REINHARDT WINS MID-SOUTH CONFERENCE WEST DIVISION

Reinhardt University made the best case it could for a spot in the NAIA Football Championship Series, setting program records for passing, total yardage, and scoring as the Eagles won the Mid-South Conference West Division with a, 66-49, win over Campbellsville in Campbellsville, Ky., Saturday afternoon.

"It was exciting, and it was stressful, but it was great. To do this without a key starter on either side of the ball is really special," said RU head coach Dr. Danny Cronic.

Coach Cronic wasn't going to play a political game as to whether or not his team deserves a playoff spot.  "I don't know if my opininon will carry a lot of weight," said Cronic. "If it came down to between us and Faulkner, I think we should get in there since we beat them. But there are a lot of great teams in the conference. It's so tough to take a lot of teams from one conference. We would love to be in the playoffs, but I'm not trying to say we should be. But we were very happy with how today went. They might try to give out stuff that says we end up as co-champions, but in my opinion, because of what we did on the field [against Faulkner], we are the champions. I feel very strongly about that."

Ryan Thompson threw for 424 yards and three touchdowns on the day, with each scoring strike at least 40 yards. Twice, Thompson hooked up with Tyler Bradley, including a 44-yard strike for RU's first touchdown. After a Campbellsville score, Thompson aired it out again for Aaron Kennedy, who raced 79 yards for an Eagles touchdown.

Campbellsville scored again to tie the score at the end of the quarter, 14-all, and after a Reinhardt punt, the Bulldogs found the end zone again to take the lead for the first time. Reinhardt would tie the game two possessions later when Thompson connected with Bradley for a 47-yard touchdown.  "Our guys made catches that were just unbelievable," said Coach Cronic.  "We had some guys tipping balls to themselves and just made some great, athletic plays. I think that was a key to our points today."

Reinhardt forced a fumble deep in its own end, then proceeded to drive 85 yards in eight plays for the score. P.J. Greene scored his first touchdown of the season with a 15-yard rumble to paydirt to cap the drive. "We were glad to have P.J. to come through like that for us," coach Cronic said. "He wasn't quite full-speed, but he ran with some strength."

Campbellsville scored a quick touchdown, but a long strike gave RU a chance at a field goal right before the end of the half. Matthew Moon stepped up and connected on a 40-yard attempt, the longest field goal of the year for the Eagles, to give the visitors a 31-28 at the break.

With the ball to start the second half, RU extended its lead to 10. Elliot Clark rumbled into the endzone from 11 yards out. Campbellsville would then begin to self-destruct. A fumble on the first play from scrimmage by the Bulldogs was recovered by Ladrell Cammon, putting RU in business on the CU 15. Three plays later, Greene powered his way into the paint to stretch the lead to 17, 45-28.

After the teams traded possessions, Campbellsville chipped into the lead with a 20-yard touchdown run. Right before the end of the third quarter, the Eagles would score again as T.C. Carter plunged in from one yard out, giving the Eagles a 17-point cushion heading into the fourth quarter and with 52 points, already a season-high in scoring.

Reinhardt quickly scored to start the fourth quarter. A four-play drive ended when Sam Jones took a flanker sweep into the endzone from 29 yards away. After a CU touchdown, the Eagles took 6:12 off the clock with a 13-play drive that ended with Jonathan Abrams scored from two yards out. The Eagles had reached the 66-point mark for the first time ever. Campbellsville scored a touchdown the final 90 seconds, but couldn't get a two-point conversion and the Eagles recovered the onside kick to secure the win.

Greene finished the day with 114 rushing yards to lead RU as the Eagles rolled up 359 yards on the ground. The Eagles had six touchdowns rushing for the game, also the most the program has ever scored in one game. Jaylen Dodd finished the day with 132 all-purpose yards on 34 yards rushing, 58 receiving, and 40 returning kicks.

Philip Leconte and D.J. Brown each had a sack on the day for RU, with A.J. Thomas, Mike Miller, Trey Bartlett, and Blake Rushing each getting one tackle for a loss. Adrian Hayes hauled in an interception on the final play of the first half for RU.

RU finishes the regular season 6-4, with a 4-1 mark in the MSC-West. Reinhardt lost this season to an NCAA FCS program by three points (40-37), the current No. 1 team in NAIA (28-24), and the current No. 15 team in NAIA (50-45).