— Bacone College coach Trevor Rubly was interested to see how his team would respond when it was tested.

Tabor College’s Bluejays had rallied to tie the game at 20-20 and had the momentum in their favor at Indian Bowl on Saturday night.

But the Warriors passed this test, getting a field goal and safety in the last five minutes of the game to pull out the 25-20 season-opening victory.

“Since I’ve been here, once the momentum shifts back to the other team, we lay down,” Rubly said. “But we didn’t lay down. We kept fighting. We came out with the victory.”

After the Bluejays tied, the Warriors marched 13 plays and 65 yards on the ensuing drive and Jamie Moore’s 29-yard field goal with 6:52 left in game put Bacone ahead at 23-20.

Tabor got the ball back after Bacone downed a punt at its 1 yard line. Three plays later, senior defensive end Dustin Sherer zipped into the end zone untouched and sacked Tabor quarterback Simon McKee for the safety with 1:51 remaining to seal the victory.

“I had to shoot the gap and make the play,” Sherer said. “When it’s all on the line,  you go as hard as you can. We pulled this game out with heart. I just found out on Wednesday that my grandpa has terminal lung cancer. I dedicated this game to him.”

Aron McCoy led the Warriors in rushing with 128 yards on 13 carries including a 54-yard touchdown to start the game’s scoring.

Quarterback Kyle Kuban completed 13 of 25 passes for 109 yards.

The Warriors led 13-0 at halftime, partly on the strength of field goals of 48 and 42 yards by Moore. He made the first one with 1:10 left in the first period and the other with 3:58 remaining in the half.

After the intermission, the Bluejays fought back as quarterback Simon McKee tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Scott Bauer and ran for a one-yard touchdown. Joe Cannon kicked field goals of 32 and 23 yards in the second half and the 23-yarder with 11:44 left in the game tied the contest.

McKee ran for 107 yards rushing on 22 carries, while James Monroe topped the Blue Jays with 113 yards on 27 carries.

The Warriors are on the road for the next four weeks, playing at Arkansas Tech in Russellville at 6 p.m. next Saturday. Bacone doesn’t come back home until Sept. 29 against Cole College.



BACONE 25, TABOR 20

Tabor    0    0    17    3 – 20

Bacone    10    3    7    5 – 25

First Quarter

Bacone – Aron McCoy 54 run (Jamie Moore kick), 8:40

Bacone – Jamie Moore 48 FG, 1:10

Second Quarter

Bacone  –  Moore 42 FG, 3:58

Third Quarter

Tabor – Joe Cannon 32 FG, 13:54

Bacone – Rashad Rich 14 pass from Kyle Kuban (Moore kick), 8:51

Tabor – Scott Bauer 20 pass from Simon McKee (Cannon kick), 4:10

Tabor – McKee 1 run (Cannon kick), 1:50

Fourth Quarter

Tabor – Cannon 23 FG, 11:44

Bacone – Moore 29 FG, 6:52

Bacone – Safety, Tabor quarterback Simon McKee tackled in end zone



Team Statistics

    Tabor    Bacone

First Downs    18    20

Rushes-Yards    59-284    48-184

Passing Yards    52    109

Passes (C-A-I)    3-12-0    13-25-2

Punts-Avg.    7-28.4    4-33.3

Fumbles-Lost    3-2    5-3

Penalties-Yards    7-54    6-56

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Tabor, Monroe 27-113, McKee 22-107. Bacone, Aron McCoy 13-128

Passing: Tabor, McKee 3-12-0—52. Bacone, Kyle Kuban 13-25-2—109

Receiving: Tabor, Bauer 1-20. Bacone, Rashad Rich 3-51.