 19 of 30 passing for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Barthelmess also ran 12 times for 74 yards. Running back Ben Hartman had seven carries for a team-high 90 yards, and included in that total was a 54-yard touchdown run.
Running back Zach Draus paced Beloit (0-3, 0-2) with 19 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Will Coyne was 14 of 29 passing for 164 yards and two interceptions.
Lawrence led 3-0 early when the Vikings moved 76 yards in nine plays for the first touchdown of the afternoon. Barthelmess hit Tyler Mazur on a 16-yard scoring strike for a 10-0 lead. Mazur caught four passes for 98 yards.
The Vikings made it 17-0 with 3:33 left in the first half when Scott Vandeloo took advantage of the perfect play call. Beloit called an all-out blitz, and Lawrence countered with a screen pass. Vandeloo went untouched 36 yards for the touchdown.
Lawrence got the ball back with 2:14 left in the opening half and moved 70 yards in just three plays for the touchdown. Barthelmess hit Dominique Dirden, who caught eight passes for 71 yards, for 21 yards and a Beloit penalty moved the ball to the Bucs’ 29-yard line. Barthelmess found Dan Dubnicka on the next play for a 29-yard touchdown catch and Lawrence led 24-0.
The Bucs took advantage of an interception to cut the lead to 24-6 at the half, but Lawrence got a two-yard touchdown run from Vandeloo and a 54-yard scoring scamper from Hartman in the second half to seal the win.
Lawrence, which piled up 492 yards of offense, also forced three turnovers. Sam Wagner forced and recovered the same fumble, and Brandon Taylor and Colt Duncan had interceptions for the Vikings. Marcus Moore piled up a game-high 12 tackles for Lawrence.
The Vikings have a bye next Saturday and return to action on Sept. 29 when they travel to Illinois College.